After three and a half years as chief spokesperson for President Isaac Herzog, Naor Ihia and the president have parted ways just a week ahead of Herzog’s halfway mark in office.
Ihia, 35, is a very pleasant individual but was not the right person to serve the interests of the president or the State of Israel.
He treated his job as if he was working for Pravda. Journalists were rarely permitted to attend events that had been open to them under all of Herzog’s predecessors.
Ihia apparently did not understand how important it is to Diaspora organizations to have their meetings with the president reported.
With extremely rare exceptions, the president did not give interviews to Israeli media, instead focusing on foreign outlets to which he has no responsibility.
Furthermore, the president’s weekly schedule was not made public, while notices of events that were open for coverage were sent out the previous evening, ensuring that there would be few, if any, reporters present.
When Herzog went to Kibbutz Be’eri on Wednesday evening to light the last Hanukkah candle together with members of the kibbutz and members of Kibbutz Hatzerim, the notice was sent out after 6 p.m. on Tuesday, when most people had already made arrangements.
Herzog has paid greater attention to Kibbutz Be’eri than to any other place whose residents suffered Hamas’s cruelty.
Yet his spokesman’s office does little to publicize the importance of the kibbutz, even though huge placards related to the rebuilding of Be’eri adorn the fence of the President’s Residence.
When there was any kind of advance press release about a forthcoming trip abroad by the president, an embargo was placed on publication, even though most of the information had been circulating on the internet for weeks. Other sources saw no reason for an embargo.
Embargoes were also placed on local material to ensure that the news was released on Israel Radio before it was published in digital editions of newspapers.
Prior to joining Herzog, Ihia was the political spokesman for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and spokesman for Yoav Gallant during the latter’s terms as Construction and Housing Minister and Aliyah and Integration Minister. Prior to that, he worked in various positions in the IDF Spokesperson’s office.
After many years in service to the state, Ihia is now turning to the private sector, where he will deal with strategy, crisis management, and communications counseling.
In the coming weeks, the new spokesperson, Hagay Oren, a 35-year-old lawyer by training with 10 years of experience in communications and as a spokesperson, will take up his post.
Oren was the spokesperson for Gideon Sa’ar when he was deputy prime minister and justice minister. He was also the spokesperson for Yoaz Hendel when he served as Communications Minister.
For the past two years, Oren has served as a strategic and media consultant for the campaigns of various organizations, among them the Helem Club, which assists people suffering from PTSD. He was also involved with the national memorial event in Hayarkon Park, marking the first anniversary of the October 7 tragedy.
It will be interesting to see if the new broom sweeps clean and effects much-needed change in relations between the President’s Office and the media.
Honoring the fallen
■ AS NOTED previously in this column, family and friends choose a multitude of ways in which to honor the memories of loved ones who fell in battle or were massacred by Hamas.
Last month on the 24th of Kislev, which was the evening of December 24, was the first anniversary of the passing of St.-Sgt.-Maj. (res.) Eyal Meir Berkowitz, who fell in Gaza in the December 2023 operation to recover the bodies of the hostages Eden Zakaria and Chief Warrant Officer Ziv Dado.
Berkowitz always carried a pocket-sized Mishna Sedura, which he studied during every spare moment.
In May of last year, the small volume was presented to the National Library.
The margins are filled with handwritten, scholarly notes. Berkowitz’s story came to the attention of Rabbi Eliyahu Dordek, creator and publisher of the Mishna Sedura, who was inspired to create a new, limited edition, which includes Berkowitz’s margin notes, set in a specially developed font based on Berkowitz’s handwriting, along with his illustrations and other insights.
Early last month, Dordek deposited two copies of the new edition named Mishna Eyal at the Library. A portion of the new edition has been digitized and can be found online. A full edition is planned.
Simple extortion
■ WHILE IT may be considered noble on the part of National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir to stand up for the interests of the police in an attempt to assure them that the promises he made about an increase in salaries would be kept, his method of doing so, was plain and simple extortion.
