Israel Television, in collaboration with the Anti-Defamation League of B’nai B’rith, will soon be presenting regular public service broadcasts warning against the dangers of Kach Knesset member Meir Kahane’s racist ideology.
This is the first time that an American Jewish organization has become involved in an internal public affairs issue in Israel, according to Harry Wall, ADL’s Israel representative.
The one-minute films, which will be televised directly before the nightly, high-rating, Mabat newscast, will be co-produced by employes of the Education Ministry and Israel Television in consultation with the ADL’s Ted Freedman, director of the ADL’s inter-group relations division, and Frances Sonnenschein, ADL’s national educational director.
The producers will be consulting, during their planning and production work, with a panel of eminent Israelis, including authors and journalists.
The first broadcast, with tolerance as its theme, is scheduled for the end of November, and will feature Israeli celebrities speaking out against Kahane.
“American Jewry can no longer stand aside while democracy is endangered in the Jewish State,” said Wall. He noted that Israel and its supporters abroad have always stressed Israel’s uniqueness as the sole democracy in the region.
The ADL will be financing the broadcasts and Israel Television will screen them for no charge. The ADL also plans posters showing popular Israeli singing stars and sports people supporting the anti-Kahane campaign, and it is hoped that Egged buses will carry the posters to reach as wide a public as possible.
The ADL has material that was used to counter religious and racial prejudice in America, and the League believes that this can be adapted for use in an ongoing Ministry of Education school campaign to imbue Israeli school children with democratic values.
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