The Right-leaning Channel 14 central news program host Maggie Tabibi, and host and actor Aviv Alush, also right-leaning, have been picked to host the National Ceremony marking 56 years since the liberation and reunification of Jerusalem on the Ammunition Hill, Thursday, May 18.
Jerusalem Day is a national holiday celebrated in Israel on Iyar 28, to commemorate the unification of the city of Jerusalem under Israeli sovereignty on the same date in 5727, June 7, 1967, following the battle for eastern Jerusalem in the Six Day War. The day was established by the Knesset in the Jerusalem Day Law.
The battle for Jerusalem was one of the hardest and bloodiest battles in the Six-Day War. The fighting took place in a relatively small area, and 182 Israeli soldiers were killed, roughly a quarter of all the fatalities suffered by Israel in the entire War. An estimated 400 Jordanian soldiers were killed as well. On Iyar 28, IDF soldiers took control of the Old City, most importantly the Temple Mount and the Western Wall.
President Itzhak Herzog, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Supreme Court President Esther Hayut, Speaker of the Knesset Amir Ohana, Minister of Jerusalem Affairs and Heritage Meir Porush, and Jerusalem Mayor Moshe Lion. The event will feature entertainment by Avraham Fried, Rotem Cohen, Yuval Dayan, Idan Amadi, military bands, and dance bands.
A memorial candle-lighting ceremony will be held at the event.
A month ago, Tabibi was chosen to host the state memorial ceremony for IDF soldiers and victims of terrorism that took place on Mount Herzl on Memorial Day. Together with an ever-growing group of right-wing media celebrities who are abandoning the left-leaning propaganda channels 11, 12, and 13, Tabibi has been leading Chanel 14 to great ratings, leaving behind the competition except for Channel 12, which is still in the lead.
Channel 14 is benefiting from the realization among Israeli viewers on the right that they no longer have to be exposed to hostile messages coming from the country’s media elites. The decision to pick Tabibi and Alush is both a gesture to Channel 14 and the vast majority of Israelis who are overlooked by the country’s mainstream media.
