The Palestinian media have been avidly following the developments in the police investigations of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his confidants that have been rocking Israel. The Palestinian media regularly cover events in Israel, often in a cynical tone, sometimes even with unabashed glee at the prospect of Netanyahu's being booted shamefaced out of office. All the Palestinian journalists spoken with for this article were astounded and impressed by how undaunted the Israeli media have been in reporting the Netanyahu affairs.
“I have been following all the reports and I know all the players involved,” a veteran Palestinian journalist at a West Bank newspaper told Al-Monitor. The journalist, who spoke on condition of anonymity, served nine years in an Israeli prison for security-related offenses. He said Palestinian prisoners have always watched Israeli television while in jail and have been exposed at length to the ways of Israeli politics. “We learned how the democratic election process works in Israel,” he noted. “The prisoners adopted the system in order to elect their leadership in a totally democratic fashion, while ensuring freedom of choice. After the establishment of the Palestinian Authority [PA], the democratic system was adopted in the elections for the president and parliament.”
