Amid reports of sabotage, new state broadcaster kicks off to bumpy start

Israel’s new public broadcaster got off to a bumpy start Monday morning after reforms to television and radio stations seen as integral to the country’s history threatened to bring snap elections and evoked tearful on-air tributes.

Radio newscasts began at 6 a.m. with the same two-hour morning show as previously, with iconic Israel Radio anchor Aryeh Golan remaining in the chair.

“Good morning, at this time the Israeli Broadcasting Corporation sets out on its way,” he said at the launch of the initial broadcast.

In a reference to the layoffs that have accompanied the reforms, he said, “Our rejoicing, of course, is tinged with sadness for the hundreds of our colleagues from the Israel Broadcasting Authority who were left by the wayside.”

The exact number of layoffs has yet to be confirmed.

While most of the broadcast was without incident, a number of technical errors later on led to reports of sabotage by disgruntled outgoing employees.

According to Channel 10, IBA workers on Monday morning were actively working to sabotage the new corporation’s inaugural broadcast.

Employees reportedly withheld “a lot” of technical equipment from the incoming staff, while the digital department refused to hand over access to the smartphone app.

The report said outgoing IBA workers informed their replacements early Monday morning that “we don’t work for you,” saying their noncompliance was an act of “revenge for the government’s decision to close the broadcaster.”

After reports of its workers’ efforts to sabotage Kan surfaced in Hebrew-language media, the IBA released a statement saying it was “working to to assist the broadcasting corporation as much as possible.”

“The entire IBA supports the public broadcaster,” the statement declared.

A compromise deal reached by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Finance Minister Moshe Kahlon earlier this year, and approved by the Knesset last week, paved the way for the IBA to be replaced by the new public media corporation, known as Kan.

However, while part of the deal was intended to see a news division spun off of Kan, a High Court order late Sunday temporarily froze that move, leaving the structure of the broadcaster in limbo.

Many Israelis grew up with only public radio and television run by the former IBA until private stations began appearing in 1993.

The launch comes after bitter political infighting over the reforms that sought to streamline the former authority’s operations.

The now-defunct IBA had one television channel and eight radio stations, and the new corporation will contain the same.

A dispute between Netanyahu and Kahlon over how to move ahead with the reforms threatened early elections, before a compromise was reached in March.

Netanyahu has been accused of reneging on a previously reached agreement by seeking too much control of the new broadcaster, while Kahlon was committed to it and wanted to see through financial reforms.

Employees of the old corporation have harshly criticized the way the shutdown was handled.

Its main nightly television news program “Mabat” was informed Tuesday that its broadcast that day would be its last, drawing emotional on-air tributes.

The abrupt, slipshod nature of the closure was roundly criticized in the media, with some calling it a dishonorable end for a show that had defined Israeli media for much of its 49-year run.

In a sign of how much the reforms remained in flux, the new corporation was still looking for a boss.

The official receiver charged with the IBA breakup on Sunday published an “invitation to apply for the post of temporary managing director.”

Channel 1 public TV is due to go on air at 5 pm Monday.