Haredi Media Hypocrisy, Police Failure, and a Rare Archaeological Find on One TV Segment
The Israeli program "Davar Rishon" with Moshe Mans opened with a blunt critique of double standards among ultra-Orthodox media figures. Mans said a well-known social media commentator had publicly condemned police violence against protesters from the "HaPeleg" faction, but privately laughed at videos mocking beaten demonstrators. When Mans confronted him, the journalist replied, "I have to be outraged, for the public. If I defend the police, they will kill me. But if you ask me? They should be beaten to pieces. Whoever blocks the road violently will get violence." Mans attacked the use of whataboutism and comparisons to the Kaplan protest movement, arguing that such severe violence against the Haredi public cannot be justified.
He also aired a pointed internal exchange between a "Tzioni" and a mainstream Lithuanian Haredi man. Asked why they do not join street battles, the Lithuanian replied, "That is how it has always been in history, there are those who go out to war and those who sit and study."
Another segment focused on what Mans described as Israel Police’s failure to handle civilian crime. He highlighted the case of Anna Ziper, who posted a desperate plea after a hit-and-run crash near the Ganot Interchange on Highway 4 while riding a motorcycle. Mans asked why injured civilians are forced to become detectives and investigate who hit them instead of the police doing their job, especially when police devote large resources to dispersing protests while negligent driving cases are neglected.
The program also featured archaeologist Eliran Oren, one of the managers of the Israel Antiquities Authority excavation site in Binyamina. He described an accidental discovery made during work on Israel Railways’ "HaShdera HaMehirah" project, where two rare marble statues about 1,700 years old were uncovered, depicting figures from the Greco-Roman world in the era of Roman rule in the Land of Israel.
Mans then turned to a music review, criticizing a new trend in Hasidic videos made with artificial intelligence. He singled out the clip for "Ashrei Rabo" by Yoeli Davidovitz, Ahrale Samet, and the Neshama Choir, which was promoted as a revolutionary visual breakthrough. "Let’s be honest, a clip is not necessary," he said, adding that AI is no longer exciting and the song does not need such a video. The broadcast ended with a historical clip from Horal Asia of the "Historiz" project, recalling a nearly forgotten period when Israel’s national soccer team beat Lebanon, with an Arab-Israeli player in the lineup.
