Israeli Public Broadcaster Challenges 25 Million Shekel Budget Cut in Supreme Court
The Israeli Public Broadcasting Corporation "Kan" filed a detailed petition to the Supreme Court on Sunday demanding the cancellation of a recent amendment to the Communications Law that cuts 25 million shekels annually from its budget. The petition, spanning 43 pages, accuses Communications Minister Dr. Shlomo Karhi of leading a punitive campaign against Kan's news division by pushing through a last-minute legislative change before the Knesset vote. Kan argues the cut undermines funding for Israeli cultural content, music, and news across television, digital platforms, and radio.
Kan claims the budget reduction is a political sanction aimed at news and current affairs content that displeases the government. The petition highlights that the Communications Law was originally intended to regulate commercial broadcasting and explicitly exempted the public broadcaster. However, just before the second and third Knesset readings, an indirect amendment was rushed through, removing the planned closure of the "Idan Plus" platform, which was supposed to save 25 million shekels to fund a new broadcast authority. Despite the platform remaining active, the budget cut stayed in place.
Minister Karhi openly admitted the cuts would affect news and current affairs, describing Kan as broadcasting "propaganda at our expense." Kan contends this is not a routine budget dispute but a deliberate attempt to impose financial sanctions for editorial content, creating a chilling effect on independent journalism. The petition also criticizes the hasty approval of the amendment without professional groundwork, budget impact assessments, or legal review, with warnings from Treasury and Justice Ministry officials about potential harm to freedom of expression.
Kan is represented by attorneys Alon Galert, Yanki Pepper, and Shahar Azulai from Meitar Law Offices. The broadcaster emphasized that public broadcasting funds should not be used as a political tool to interfere with journalistic content and stressed the public's right to independent, reliable, and critical news. The petition aims to protect both Kan's budget and the Israeli public's right to a free and independent public broadcaster. Following the Knesset's approval of Karhi's Communications Law, the Supreme Court issued an interim injunction freezing the immediate implementation of the budget cut provisions.
