Good evening.

The honorable President of the University, my friend, Prof. Itamar Rabinovich,

The Honorable Vice Prime Minister.  With your permission, two short comments, Shimon – you said two things which warrant a response. Firstly, you said that here, only when politicians die are they considered statesmen.  I think you are an exception. The entire world calls you a statesman.  Then you said something which puzzled me and seemed impossible to me. You said that you wanted politics to be like football – a game limited in time.

The Honorable Minister of Tourism, Yitzhak Herzog, and Mrs. Herzog,

The Honorable former Minister of Foreign Affairs, my friend Silvan Shalom, and Judy,

They tell me that the mayor of Tel Aviv is here, so the Honorable Mayor of Tel Aviv, Ron Huldai,

Chairman of the Jewish Agency,

Friends and admirers of tonight's hero, Moishik Teomim, and Mrs. Teomim,

Dear friends,

There are many people who “see red" when they see Moishik, but this does not undermine their love and respect for him.  I must say that for myself, my affection for him, especially these days, is purer and more complete – following last week's sweet victory, because it is accompanied by the generosity of winners.

This love and appreciation is at the basis of the decision to establish a Chair for communications in the name of Moshe Teomin at the Tel Aviv University – a Chair which combines two things which are so close to Moishik's heart: contributing to society, and the field of communications.

The importance Moishik attributes to working for society can be seen in the activity of the football team Hapoel Keter Tel Aviv – which is identified with Moshik more than with anyone else, even more than Sami, who invested in it even more than he has contributed to this important Chair. The importance of the Hapoel Tel Aviv activity is mainly in the field of education, when, simultaneously with sports activity, football has been developed as a tool which generates change in weaker sectors, primarily needy populations in Israeli society.

Hapoel Tel Aviv has established a network of football schools, reaching thousands of children in the social and geographical periphery of the State of Israel.  It engaged in heartwarming educational activity for children on the northern border, children of the Arab and Bedouin sectors, Ethiopian children, juvenile delinquents who have been given hope for rehabilitation, and children in boarding schools of the Council for the Child in Placement. 

I will, of course, not go into the argument with Hapoel Tel Aviv as to which is the country's best football team.  But it appears that in this realm of assistance to the community, and primarily assistance to children in this country, Hapoel Keter Tel Aviv is the champion, and Moishik has a considerable part in this ongoing championship.

However, the Chair which we are inaugurating today is the Chair for communications, and one must say, in honor of the distinguished institute which houses this Chair, the Tel Aviv University, a few words on this field, which is so sensitive and problematic.

In the reality in Israel, it is a field which requires high quality contribution – because of the great importance of media in a democratic country.

One can, of course, address the subject of the media with amusement.  I must tell you that these days, it is the only way I can address it, but it is good to maintain proportion.  English author Samuel Butler said: "the best service journalism can render to society is by teaching its readers that the written word should be treated with skepticism". 

It was someone else who said: "I read newspapers avidly – no fictional literature is more enjoyable". And another saying by Adlai Stevenson, twice a U.S. Presidential candidate and subsequently U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations: "an editor is someone who separates the wheat from the chaff and then prints the chaff".

However, this subject is too serious to be addressed with humorous quotes.  At the opposite end – of seriousness and gravity – is the unforgettable saying by Thomas Jefferson: "if I could choose between a government without newspapers and a press without government, I would unhesitatingly have picked the latter".

It is, of course, difficult to overstate the importance of journalism, and media in general, in a democratic society. Journalism has often been referred to as "the watchdog of democracy".  It is such a vital role, that one must guarantee that it is exercised in the best way.  The feeling is that it is not always so.

To be fair, it must be said that media at this age – and not only in Israel – is forced to confront two obstacles which make it hard for it to fulfill its duties properly and meet our expectations of it. 

Firstly, one cannot overlook the fact that we are living in a post-modern era, which is also characterized in the media by a cynical and critical approach to the term "truth".  There is no single truth.  The truth no longer reflects reality, but rather a private opinion.  There is no hierarchy of ideas, no just worldview or one that is more justified or less justified.  Anything goes. Everything is okay.

This equality is morally dangerous because it cancels the importance of values.  The result is that if there is not one single truth, there is also no lie – and there is no bigger lie than this. 

We see it in foreign media reports and the way they cover events in Israel.  With the excuse that the truth is only in the eyes of the beholder, the media feels that it is relieved of the duty to tell the truth and study the truth, and lies are reported as truths. 

The second obstacle is one that first and foremost damages the electronic media – primarily television, but also radio and internet, and that is the obstacle of "clips".

Everything is rapid, everything is "clippy", everything must be delivered within minutes and then it is necessary to move on, otherwise viewers may be bored.

But the truth is not always brief.  Mostly it is complicated, and in order for a report or analysis to be complete, one cannot settle for sketching some lines and achieving a summary which is inevitably not on a par with the truth.

The approach towards media consumers has also changed, and the media, in trying to cater to consumers' taste, adapts itself accordingly – for the worse.  The reader or viewer is perceived as being motivated primarily by the pursuit of pleasure, and therefore what must be provided first of all is entertainment.

This makes the media’s work very shallow, distances it from providing an honest reflection of reality and encourages the pursuit of sensation, which is nothing more than entertainment.  This pursuit has always existed, but I feel that lately it is threatening to become a "national calamity".

The results were, of course, evident in the coverage of the recent war, and I will not go into detail as to my opinion of that coverage.  I heard that the new Israel Press Council decided at its first session to appoint a committee which would establish rules for ethical conduct by the media during war, and I welcome this initiative.

In this problematic media reality, only a very defined and direct effort can assist the media in overcoming the obstacles with which it must contend, and an academic Chair for communications at a leading university such as the Tel Aviv University, can certainly be the right place to warn against risks and educate the media personnel on how to overcome them.

This is how Moshik Teomin will make another contribution – to society and media in Israel.

“The work of the righteous is carried out by others” – and tonight we are getting further proof of the well known righteousness of Moishik.

Thank you, and Moishik, don’t forget – yallah Beitar.

Good evening.