How Did the Israeli Media Cover Beck's 'Restoring Courage' Event?

Below is a brief overview of some of the coverage major news outlets in Israel have given to Glenn's Restoring Courage event this week:

Ynet News reports that Glenn attracted more than 1,000 supporters, mostly Evangelical Christians from the U.S., at the Davidson Center near the Western Wall in Jerusalem.

They don't explain that attendance was restricted in the Davidson Center.  Our ticket count there was 1,600 and there were 3,000 more gathered at the alternate viewing site at Safra Square.

Ynet's article did focus on the leftist activists gathered outside to protest against Beck.

The protestors confronted Knesset Member Anastassia Michaeli (Yisrael Beiteinu) who was on her way inside to attend the rally.

The protestors followed her while calling out "racist" and "fascist". When she realized they would not stop, she walked up to them and tried to explain her opinions. At that point a heated debate ensued. The protestors claim that MK Michaeli also made harsh statements. Michaeli's spokesmen noted that the protestors spoke to her aggressively but did not get physical.

Ynet's Hebrew language site also focused on the Knesset member's confrontation with Peace Now.  It took them eight paragraphs to begin talking about the event itself.  But they did devote a whopping two paragraphs then covering the event.

Ma'ariv, also a Hebrew language site, touched on the rally itself, then referenced some of the protesters that were there, including the verbal scuffle between the Knesset member and Peace Now.

Israel's Channel 2 news began their report "The extremist American broadcaster Glenn Beck ..." so you get a sense of how that report went.

Channel 1 news (IBA) reported that American broadcaster, Glenn Beck, gathered people together in a ceremony to support Israel. The report does mention that Glenn's audience comprise Christians and American Jews but, unlike other reports, does not state that practically all of the participants are Evangelicals. Channel 1 was also the only outlet to mention the many "viewing parties" that were held to watch the events unfold.

Then, a less than flattering Associated Press piece stated: "The conservative commentator has won fans among Israel's far-right with his unabashedly pro-Israel, anti-Muslim rhetoric, and 2,000 people turned out to hear him speak next to the compound known to Jews as the Temple Mount and to Muslims as the Noble Sanctuary."

The rest of AP the article focused mainly on criticism of Glenn's support for Israel and a rehash of past statements.  And highlighted the 1,200 Facebook fans of the Peace Now protest group.  It failed to mention that Restoring Courage has 32,000 fans on Facebook.

All in all, a mixed media exists in Israel, just as it does here in the U.S.