High Court freezes closure of Army Radio until final ruling issued

In a blow to the government’s plans to shutter Army Radio, the High Court of Justice on Sunday issued an interim order freezing the closure until the court reaches a final ruling on petitions against the move.

The court’s decision to freeze the closure of the station came just under a week after the cabinet unanimously approved Defense Minister Israel Katz’s controversial proposal to shut down Army Radio, with broadcasts set to end by March 1.

Supreme Court President Isaac Amit said Sunday evening that he had issued the interim order, in part, due to the fact that the government had not ruled out taking irreversible action against Army Radio before the court issues its final ruling on the petitions.

In his decision, Amit also noted that Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara supported the petitioners’ requests for an interim order freezing implementation of the decision. The attorney general’s office had issued that opinion earlier on Sunday, saying she believed the petitions seeking to keep Army Radio open would be accepted because there were procedural and substantive flaws in the government’s decision-making process to close the station — of which the cabinet was informed ahead of time.

The court’s decision was lambasted by Communications Minister Shlomo Karhi, who said that the cabinet vote to close the station is “valid and enduring,” despite the freeze order, which he called an “illegal move.”

“Justice Amit’s interim order was issued without a legal basis and does not override a government decision,” the minister said on X. “Checks and balances must also exist against illegal moves by the judiciary.”

Last week the cabinet voted to close Army Radio, arguing that the station’s political and current affairs programming “creates a fundamental difficulty for the IDF, stemming from the IDF’s involuntary involvement in political discourse,” and that its content “harms the Israel Defense Forces, its soldiers and its unity.”

Petitions were swiftly filed against the decision, arguing that the decision was made in order “to harm media outlets seen as critical of the government” and to “economically benefit the owners of media outlets close to the government.”

The High Court said a date would be set for a hearing on the petitions before the end of January.

Defense Ministry says station’s workers lied on affidavits

Earlier Sunday, the Defense Ministry accused the Army Radio labor union of submitting false affidavits to the High Court as part of its bid to secure an interim injunction against the decision to shutter the station.

In a court filing responding to the injunction request, David Peter, representing the state and the Defense Ministry, said affidavits submitted by the union claiming that dozens of civilian show hosts at Army Radio and its sister station Galgalatz had been told their employment would be frozen within days last week were “false,” and aimed at securing temporary relief without a full hearing.

According to the state’s response, no directive had been issued to stop employing civilian workers. Instead, it said the Defense Ministry was extending existing contracts expiring at the end of the year through February 28, 2026, in line with the government decision to shutter the IDF-run broadcaster by March 1, following a unanimous cabinet vote approving a proposal by Defense Minister Israel Katz.

Therefore, Peter asserted that “no material change in circumstances” had occurred.