Izik Bunzel, the father of Staff Sgt. Amit Bunzel, called on Israeli television channels on Friday to break from routine and cancel planned reality programming for Saturday night, in solidarity with the families of four soldiers killed overnight in southern Lebanon. He said that when many families have not yet received the heartbreaking news, continuing with entertainment “will be seen as disrespect” at a time when “the heart of an entire country is shattered.”
Bunzel said the public mood is especially grim because “in recent months we are burying our best sons almost every day.” He added that “seconds after the names and photos of the fallen are allowed for publication, the screen quickly returns to detached routine, entertainment, laughter and ratings.” In his words, persisting with such broadcasts would be viewed as “deep contempt” for bereaved families and for the nation’s pain.
He also appealed for national unity around the shared grief, saying the soldiers who died “defended us all together, without distinction.” If the channels refuse to comply, he urged viewers not to cooperate, and instead to turn off the television or switch to another channel that respects the mourning. “Not to cooperate with the detachment, to turn off the screen or move to another channel that will honor the grief,” he said, calling abstaining from viewing “our consumer and moral power as a people.”
Bunzel is the father of Amit Bunzel, a reserve soldier and squad commander in the Paratroopers Reconnaissance Unit, who was killed in fighting in the central Gaza Strip. According to the report, Amit was leading his troops in an assault on a large terrorist nest during a bloody battle in which eight of his soldiers were seriously wounded. He was killed while walking at the front of the force and carrying out his role as commander.
