Election Committee Chair Rejects Bid to Ban Channel 14's Political Broadcasts

The Chairman of the Central Elections Committee, Judge Noam Sohlberg, on Wednesday dismissed a petition seeking to prohibit Channel 14 from broadcasting current affairs and news programs featuring candidates from the Likud, Religious Zionism, and Otzma Yehudit parties until the elections. The petition also alternatively requested that the channel be barred from conducting election propaganda for these parties.

The petitioners based their request on a section of the election law that forbids broadcasting election propaganda on television and radio within 60 days of an election, except for officially sanctioned propaganda broadcasts. They argued that Channel 14 effectively serves as a propaganda channel for the aforementioned parties, particularly the Likud.

Judge Sohlberg ruled that the petitioners have an alternative remedy available through the Second Authority for Television and Radio, an expert body on such matters. Furthermore, the petition included claims about violations during the 60-day period that were not raised in the petitioners' prior communication with the channel before the petition was filed. Consequently, the petition was dismissed without a substantive hearing.

In a separate, more focused petition, it was alleged that Channel 14 exclusively features candidates from a specific political bloc, which allegedly violates the requirement for ideological diversity. The Chairman of the Central Elections Committee has ordered Channel 14 to respond to this petition by Friday. A final decision on this matter has not yet been made.