CRAFT: Deciphering the Russian Disinformation War
by Georgia Gee
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Just a year ago, Channel 14 was a distant competitor to Israel's major news networks. But the ultranationalist broadcaster has seen a rapid change in its fortunes of late, from a niche station to Israel’s answer to Fox News. Could it be down to its cozy relationship with Benjamin Netanyahu?
Ever-dwindling ad revenue and the constant battle for audience share makes television news a cut-throat industry. So in March, when Sharon Gal, a popular news anchor on Israel’s Channel 13, made the jump to its rival Channel 14, it was indicative of more than just Gal’s ambitions.
A year earlier, Channel 14 would barely have been considered a competitor to Israel’s main news stations. But the ultranationalist broadcaster has seen a rapid change in its fortunes over the past few months, evolving from a politically niche station into Israel’s counterpart to Fox News. It is a transformation that some have put down to a cozy relationship with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
“In the past year, Channel 14 went from being an obscure news channel to one of the most watched channels on Israeli television,” Simona Weinglass, a Times of Israel reporter, told Whale Hunting. “It appears to be attempting to push public discourse in a right-wing, perhaps even extreme right-wing, direction.”
This year has been momentous for Channel 14’s ratings – its incendiary flagship panel show “The Patriots” won 9.3% of the Jewish viewing public in July, and by October, it was beating Channel 12, Israel’s principal mainstream news outlet, to top the top spot.
Burgeoning viewer ratings attracted television talent like Sharon Gal. But more importantly, even before its audience boom, Channel 14 was winning the affections of Netanyahu. According to Israeli media watchdog The 7th Eye, the prime minister exclusively appeared on the station for at least seven on-air interviews in 2023, whilst completely ignoring Israel's main news channels.
There are multiple reasons for Netanyahu’s overt support for Channel 14. The first, most obviously, is the station’s ceaseless backing for the prime minister and its zealous support for the war in Gaza. The second is his relationship with the station’s controlling shareholder, Yitzchak ‘Slava’ Mirilashvili, and his billionaire father, Mikhail Mirilashvili.
A FAMILY AFFAIR
Mikhail Mirilashvili was born in Georgia, then part of the Soviet Union, in the 1960s. After moving to St Petersburg as a teenager, Mikhail studied paediatrics, but eventually abandoned medicine after becoming intrigued by the quick cash offered by the gambling industry.
In 1992, Mikhail launched ‘Konti’, which quickly became one of Russia's largest gambling enterprises, with a vast network of slot machines in Europe. His proximity to Russia’s criminal underbelly would later become evident when he was jailed for eight years in 2001 on charges of kidnapping and attempted murder, in an apparent revenge plot following the earlier kidnapping of his father. Mikhail later appealed to the European Court of Human Rights, arguing he did not have a fair trial in Russia, and in 2009, the court found his rights had been violated.
Eventually, Mikhail moved his family to Israel, including his young son, Yitzchak ‘Slava’ Mirilashvili. Slava would go on to become a social media mogul known for co-founding VKontakte, the Russian equivalent of Facebook, with Telegram CEO Pavel Durov, before later venturing into television with the purchase of Channel 20, a minor station covering Jewish “heritage” issues.
SUMMONING WATER FROM ROCK
The move to Israel suited Mikhail, too. He set up local businesses and became actively involved in several Jewish advocacy organisations. In 2014, he began investing in Water-Gen, an Israeli startup that had developed technology to extract clean drinking water from humidity in the air.
Mikhail’s interest in the company appears to have gone hand-in-hand with that of Netanyahu. As the billionaire philanthropist moved to obtain 100 percent of Water-Gen’s controlling shares and become the company’s president, the prime minister promoted the company on the world stage in front of diplomats and heads of state.
In 2017, Netanyahu presented Water-Gen to the UN secretary general, António Guterres, at a meeting about the humanitarian crisis in Gaza, and in 2018, at a summit for the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, Netanyahu compared its technology to Moses summoning water from a rock.
At the same time as Netanyahu was showering praise on Mikhail’s business, the television station belonging to his son, Channel 20, was showering praise on Netanyahu.
At the 2018 summit for the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, Netanyahu plugged Water-Gen by comparing its technology to Moses summoning water from a rock.
CHANNEL 20 HITS THE BIG TIME
Channel 20 began life as a Jewish heritage channel in 2014, meaning it was barred from broadcasting news programs. Such restrictions did not appear to matter to Slava Mirilashvili, its controlling shareholder, and the station was repeatedly fined for violations of this rule – including airing interviews with Netanyahu himself.
