Former news anchor and ex-Knesset member Miki Haimovich turned down an offer to co-anchor the main news edition with her longtime on-air partner Yaakov Eilon on the new Channel 16. According to the report, the channel had hoped to reunite the pair, as they had anchored together on Channel 22 and later Channel 10, but Haimovich said she does not want to present the news again.
Channel sources confirmed the report and said Haimovich did want to join the new channel, but in a different role focused on environmental issues rather than news presenting. The channel said today that news will not be the centerpiece of its schedule, and will instead sit alongside entertainment and other programming.
Haimovich and Eilon were once considered one of Israeli television’s leading duos. They first teamed up successfully on Channel 22, then Eilon broke up the partnership when he moved to Channel 10. Haimovich later followed him in one of the largest news-anchor contracts in Israeli television history.
Afterward, Haimovich announced her retirement from broadcasting and entered politics, which she later also left. Eilon later worked at Channel 11, the Walla website, and in recent years at Knesset Channel. Because of Haimovich’s refusal, Eilon will anchor the new channel’s news edition alone when broadcasts begin on June 28. Haimovich had not responded by the time of publication.
