On the evening of March 5, Housing Minister Uri Ariel’s spokesman sent a lengthy email message to political correspondents. The inviting subject line read: “Watch: Minister Ariel tells the Arab Knesset members, ‘We can do without you.’” The message included a link to a clip documenting the ugly confrontation that had taken place several hours earlier in the Knesset plenary between the minister from the HaBayit HaYehudi Party and a group of Knesset members from the Arab factions.
At the same time, all media attention was directed toward Israel’s seizure of the Klos-C weapons vessel; the altercation with the minister, which normally would have been prominently reported on the news, was barely mentioned. Ariel’s spokesman was not deterred by the lack of media interest in the incident and kept trying, unsuccessfully, to sell the “hot story” to reporters.
