An Un-objective Look at the West Bank

Chaim Yavin: Israel's Walter Cronkite
By Erica Hagen 

Chaim Yavin, 40-year veteran anchorman of Israeli television, downplays the nearly career-destroying move that he made three years ago when he went on a personal mission to make a documentary about the West Bank.

"I am already old, so if they had fired me it would not have mattered very much," he joked recently at a discussion with students at Columbia's School of Journalism.

But Yavin's five-part documentary series, "The Land of the Settlers," which first aired in Israel in 2003, did more than put his job at state-sponsored Channel One in jeopardy. The film, a disturbing look at Israeli settlements in the West Bank territories, stirred up a host of sentiments about the Israel-Palestine conflict and sparked a debate over objectivity in journalism.

Soon after the documentary aired, there were calls for Yavin to be fired from his position at the station he helped found, based on claims that he had "lost his objectivity."

After four decades of presenting news "with my heart boiling" and no opportunity to air his own opinions, Yavin wanted to create a film that he saw as more of a personal diary than a traditional documentary. Armed only with a Sony handheld camera, Yavin risked his personal safety in the West Bank to make a film that is very critical of Israeli policy and especially of the settlers themselves.

"I did not set out to be objective," said Yavin. "I did not venture to try to find a solution for Israel and Palestine. I just wanted to give my first impression and my experience."

Yet, after years as a cultural icon, it was difficult for many Israelis to come to terms with the revelation that Yavin held strong, often unpopular, opinions about a sensitive political issue. Known alternately as the Walter Cronkite of Israel and "Mr. TV," Yavin has become a symbol of the medium itself.
Even Yavin tends to refer to himself in the third person, as though observing himself as a character on television.

"There are two parts to this schizophrenic Mr. Yavin," he said. "There is the part that does the news-and we know there is no such thing as objectivity in the news, but you try."

Then, there is the part of him that feels very strongly about the subject he covers: his own country.

In clips from his documentary that he showed to the Journalism School students, Yavin argues on camera with Jewish settlers who refuse to leave the area, interviews Palestinians waiting in long lines to cross checkpoints, and commiserates with disillusioned Israeli soldiers trying to enforce a curfew.

It is a film that perhaps no one but "Mr. TV" could have made. As a veritable grandfather figure to many young Israelis, it appears that no one could say no to Yavin, even when he openly disagrees with them on camera. Sometimes the subjects clearly wish he would turn the camera off, but Yavin always manages to exert a subtle influence and keep the camera rolling.

At one point, a young solider seen in action during an attack takes a moment to chide, "Chaim, please, my mother's going to see this!"

In conversation, Yavin sometimes appears to struggle with conflicting feelings about his country. He describes the "divided soul of the Israeli," one who may desire a homeland and expanded territory out of nationalism, but also knows that compromise is the only path to peace. At 74, Yavin has an air of thoughtfulness that seems to signal acknowledgement that there are no easy answers.

But even after so many years covering one of the most unstable and uncertain regions in the world, Yavin the journalist had to concede the thrill of reporting in Israel.

"It's a fantastic story. I think we live in one of the most fascinating spots on earth. As a journalist, it's like living in a drama all the time."

Yavin is currently working on a documentary about the Arab minority in Israel.
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This article was originally published in the April 2, 2007 issue of Communiqué.

Erica Hagen does double duty as Communique's SIPA News Editor and Photo Editor.