Federman reaches settlement with satiric duo

Duo called Federman's 12-year-old daughter unexpectedly and broadcast interview live.

By TALYA HALKIN
Shai Goldstein and Dror Rafael - the duo whose satiric radio program, "Shai and Dror," is known for its outspoken and at times outrageous style and content - will pay NIS 22,625 to extreme right-wing activist Noam Federman, together with Radio Tel Aviv. The legal settlement between Goldstein, Rafael and Radio Tel Aviv and Federman was reached following an appeal filed by Federman to a Tel Aviv court. The appeal concerned an incident that took place in June 2004, while Federman was held in administrative detention. During that time, Goldstein and Rafael called up Federman's 12-year-old daughter unexpectedly, and initiated a phone conversation with her. The act of surprising various people with a phone call during a live radio show, and of asking a range of often intrusive and abrasive questions, is one of the duo's signature tactics. According to Federman, the two made fun of his daughter and of him, and made sexual insinuations concerning his relationship with his wife. Prior to the settlement, Federman had demanded NIS 100,000 for abuse, humiliation and expression of contempt. Radio Tel Aviv director general, Eva Madjiboj, told the Jerusalem Post that both the duo and the radio station regarded the exchange between the show's two hosts and Federman's daughter as "inappropriate." "We apologized from the bottom of our hearts the following day both on air and to the daughter," Madjiboj said. "Nevertheless, I don't believe any damage was caused." She added that the station had decided to reach a settlement in order to be practical, and so that Federman's daughter would not have to appear in court. Nevertheless, she said, she did not believe Goldstein and Rafael's actions caused the kind of damage that necessitated monetary compensation.