But in 2018, the prime minister initiated a policy shift that would put the station on a path to mainstream news. With Netanyahu’s backing, the Knesset passed legislation permitting Channel 20 to broadcast as much commercial news as it liked – and even granted it an exemption from licence fees imposed on other broadcasters.
"Although Netanyahu and the Mirilashvilis firmly deny any collusion, it's hard to ignore that Channel 14’s positive coverage of the prime minister appears to have coincided with a significant uptick in the station’s fortunes."
Then in 2021 came the station’s golden opportunity: a tender was opened for the 14th programming slot on Israeli TV receivers, and Slava was not to be outbid. The station paid 5 million NIS (then $1.54m) for the slot, and Channel 20 became Channel 14 – directly following the main news stations on channels 11, 12 and 13.
By now, the station was well known for its right-wing bent, its passionate support of Netanyahu, and its connections with the Mirilashvili family. When questioned by Israeli newspaper Haaretz about the implications of its pro-Netanyahu coverage and the family’s cozy ties with the prime minister, Channel 14 hit back with a statement:
“Our success is leading to attempts at slander and the spreading of false and tendentious information. For example, the attempt to connect presumably positive coverage of the prime minister and the promotion of Water-Gen. The channel has no connection to the aforementioned company [...] Regarding the claim that we were the only channel on which the prime minister was willing to be interviewed – there’s no media outlet in Israel, either large or small, that would refuse such an interview. That’s why it’s a surprising accusation.”
To be clear, Water-Gen is owned by Mikhail Mirilashvili, and not his son Slava. In 2023, Mikhail’s lawyers even threatened to sue anti-judicial reform activists in Israel for connecting him to Channel 14, accusing them of defamation. The activists had posted on social media suggesting Mikhail was the real owner of Channel 14, as well as accusing him of having close ties to President Putin and Yevgeny Prigozhin, leader of the mercenary group Wagner.
THE MIRILASHVILIS AND PUTIN
Despite Netanyahu’s endorsements and a successful clean water company, the Mirilashvili family has not been able to prevent their image from being tarnished by troubling connections.
For example, Slava Mirilashvili’s venture capital firm, Rainfall Ventures, boasts Selectel, a Russian data center provider, among its primary assets. Selectel has connections to the Russian state, including (as of September 2021) contracts with the Russian Federal Security Service, or FSB.
In 2022, Selectel experienced significant growth following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, reporting a 70% increase in total revenue and net income three times that of the previous year.
Slava’s father, Mikhail, also had financial affiliations with Yevgeny Prigozhin, the late leader of the private militia group Wagner. The connection resulted in Mikhail’s inclusion on the Ukrainian sanctions list in February 2023, although he circumvented further penalties by promptly distancing himself from his holding company, Petro Mir LLC.
He did so by transferring a majority stake in the $33 million enterprise to his longstanding confidant and legal advisor, Sergei Medvedev – a common manoeuvre among affluent Russians seeking to evade sanctions.
THE OLIGARCH AND THE PRIME MINISTER
Although Netanyahu and the Mirilashvilis firmly deny any collusion, it's hard to ignore that Channel 14’s positive coverage of the prime minister appears to have coincided with a significant uptick in the station’s fortunes.
It is likely that the October 7 attacks moved Israeli public opinion and boosted support for war in Gaza. But Channel 14 has courted extreme positions beyond right-wing political perspectives, including promoting conspiracy theories like suggestions that protests against the Israeli government’s judicial overhaul had been supported by the CIA.
"The senior Mirilashvili broke his usual silence to remonstrate the channel’s critics, arguing that 'they are unable to accept something in the state of Israel that doesn’t correspond to their beliefs...'"
The station’s flagship political show “The Patriots” has also been repeatedly criticized for using dehumanizing and degrading rhetoric, including remarks from panellist like “there is no population in Gaza; there are 2.5 million terrorists” and "Gaza should be totally wiped out, not one person should be left there".
In September 2024, three Israeli organizations called for an investigation into the repeated incitement of violence against Palestinian civilians on Channel 14. In a letter to Israel’s Attorney General, they detailed more than 50 instances of the news channel airing calls for genocide against Palestine and demanded action be taken. They added: “This is a platform that enjoys regulatory benefits from the government and promotes Prime Minister Netanyahu’s agenda.”
Neither Slava nor his father Mikhail have publicly expressed concerns about the inflammatory rhetoric on Channel 14. However, in a rare interview with Hebrew-language daily newspaper Israel Hayom, the senior Mirilashvili broke his usual silence to remonstrate the channel’s critics, arguing that “they are unable to accept something in the state of Israel that doesn’t correspond to their beliefs, and that is why they are attacking the channel.”
For Netanyahu, an attack on the channel is an attack on him. For the Mirilashvilis, intentionally or not, it is an attack on their interests and influence.
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