Israeli Communications Minister Shlomo Karhi Pushes to Cut Public Funding for Israeli Broadcasting Corporation

Israeli Communications Minister Shlomo Karhi has publicly criticized the Israeli Broadcasting Corporation (IBC), arguing that public funding for its news and current affairs programming is unnecessary. In a recent interview, Karhi announced his intention to promote legislation that would place the IBC's budget under government and Knesset oversight to prevent what he described as the misuse of public funds for "propaganda and incitement."

Karhi also condemned the military radio station Galei Tzahal, calling it "illegal" since the government decided to shut it down, a move temporarily halted by the Supreme Court. His main criticism focused on the IBC's financial impact, stating that beyond its annual state budget of about one billion shekels, the corporation harms private media outlets by taking over 100 million shekels from their advertising revenue, which he said threatens their survival.

He argued that public broadcasting is unnecessary for news and current affairs in Israel, suggesting that funding should be limited to cultural, historical, and foreign-language programming. Karhi cited the emergence of new private channels such as Channel 14, 15, and 16 as evidence that the market already provides sufficient news coverage.

The proposed legislation, which has passed the Finance Committee and awaits a first reading in the Knesset plenum, aims to give the government and parliament control over the IBC's budget. Karhi expressed hope that the bill would pass soon to stop what he views as wasteful spending on content that opposes his political stance.