US media mogul tells i24NEWS: Israel recalls what it takes to 'fight for democracy'
David Zaslav talks about Jewish roots, launch of new series with Steven Spielberg and inspiring Eli Wiesel
“I love Israel, Tel Aviv is fantastic,” President and CEO of Discovery Inc. David Zaslav told i24NEWS in an interview, adding that he was terribly impressed with the Israeli economy.
“When you go to Israel there’s just a tremendous amount of energy, technology and IP,” Zaslav said, swiftly delving into the values he perceives as embodied by the state.
“I ran into a group of four, five friends of mine that I didn’t know were in Israel…thinking about that scene from Exodus I grew up watching… thinking about King David and how lucky we are to have Israel, what it took, the strength of the Hagana and the Irgun...to fight for a free democracy,” he said enthusiastically, alluding to paramilitary organizations that predated the founding of the state.
“It’s a shining light of democracy,” he continued. “It’s highly imperfect, there’s a lot you can say, but they’re continuing to strive toward the best democracy, and it’s a great country.”
The media titan spoke about his familial roots of eastern Europe in Poland’s Warsaw and Ukraine’s Odessa, who immigrated to the United States with “nothing” after they had to flee once anti-Semitism escalated, stripping his family of its wealth and belongings.
“My grandmother was on the street cleaning it with a toothbrush and was kicked… They said, ‘we have to get out of here,’” Zaslav recounted. “This idea of ‘Never Again,’ I lived with it from all four of my grandparents -- what they had and what was taken away from them.”
Famed Holocaust survivor, author Eli Wiesel was a significant influence on Zaslav as he “stood for that pure ideal, that we as Jews should stand up for everyone... because those around us did not stand up for us.”
Zaslav also elaborated on a new documentary series he is launching in October with director Steven Spielberg, named "Why We Hate." “Conditions today are very similar to what the conditions were in the 20s and early 30s,” said Zaslav.
The series reveals how a stagnating economy in Europe and Latin America along with technological revolution “that changed a lot of people’s lives” -- can breed a state of hopelessness that fuels hatred, he previewed.