Election Committee Admits Error After Excluding Channel 14 from Broadcasts

The Central Election Committee initially excluded Channel 14 from its official plan for voter information broadcasts, listing only Kan 11, Keshet 12, and Reshet 13. This omission was noticed by MK Amit Halevy, who questioned the exclusion in a WhatsApp group for committee members. The committee's acting director-general, Dean Livneh, initially responded that Channel 14 was excluded because it was not under the Second Authority Law, unlike the other channels, and that only public radio stations were included for radio broadcasts.

However, after Halevy and MK Erez Malul pressed for further explanation, highlighting Channel 14's exclusion from informational broadcasts, the committee's explanation shifted. Livneh then stated that a technical error in the file had occurred and that a revised plan would be sent out shortly. This marked a change from the initial legal justification to an admission of a technical glitch.

The original plan detailed two phases of broadcasts in October, allocating up to two minutes per day in the first phase and up to four minutes per day in the second. Across these schedules, Channels 11, 12, and 13 were repeatedly included, while Channel 14 was absent. The exclusion also extended to messages from the Election Committee chairman regarding election freedom, which were slated to be broadcast on Channels 11, 12, and 13, again omitting Channel 14.

Following the lawmakers' inquiries, the committee announced that the plan would be corrected. In a statement, the committee acknowledged that a draft file, which had not yet been fully reviewed, was distributed. They thanked MK Halevy for pointing out that several channels, including Channel 14, the Arabic-language Channel Ha'et, the Russian-language Channel 9, and a music channel, were mistakenly omitted from the draft. The corrected file for consultation was sent to committee members shortly thereafter.