The evolution of the insult: How did the word "monkey" become a political weapon on live TV?

An article by Eli Ashkenazi examines the evolution of the word 'monkey' in Hebrew, from its use in criminal slang and a magistrate's court ruling, to the political epithet used by Yinon Magal against Gadi Eisenkot. The article reviews the racist history of the word in Europe, its use in Jewish texts, and its modern meaning as a person exploited by others.

An article by Eli Ashkenazi examines the evolution of the word 'monkey' in Hebrew, from its meaning as an animal to its use as a political tool and a derogatory term. The article begins with a ruling by Magistrate Judge Shamai Becker, who used the term 'monkey' to describe a weak person exploited by criminals in a tax evasion case involving $1.3 billion. From there, the article moves to the use of the term by Yinon Magal on live TV, when he called Gadi Eisenkot a 'monkey of elitist Ashkenazim'. The article reviews the history of the word, including its racist uses in colonial Europe against Africans, its use in the phrase 'mere monkey business' by the Chatam Sofer to describe technical imitation without understanding, and the modern meaning of 'monkey' as a naive person exploited by scammers. The article quotes attorney Talia Gridish describing a case of a person who served as a 'monkey' in a fraud case.