Israel Police Won't Investigate Channel 14 for Incitement Claims

Israel Police informed the High Court of Justice that it has decided not to open an investigation into Channel 14 concerning hundreds of statements made on the channel since October 7. These statements were alleged to constitute incitement to commit war crimes and genocide in Gaza.

The decision, made Wednesday, came as the police and the Attorney General requested the court dismiss a petition filed by the Israeli Democratic Bloc, the Givatayim-based Zulat Institute for Equality and Human Rights, and the Movement for Fair Regulation. The petition included a database of over 200 statements broadcast on the channel, which allegedly included calls for destruction, mass killing, and indiscriminate harm to civilians.

Petitioners argued these statements represent a systematic and ongoing pattern, requiring an examination of the responsibility of the speakers, editors, and management of the channel. Examples cited include statements by Itamar Fleishman calling for "total destruction" and by Yaakov Bardugo urging to "bomb indiscriminately" and "not distinguish between those involved and uninvolved." Fleishman was also quoted in another program calling to "destroy, kill, and annihilate" and wishing "only ashes there."

According to the petitioners, these remarks, broadcast repeatedly without disclaimers during peak viewing times while the IDF was fighting in Gaza, joined hundreds of other statements calling for the annihilation, destruction, and mass killing of Palestinians. Attorney Michael Sfard, representing the petitioners, stated that the enforcement agencies' decision not to investigate "gives a green light to systematic incitement to commit war crimes and even genocide, provided they are directed at Palestinians." He called it a "moral failure" that violates an explicit order from the International Court of Justice, which requires Israel to investigate and prosecute anyone inciting genocide, an order also signed by former Supreme Court President Aharon Barak.