Israel's Attorney General Urges High Court to Freeze Communications Law
Translated & summarized from Mako by baba
Israel's Attorney General has asked the High Court to freeze a new media law, citing severe damage to free media and a flawed legislative process. The court previously issued a temporary order delaying some provisions of the law.
The story in 4 lines · by baba
- Attorney General asks High Court to freeze Karhi's media law.
- Law severely harms free media, passed through flawed process.
- Previous temporary order already delayed some provisions.
- Concerns raised about journalistic independence and press freedom.
Israel's Attorney General, Gali Baharav-Miara, has urged the High Court of Justice to issue an order freezing the implementation of Communications Minister Shlomo Karhi's controversial media law. In her response to petitions against the law, Baharav-Miara warned that it would severely harm free media and was passed through a flawed legislative process, containing "an extreme accumulation of substantive defects."
She requested an interim order to "stop the severe damage to the free media market that will be caused by the Communications Law," which she referred to as "Karhi's Law." The Attorney General argued that the law's passage involved inadequate safeguards for freedom of expression and the press, effectively dismantling the existing framework ensuring journalistic independence and the reliability of news broadcasts without establishing a suitable alternative.
This intervention follows a previous temporary order issued in July by Supreme Court Justice Ofer Groskopf, which delayed the activation of certain provisions of the law. The court had acknowledged the petitions raised "weighty claims" regarding both the legislative process and the law's substance, expressing concern that the significant changes, especially enacted close to an election, could be difficult to reverse.
Key provisions initially slated for activation included allowing HOT and yes to own news channels, immediate abolition of structural separation between news companies and broadcasters, exposing newsrooms to foreign political and business interests, and canceling Channel 14's obligation to invest over 50 million shekels in its news division.
