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Haim Yavin
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Haim Yavin (born September 10, 1932), also known as "Mr. Television", is a popular Israeli television anchor.
Yavin was born in 1932 in Oberschlesien, Germany (now Upper Silesia, Poland) as Heinz Kluger. He would later immigrate to Israel.
Since 1968, Yavin has read the nightly news on the "Mabat" ("Look") program of Israel's public TV station, Channel 1, which he helped found. This continued presence on Israeli TV has led him to be called "Mr. Television" by his viewers and also "Israel's Walter Cronkite" by the American press. He is often considered the "voice" of Israel, and was the chief editor for the nightly news casts.
Yavin caused controversy when his five-part documentary series—Land of the Settlers—was shown on Israeli's Channel 2 station Telad, beginning May 30, 2005. The documentary shows Yavin concluding that Israeli settlements are endangering Israel, and that the Israel must withdraw from the West Bank and Gaza Strip.
"Since 1967, we have been brutal conquerors, occupiers, suppressing another people," Yavin says at one point in the documentary.
Israeli settlers were outraged by this showing from one of Israel's most public figures. At that time execution of Israel's disengagement plan was less than three months away, and the series was viewed as support for it. Many settlers, among them the chairman of the Yesha Council, Benzi Lieberman, called for Channel One to fire Yavin.
The Israeli Broadcasting Authority did not fire him but signed him on for another year. In addition, Yavin's show remained one of the most popular in the country.