Avi Maoz asks Knesset legal adviser to speed up media bill after opposition delays

MK Avi Maoz has asked the Knesset’s legal adviser, Adv. Shgait Apik, to authorize an unusual procedural mechanism to accelerate debate on the communications bill. His appeal comes after the opposition submitted about 6,000 objections, effectively slowing the legislation and raising fears that it will not be completed in the current Knesset session.

In his letter, Maoz said the committee has spent tens of hours and managed to vote on only about 20% of the objections. He warned that under the current pace, “the continuation of the process in its present format is expected to require additional weeks of discussions and votes,” before lawmakers even finish voting on the bill’s clauses.

Maoz argued that there is a real concern the bill cannot be completed within the remaining legislative window. He said the Knesset rules provide for an “unusual procedure” in exactly these cases, under which a fixed number of hours is allotted to present all objections, followed by a vote. “I fear that continuing the discussions in their current format will prevent the committee from completing the legislation,” he wrote, asking Apik to approve the special procedure immediately.

The authority to activate the mechanism rests with Knesset Speaker Amir Ohana, but he has not yet announced a decision. The article says this follows claims by informed sources that about a month ago an associate of Ohana held closed talks with senior Channel 12 executives, including Avi Nir, and conveyed reassuring messages that the bill, led by MK Galit Distel, would be blocked. Those sources also claim the bill would be stalled through bureaucratic means, in a move they say contradicts the national camp’s promise to push a deep overhaul of the media market.