Abstract
<p>This qualitative textual analysis examines the journalistic coverage of the deaths of six former Beitar Movement commanders in the land of Israel: Shimshon Unichman (1961), Menachem Arber (1961), Eri Jabotinsky (1969), Binyamin Eliav (1974), Yonah Froehlich (1976) and Moshe Gold (1986), as reported in thirteen Hebraic newspapers. This line of inquiry reveals that while the deaths of these men constituted as notable media events in the revisionist party press, competing daily newspapers relegated the news to the margins, with rather informative, albeit respectful, mentions. Furthermore, the extent of each figure’s integration into Israeli public or political life after their term as Beitar commanders, as well as Eri Jabotinsky’s family lineage, significantly influenced the scope and tone of media coverage.Between the lines, this article also points to the early decline of the political-propaganda press, which often presented a one-dimensional worldvie. In practice, the Israeli press covered the deaths of former Beitar commanders in an informative and respectful manner, portraying them as national pioneers. Even more so, the revisionist press framed them as folk heroes (Unichman), as spokesmen for Ze’ev Jabotinsky (Arber) and as a source of personal and collective pride (Eri Jabotinsky). Coverage of the deaths of Eliav, Froehlich and Gold, however, was considerably more limited due to the closure of revisionist newspapers, Eliav’s ideological distancing from the political right, and Froehlich’s and Gold’s withdrawal from the political and public arenas. At the same time, and without exception, the journalistic coverage emphasized the Beitar ethos of courage, splendor and righteousness of cause.</p>