Benny Ziffer fired from Haaretz newspaper: "They told me goodbye, and not see you later"
The editor of the newspaper's "Culture and Literature" supplement received notice at the end of the week regarding the termination of his employment at Haaretz after 37 years. In an interview with "Gam Ken Tarbut," Ziffer said: "The years have passed and they apparently want to refresh, but a literary supplement will never have traffic." Regarding his relationship with the Netanyahu family: "I do not blame the PM for 7/10. I was a friend of the PM and his wife - and I still am."
Benny Ziffer, editor of the "Culture and Literature" supplement of the Haaretz newspaper, will finish his role this coming October after almost four decades in the position. The decision was conveyed to him in a meeting held at the end of the week with the newspaper's publisher, Amos Schocken, and the editor-in-chief, Aluf Benn.
In an interview with Goel Pinto today (Monday) on the "Gam Ken Tarbut" program of the Kan 11 corporation, Ziffer said that along with him, journalist Neri Livneh, who has published a weekly column in the newspaper's supplement for about sixty years, and veteran illustrator Eran Wolkowski were also fired from the newspaper. According to him, the expanding dismissal process stems from an attempt by the newspaper's management to refresh the staff.
"They told me goodbye, goodbye and not see you later," Ziffer shared at the hearing. "I am not begging for anything. What they decided - they decided, the newspaper is not my father's."
When asked if he cried following the difficult decision, he replied: "I cannot say that I cried, but inside me, yes, inside me I shed a tear. Suddenly I understood what I had done to others, and that it is as if I deserve it for what happened to me."
"I do not blame Bibi for 7/10, we do not know who to blame exactly"
Looking back at his long and stormy career at the newspaper, Ziffer admitted that he acted intentionally to generate public interest and "be a celeb," among other things through his close friendship with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his wife Sara.
"I was not just the anonymous editor standing behind the pages, but I was also the friend of Bibi and Sara - and I still am," he clarified. To the question of whether the loss of the title will affect his ties with the Netanyahu couple, he replied: "The friendship between us, it does not stand on anything. It is not that now Sara will want to give me her poems that are not intended for publication and she will have nowhere to put them."
Ziffer further added about his relationship with the Prime Minister: "I do not blame Bibi for 7/10, we do not know who to blame exactly. Even if so, what does that have to do with our friendship? When you are in distress, then be a friend."
"A literary supplement will never have traffic"
Further on, Ziffer expressed veiled criticism of the changes the world of journalism is undergoing and the war over online viewing figures: "The years have passed and they apparently want to refresh. Today there is the story of traffic, so let them look for traffic. A literary supplement will never have traffic, even if they stand on their hind legs, because it is intended for the few."
In conclusion, Ziffer provided a gloomy forecast regarding the future of the newspaper where he worked for 37 years: "The moment the 'Culture and Literature' supplement ceases to exist, in my opinion, the 'Haaretz' newspaper will cease to exist. The elites are always few and that is the whole wisdom. I feel like a dinosaur in the world of journalism already, something primitive."
