News 12 CEO Reveals Communication Minister’s Intent to Enable PM Influence Over News Broadcasts

In 2023, Israeli Communications Minister Dr. Shlomo Karai expressed his intention to advance a Broadcasting Law that would allow the Prime Minister to influence news broadcasts, according to a petition filed by Keshet 12 News Company to the Supreme Court on June 8, 2023. Last week, the Knesset approved Karai’s Broadcasting Law in its final readings. The law, part of broader judicial overhaul legislation by the outgoing government, includes provisions that threaten the independence of television news companies, place channels under a new political regulator, enable media concentration by tycoons, and grant substantial financial benefits to the pro-government Channel 14.

Before the law’s enactment, petitions were submitted to the Supreme Court challenging it on grounds of anti-democratic content and flawed legislative process. Critics argue that a special committee chaired by MK Galit Distel Atbaryan bypassed the Knesset’s Economics Committee, and that Karai intervened heavily in the legislative process, adding and removing clauses late at night while ignoring legal advisors.

On June 4, the Supreme Court ordered a temporary halt to the immediate implementation of certain sections of the law pending further review. Keshet 12 News joined the petitioners, challenging the law’s threat to news independence and questioning Karai’s stated motives. While Karai claimed the law aimed to promote free media, competition, and diverse opinions, Keshet’s CEO Avi Weiss revealed in his affidavit that in a February 2023 meeting, Karai admitted the law’s true purpose was to enable the Prime Minister to influence news content by removing structural separation between license holders and news companies.

Weiss stated that Karai was dissatisfied with the existing legal framework that prevented the Prime Minister from contacting license holders to influence news content, and that the law would force license holders to comply with the Prime Minister’s requests. The petition argues this purpose is entirely improper, aiming not to protect free expression or journalistic independence but to facilitate political interference, severely harming the public interest. Consequently, the petitioners demand the law’s annulment for failing constitutional standards.