Israel's Attorney General Urges High Court to Freeze Communications Law

The Attorney General of Israel, Gali Baharav-Miara, has urged the High Court of Justice to issue an order freezing the implementation of a controversial communications law championed by Minister Shlomo Karhi. In her response to petitions against the law, Baharav-Miara warned that it would severely harm the free media market and argued that it was passed through a flawed legislative process, containing "an extreme accumulation of substantive defects."

Baharav-Miara requested that the court issue 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 "the Karhi Law." She stated that the law was enacted through a flawed process and contains an extreme number of substantive flaws. According to the Attorney General, "This is an exceptional and extreme case that justifies granting temporary relief suspending the entry into force of primary legislation. The chances of the petitions succeeding are very high, and the existing situation should be preserved until a decision is made."

She further explained that the provisions related to the law were sparse and lacked adequate safeguards for freedom of expression and the press. Baharav-Miara asserted that the law effectively cancels the main and comprehensive arrangement designed to ensure journalistic independence and the reliability of news broadcasts in Israel, without establishing an alternative arrangement.

In July, Supreme Court Justice Ofer Groskopf issued a temporary order delaying the implementation of certain sections of the Communications Law, which had been approved by the Knesset just before its dispersal. This decision came amid the consolidation of several key petitions filed against the law and its legislative process. Justice Groskopf noted that the petitions raised "weighty claims" regarding both the integrity of the legislative process and some of the new arrangements established or canceled by the law.

The High Court had previously expressed concern that given the extent of the changes and their potential impact on the media market on the eve of elections, it might be difficult to reverse the situation once the law takes effect. Sections of the law that were slated for implementation included allowing HOT and yes to own news channels, the immediate cancellation of structural separation between news companies and broadcasting bodies, and exposing news systems to foreign political and business interests of the capital holders of these channels. Additionally, the cancellation of the existing investment requirement (over NIS 50 million) for Channel 14 in its news company was also set to take effect.