Attorney General Gari Baharav Miara today sent an opinion to Justice Minister Yariv Levin, opposing the bill to privatize the Israeli Public Broadcasting Corporation, which broadcasts under the name KAN, and regarding the impact of the bill on the communications market. Painted a dark picture. The bill, drafted by MK Tali Gotlif (Likud) and promoted by Communications Minister Shlomo Karhi, was approved today by the Cabinet Legislative Committee, chaired by Levin.
According to the bill, Israel Public Broadcasting Corporation would be shut down within two years. The laws regulating its activities will be repealed. The Second Bureau of Television and Radio publishes tenders to select licensees for television broadcasting on the channels used by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting. If the winner is selected, they will be given a license for private commercial broadcasting. If no winner is selected, “the Corporation for Public Broadcasting shall cease broadcasting and cease all activities related to broadcasting within two years from the entry into force of this law.” The bill proposes similar treatment for the Corporation for Public Broadcasting’s radio broadcasts, and the Corporation’s news and current affairs bureau, Rechet Bet, is expected to be put to bid for privatization.
“Complete and absolute abolition of public broadcasting in Israel”
Legal opinion written by Adv. Avitar Sompolinski, Deputy Attorney General for Public Law and Constitutional Affairs, Deputy Chief Justice; Deputy Attorney General for Economic Law Meir Levin said: “The immediate importance of this bill is the complete and absolute abolition of public broadcasting in Israel and the fundamental change in Israel’s communications map. We cannot make a decision to do so.” The hasty provision of a primary voice in a private member’s bill without a professional basis is contrary to the way the government has approached this issue to date, and this is a matter of great public importance. That’s a problem. It is being considered as part of the work of government officials, including the work of a series of public commissions appointed by the government to investigate this issue. ”
A representative for the attorney general pointed out the connection between Gotliff’s bill and other initiatives promoted by the government, saying, “At the heart of the bill is a desire to end the Corporation’s broadcasts because of its content.” “There are doubts that this is the case,” he concludes.
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Bill proposes abolishing public broadcasting in Israel
The government has recently been pushing a private member’s bill by Likud MPs aimed at restricting press freedom. A bill proposed by MK Abihai Boaron aims to allow the government to significantly reduce the budget of the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, while a bill proposed by MK Shalom Danino would require the measurement of television ratings. It is intended to be under government control. Karuhi has refused to extend the terms of two members of the company’s board of directors, effectively paralyzing the board’s operations.
In light of this situation, the Attorney General’s Opinion stated that, “Even if the various measures do not ultimately materialize, they will each individually, and certainly cumulatively, It has a substantial and profound chilling effect on the organization.”
“The message for the telecommunications market is clear: criticism of the government or the broadcasting of content it does not like will lead to action against the telecommunications organization, which can be restricted with immediate action and without the effort of staff. “Promotion of private member’s bill,” the opinion states.
Contrary to the communications minister’s repeated message that the measures he is pushing are aimed at increasing competition and diversity in the industry, the opinion said: “The end of the Corporation’s news and current affairs broadcasts is clearly It has a negative impact.” “It will widen the range of voices in Israel’s marketplace of ideas,” he said, adding that the bill would seriously harm freedom of expression and the press.
Published by Globes, Israel Business News – en.globes.co.il – on November 24, 2024.
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