Netanyahu calls Magal's remark highly inappropriate and condemns it
Benjamin NetanyahuPrime minister of Israel and Likud chairman, in an interview with Radio North 104.5FM
In a radio interview the morning after the broadcast, Netanyahu calls Magal's remark highly inappropriate and says he condemns it, then says Eisenkot should condemn insults directed at Likud voters.
Responding to
Galia Albin and others have called Likud supporters chimpanzees and baboons.
“That is a highly inappropriate remark, and I condemn it (Translated from Hebrew. Original: זו אמירה מאוד לא ראויה, אני מגנה אותה)”
Reporting
Reporting
Where this statement fits
Channel 14 host Yinon Magal calls Gadi Eisenkot a "monkey"; Netanyahu condemns the remark but says Likud voters are insulted every day
On the Channel 14 program "The Patriots" on October 17, 2026, host Yinon Magal repeatedly called Yashar party chairman Gadi Eisenkot a "monkey" and said Ashkenazi elites stood behind him and ran him. Eisenkot, a former IDF chief of staff of Moroccan heritage, is Benjamin Netanyahu's main challenger in the October 27 election. Yashar and other critics called the remark racist. Magal said he had used the word as an underworld expression for a front man controlled by others and called the controversy fake. Netanyahu condemned the remark the next day but said Likud voters face insults every day, and National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir said the remark was not racist.
Source and context
Reporting
About this source
Times of Israel report on Benjamin Netanyahu's October 18, 2026 interview with Radio North 104.5FM about Yinon Magal's remark, with reactions from Gadi Eisenkot, the Yashar party, Avigdor Liberman and others.
Reporting
About this source
Hebrew report by the news site Kipa on Benjamin Netanyahu's Radio North interview about Yinon Magal's remark, with Netanyahu's words in the original Hebrew and Gadi Eisenkot's remarks at a conference on the communities near the Gaza border.
Archived copy (opens in a new tab)Before the quotation
Asked about Magal's remark in an interview with Radio North 104.5FM, Netanyahu responds after the remark drew accusations of racism and Yashar criticized him for not condemning it.
After the quotation
Netanyahu then says he would have liked Eisenkot to condemn remarks by businesswoman Galia Albin and others calling Likud supporters chimpanzees and baboons, and says contempt for Likud voters is a daily occurrence.
How this statement is classified
The label describes this statement's response within the context above.
Why this label?
The reference point is Magal's on-air remark calling Gadi Eisenkot a monkey run by Ashkenazi elites. Netanyahu calls the remark highly inappropriate and says he condemns it. His added criticism of Eisenkot over insults he says target Likud voters does not withdraw that condemnation.
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- Yinon Magal
More from this case
Read the full caseEisenkot says the voice is Magal's and the hands are Netanyahu's
“Last week he talked about bereaved families. The voice is Yinon's voice and the hands are Netanyahu's hands (Translated from Hebrew. Original: שבוע שעבר הוא דיבר על משפחות שכולות. הקול קול ינון והידיים ידי נתניהו)”Read statement
Ben-Gvir says calling Magal's remark racist is a complete distortion
“It is clear to everyone that Yinon used the expression "monkey" in a political context, when what he meant, in his words, was a straw candidate run by others. Going from there to turning his words into a racist statement against Mizrahim is a complete distortion of what was said (Translated from Hebrew. Original: לכולם ברור שינון השתמש בביטוי "קוף" בהקשר פוליטי, כשהכוונה לדבריו הייתה למועמד קש שמריצים אחרים. מכאן ועד להפוך את הדברים לאמירה גזענית נגד מזרחים - הוא סילוף מוחלט של הדברים)”Read statement
Magal calls the uproar over his remark a fake controversy
“My response to another fake "Yinon Magal controversy" (Translated from Hebrew. Original: תגובתי לעוד פייק "סערת ינון מגל")”Read statement
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The Dispute Index. "Netanyahu calls Magal's remark highly inappropriate and condemns it". First published: 2026-10-21. Last updated: 2026-10-21. https://disputeindex.com/events/6437-in-a-radio-interview-the-morning-after-the