Israel's Supreme Court Nullifies Appointments to Broadcast Council

Israel's Supreme Court unanimously voided the government's appointments of Dr. Yifat Ben-Haim Segal as Chairwoman of the Second Authority for Television and Radio Council, and of Adv. Kineret Brashi and Dr. Haim Shine as council members. The court, led by President Yitzhak Amit and including Justices Ruth Ronen and Alex Stein, cited administrative flaws, particularly a lack of factual basis presented to the appointments committee. For Ben-Haim Segal, the court also found that the Prime Minister violated conflict of interest rules.

The government initially appointed 15 members to the council on March 24, 2026, including Ben-Haim Segal as chairwoman, Brashi, and Shine. Following allegations of conflict of interest concerning the Prime Minister, partly due to Ben-Haim Segal having testified in his criminal trial, a second decision on March 31 approved the appointments without the Prime Minister's participation. Petitions against the appointments argued the decisions were rushed, lacked sufficient factual and legal grounds, and raised specific objections to the three candidates. Critics claimed Brashi, Shine, and Ben-Haim Segal had made inflammatory remarks against media outlets the council oversees.

The Attorney General joined some of these claims, stating the committee lacked crucial information regarding conflicts of interest, bias, and animosity from some candidates. The government countered that appointments were lawful, vetted by the committee, and that the candidates' remarks constituted legitimate public criticism. They also argued Ben-Haim Segal's testimony in the Netanyahu trial concluded in 2022 and the subsequent government vote without the Prime Minister healed any potential defects.

However, the Supreme Court rejected these arguments. President Amit stated that the appointments committee must base its decisions on all relevant data, including statements that could raise concerns about bias. He noted that for Brashi and Shine, many relevant facts were not presented to the committee, rendering the government's decisions, which relied on the committee's recommendation, factually insufficient. Regarding Ben-Haim Segal, Amit ruled the Prime Minister breached conflict of interest rules, as the arrangement aims to prevent even the appearance of impropriety towards a witness, regardless of when their testimony concluded. The court also dismissed the claim that the second vote cured the defect, noting it occurred days after the first without new information and was intended merely to avoid "idle talk."

The court ordered the cancellation of the government's decisions and returned the cases of all council members for a fresh review by the committee, should the minister wish to advance their candidacies. President Amit emphasized the council's collegial nature requires a holistic review of its composition. Furthermore, the committee's recommendations were valid for only three months, a period that had expired. Two appointed members had resigned during the proceedings, leaving only ten members from the government's original decision.