Itzik Bontzel, the father of a paratrooper reconnaissance soldier killed in Gaza, issued an urgent plea Friday afternoon to Israel's major TV networks — Keshet, Reshet, and Kan — asking them to cancel reality programming on Saturday night out of respect for the families of four soldiers killed in a disaster in Lebanon. He urged the public to turn off their televisions if broadcasters refuse to comply, describing the insistence on airing entertainment as a deep insult to the bereaved families and the national grief.
Itzik Bontzel, whose son was killed while serving in the paratroopers' reconnaissance unit in Gaza, called on Israeli TV channels Keshet, Reshet, and Kan to cancel all reality shows scheduled for Saturday night — including "Big Brother" and "Dancing with the Stars" — after four soldiers died in a disaster in Lebanon earlier this week. In a widely-shared message Friday afternoon, Bontzel said the families of the fallen had not yet fully received the news and that the country's heart was already shattered. He urged viewers to turn off their televisions if channels refuse to comply, framing the refusal as a choice between ratings and national solidarity. The plea reflects a recurring tension in Israeli society during wartime, where entertainment programming resumes quickly after casualty announcements. Bontzel explicitly addressed the political divide, stating the pain belongs to no single side of the map. As The Zioneer has previously reported, similar calls for media restraint have emerged after earlier incidents in the current conflict.
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