Keshet Seeks Court Order to Block Former Executive's Appointment as News CEO

Keshet filed an urgent request with the Tel Aviv Regional Labor Court on Thursday, seeking a restraining order to prevent the appointment of the former Deputy CEO of broadcast programming, its former deputy CEO of broadcast programming, as the CEO of Channel 13's news division. Keshet is demanding an emergency hearing and requested a closed-door session before the former Deputy CEO of broadcast programming's scheduled start date on November 4.

The core of Keshet's request hinges on a non-compete clause in the former Deputy CEO of broadcast programming's employment agreement, which stipulates a four-month cooling-off period after his departure. The former Deputy CEO of broadcast programming plans to assume his new role at Channel 13's news division next week, before this period concludes. Keshet seeks to enforce the agreement, prohibiting the former Deputy CEO of broadcast programming and Reshet 13 from commencing their professional relationship until March 4, 2027.

To incentivize compliance and mitigate claims of financial hardship, Keshet offered to pay the former Deputy CEO of broadcast programming his full salary for four months in exchange for observing the non-compete period. This offer includes the option to deposit the funds with the court if necessary. The legal arguments are expected to reference a previous ruling concerning Check Point, which recognized non-compete clauses in cases involving significant employee training or proprietary trade secrets.

Keshet argues that the former Deputy CEO of broadcast programming, due to his role as deputy CEO of programming and his position on the management board of Channel 12, possesses sensitive trade secrets related to the channel's core operations. These include 18-month broadcast schedules, content and casting strategies, acquisition agreements, and extensive research. Keshet contends that a news division CEO makes scheduling and programming decisions that directly compete with Keshet's broadcast slots, making it impossible for the former Deputy CEO of broadcast programming to perform his new duties without utilizing the internal information he acquired.

In addition to the former Deputy CEO of broadcast programming, Keshet is accusing Reshet and Channel 13 of tortious interference, alleging they are knowingly recruiting a senior executive from a direct competitor while circumventing contractual obligations. The former Deputy CEO of broadcast programming, who served as deputy CEO of broadcast programming at Keshet 12 since 2019 and previously held roles such as "Ulpan Shishi" editor and business development manager for Channel 12's news, was appointed CEO of Channel 13's news division earlier this month, replacing Tali Ben-Ovadia. His appointment follows the transfer of control of Reshet 13 to Assaf Rappaport and Keren Merit, with the former Deputy CEO of broadcast programming tasked with leading the company's development and digital initiatives, stabilizing the organization after management turmoil and prolonged labor disputes, and addressing rating challenges against its leading competitor, from which he came.

One question raised by Keshet's request concerns the structural separation requirement, which Keshet itself strongly advocated for maintaining, even as Minister of Communications Shlomo Karhi seeks to abolish it in his broadcast reform. The former Deputy CEO of broadcast programming worked at Keshet 12, while his appointment is with the competing news entity, Channel 13. The law mandates clear structural separation between a licensee/license holder and its news company. However, Keshet presents a narrative that there is no true structural separation to argue that a programming deputy CEO at Keshet holds secrets belonging to the news company, and that a news company CEO can influence the parent company's decisions.