Goldknopf Threatens to Block Broadcast Law Unless Sabbath and Content Rules Are Added

United Torah Judaism chairman Yitzhak Goldknopf told the Knesset Communications Committee on Sunday that his faction will oppose the broadcast reform unless it bars the new state broadcasting app from operating on Sabbaths and Jewish holidays, and explicitly prohibits sexual, pornographic, missionary, and violent content.

Goldknopf said the current version of the bill, even with some amendments already inserted, is still unacceptable. He argued that allowing a government-funded app to run on Shabbat would amount to a public violation of the status quo that has existed since Israel’s founding. “There is no need for partial reductions, no need for restrictions on one type of content or another, and no need for vague wording,” he said.

He insisted the app, which is supposed to be created under the law, must not operate at all on Sabbaths or on the festivals of Israel. “If we know today what is forbidden, it must be written into the law today,” he said, adding that sensitive issues should not be left for future discussions, regulations, or committees. “Legislation cannot be based on promises and expectations.”

Committee chair Galit Distel-Atbaryan of Likud told him that much of what he demanded had already been included in the bill. Goldknopf was unconvinced, saying he still did not hear that the issues had been fully resolved and that the law must preserve the values of the State of Israel.