Supreme Court freezes government move to reshape Second Authority council

Israel’s High Court of Justice on Wednesday issued an interim order freezing government decisions to change the makeup of the Second Authority for Television and Radio council, saying the current council will remain in office until the petitions against the move are decided. The ruling was issued by Chief Justice Yitzhak Amit, Justice Alex Stein and Justice Ruth Ronen in five separate petitions filed by the Journalists’ Organization, Channel News Company, the Movement for Quality Government, the Press Council and the Association for the Protection of Legal Values.

The court suspended government decisions from March 24 and March 31 this year that sought to appoint a new council. It said, “We hereby issue, until our final judgment on the petitions, an interim order freezing the government decisions that are the subject of the petitions, with all that this entails.” In practical terms, the outgoing council remains in place and is not being replaced for now.

The most unusual part of the decision concerned recent resignations by several council members. After reviewing affidavits, the justices wrote that there was a “serious suspicion” the resignations were meant only to thwart earlier court rulings and obstruct the court’s ability to examine the issues. They pointed to the “suspiciously close timing” of the resignations, the communications minister’s actions and earlier Supreme Court decisions, and noted that most of those who quit left only the existing council while seeking to continue on the new one. The court said this “on its face” does not align with the duty of loyalty required under the Second Authority law.

To prevent the council’s work from being paralyzed, the justices ruled that the resigning members will not be counted for quorum purposes in the current council during the interim order. They described the case as involving “unique and exceptional circumstances” and said they would issue a final ruling “as soon as possible.”

The petitions challenge the government and Communications Minister Shlomo Karhi’s effort to alter the council that oversees Israel’s commercial television and radio broadcasters, including major news outlets such as Channel 12 News and Channel 13 News. The petitioners argue the appointments were driven by political considerations and were intended to increase government influence over media regulation. Karhi responded that the court is acting unlawfully and said, “The law says at least 2/3 out of 15 council members are needed,” while claiming the remaining seven members of the outgoing council cannot legally act.