Journalists pray for an end to the 'Netanyahu Era' on live TV
During the interview, Abramovich said "anyone announcing a run against Netanyahu, or a run after the era of Netanyahu, would want to see the era of Netanyahu finally come to an end."
By IDAN ZONSHINEAmnon Abramovich and Oded Ben-Ami(photo credit: WIKIMEDIA COMMONS/EYALBENYAISH)
Channel 12 political pundit Amnon Abramovich and news anchor Oded Ben-Ami jokingly prayed Kaddish, the traditional Jewish prayer recited while mourning, for the "era of Netanyahu" on Wednesday evening.During the interview, Abramovich said "anyone announcing a run against Netanyahu, or a run after the era of Netanyahu, would want to see the era of Netanyahu finally come to an end."Ben-Ami responded on air with a biblical phrase in Aramaic that means "soon and in our time", jokingly asking him if that is what he meant. Abramovich reiterated the biblical phrase and added an "amen", to which Ben-Ami replied with an "amen" of his own.Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu responded furiously by saying that the two journalists "aren't even trying to hide their hatred of [him] - praying Kaddish for him on live television. Imagine what would happen if someone on the Right would have prayed Kaddish over someone on the Left. They have no shame left."Hadashot CEO Avi Weiss spoke to both Abramovich and Ben-Ami, telling them that there is no place for such "jokes" anywhere. The two explained that in no way meant what they said and in the manner which was applied to their words, Ynet reported.Netanyahu and Abramovich have had a heated personal feud, that was exacerbated by personal attack ads that the Likud ran against Abramovich and other journalists during the April election.The most widely reported of these attacks occurred when the host of the "LikudTV" internet channel made fun of Abramovich's facial burn scars; which he received while driving a burning tank to save the lives of his tank-mates during the Yom Kippur war.
