End-of-Season Clearance on Common Sense

If you’ve recently felt that everyone around you is speaking like a Tel Aviv radio commercial, you’re not alone.
“The world is complicated,” they say – and then immediately sell you a painfully simple one.
“We must listen to all sides,” they insist – right before choosing a side. Their side. And muting the rest.

Welcome to the mental marketplace.
Half-price lies. Buy-one-get-one-free half-truths. A clearance sale on moral blindness.
Everything wrapped in elegant packaging, fronted by an academic spokesperson and a former IDF officer who provides that comforting illusion of authority – like a helmet from IKEA. Looks solid. Assembles poorly.

But what happens when the public stops buying?
When the brand called “Objective Media” no longer moves units?

Like any failing business, it starts screaming at the customers.

Journalism Isn’t a Profession Anymore – It’s Theatre

Israeli media, much like its American cousin, hasn’t been about reporting for a long time. It’s about directing.

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Once upon a time, reporters went into the field with a notebook.
Today they go with a script – and a clear mission statement:
“Bring material that supports the narrative.”

Which narrative? Depends on the day.

Yesterday: Israel is to blame.
Today: The right is dangerous.
Tomorrow: Settlers eat babies for breakfast.

And it’s all broadcast under banners like “24/7 News – Transparent Truth.”
Transparent, indeed. Like aquarium glass: you see everything, but you can’t breathe inside.

Anyone who refuses to play along disappears.
Voices from the periphery fade out.
Officers who speak out of line vanish.
Experts who don’t chant the approved mantras are suddenly “irrelevant.”

The media calls this “editorial consistency.”
We call it propaganda.

Control the Narrative, Control the Mind

It’s fashionable to say traditional media has lost its power in the age of social networks.
That’s comforting – and wrong.

The media didn’t lose control. It changed strategy.

It no longer monopolizes information.
It monopolizes tone.
Framing.
Which questions are allowed to be asked.

Even when you’re exposed to a million opinions, you’ll keep seeing the same “concerns” recycled:

Is Israel losing its democratic soul?
Are settlers really contributing to the economy?
Is Netanyahu basically Santa Claus – but evil?

These aren’t innocent questions.
They’re marketing tools.

First, you create emotional urgency:
“I’m worried. I care. I’m alarmed.”

Then you offer the solution:
Vote for the right party.
Adopt the correct opinion.
Boycott the wrong symbol (hint: it’s usually a flag).

When People Stop Buying, the Seller Loses His Mind

Here’s the problem: something broke.

In recent years, especially outside the Tel Aviv bubble, people started raising an eyebrow.
They noticed no one on screen looks like their neighbors.
Or the reservist in the bunker.
Or the mother in Samaria.

Slowly, quietly – they stopped buying the story.

And then the meltdown began.

They called it “populism.”
They called it “violent discourse.”
They called it “fake news” – even when it came straight from the field.

And when that didn’t work, they called the public something else entirely:

A herd.

Yes. A herd that refuses to be convinced.
What a delicious paradox.

So What Are They Really Selling Us?

Strip away the slogans, and the product becomes clear:

That the country belongs to the elites.
That the right is “good for security” but “dangerous for democracy.”
That religious people are acceptable only if they vote left.
That the periphery doesn’t know what’s good for it.
That reservists who keep fighting are just “tools” of Netanyahu.
That reality on the ground matters less than the studio narrative.

All of it wrapped in emotional music, sensitive framing, and a chief editor who quietly believes elections are a tragic mistake made by the masses.

The Public Learns to Be a Tough Customer

Now for the good news.

The public is learning how to shop smarter.

It doesn’t fall for every promo.
It doesn’t buy every campaign.
And it no longer assumes that a man with glasses is automatically intelligent.

Even better – new voices are emerging.
Alternative platforms.
People speaking plainly, without scripts, without studio-approved language.

And when that happens, the dynamic changes.

There’s less fear.
More logic.
Less obedience.

And the studio salesman is left standing there, awkwardly, with shelves full of propaganda nobody wants – wondering why people prefer reality over interpretation.

The Market Is Open. The Buyers Are Awake.

You can sell the public many things.
But you can’t sell them the idea that common sense is racism, and values are fascism.

You can manipulate soundbites.
You can polish headlines.
You can choreograph outrage.

But you can’t force everyone to sing in the same choir.

Eventually, the public asks the most Israeli question of all:

“So… are you kidding me?”

And the journalist replies:
“No. I’m delivering the news.”

And the public answers:
“Great. Then we’ll deliver the bill.”

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