If, as a member of the government, you want to vote according to your conscience – then leave the government.
It is inexcusable that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, against the advice of his physicians, had to temporarily leave the hospital 48 hours after surgery and that Likud MK Boaz Bismuth had to get up from shiva following the death of his mother to ensure the passing of a taxation bill.
Ben-Gvir is a master of drawing attention to himself and, in this respect, scored a major victory in that his name appeared in all major media outlets on Tuesday night and Wednesday morning, with interviews and discussions about him during the day.
In interviews after the vote, he spoke of his intention to keep his promise to the police and declared that this was more important than retaining his seat in the Knesset.
It seems that to preserve the coalition, Netanyahu will not fire him for insubordination, and in the next Knesset elections, a large percentage of votes for Otzma Yehudit, Ben-Gvir’s party, will come from the ranks of the police force.
Meanwhile, there is little evidence that the traffic police are doing their job. Jaywalking, which has become a national trait, goes unpunished.
Killings in the Arab community continue without let-up. Cars park illegally on sidewalks. Motorcyclists ride illegally on sidewalks, and police themselves abuse traffic regulations.
None of the above serves to make Ben-Gvir an effective minister.
Awarding the dedicated teams
■ APROPOS HADASSAH, at the recent Jerusalem Business and Economy Conference at the Vert Hotel in Jerusalem, it was unanimously acknowledged as the hospital providing the most care for wounded soldiers and for evacuees from the South of the country who had been transferred to Jerusalem.
Mayor Moshe Lion presented an award to Hadassah’s CEO, Prof. Yoram Weiss, who, in his acceptance remarks on behalf of the dedicated Hadassah teams in the Ein Kerem and Mount Scopus hospitals, as well as the Gandel Rehabilitation Center, noted that everyone has been working tirelessly throughout the war and continues to do so, demonstrating professionalism, compassion, and humanity.
“Their dedicated efforts have helped the wounded to stand on their feet again and regain abilities lost due to severe injuries,” said Weiss.
This was not the only award that Hadassah received last month. The medical center also received accreditation from the Joint Commission International for its high standards.
This accreditation confirms through rigorous surveys that Hadassah excels in all areas of quality care and patient and staff safety, said Weiss.
Some good news
■ STORIES ABOUT the hardships experienced by reservists and their families abound. But some of the reservists who work for the Mandel Foundation or who are graduates of Mandel Foundation programs will be able to include a happy episode.
All foundation employees who have served in reserve duty for more than 150 days since the outbreak of the war will receive a weekend stay for two in the hotel of their choice.
The foundation has also sent packages of food and beverages, plus candies for the children, to the families of employees whose husband or wife serves in reserve duty.
Moreover, just before Hanukkah, the foundation sent pamper parcels to 300 alumni who have served in the reserves. The parcels contained games for the whole family, books, chocolates, olives, and olive oil.
Mandel Foundation CEO Moshe Vigdor emphasized the foundation’s desire to thank every reservist and to show particular appreciation to its own reservists, be they employees or alumni, as well as to their families, who have likewise sacrificed a lot.
He hoped that all those serving in the reserves would return home safely.
Vigdor received a letter of thanks from Erez Louzon, a graduate of the Mandel Civil Leadership program in the Negev. Louzon wrote that since October 7, he had served 300 days in the reserves.
During that time, numerous packages had arrived at his home, but none could equal that which was sent by the Mandel Foundation, which made him think that people had sat down and had thought specifically of him and his family before deciding on its contents.
It was a privilege, he continued, to be part of an entity in which there was the realization that everything depends on people, not on slogans.
The Mandel Foundation, established by Jack, Joseph, and Morton Mandel, is one of the largest Jewish philanthropic foundations in the world.
It announced last month that it was donating NIS 55 million toward constructing new buildings in the Gaza border area to replace those that were badly damaged or destroyed.
Altogether, during the past year, the Mandel Foundation has contributed NIS 210 million to projects in Israel.
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