From Former High Court justice: Coalition’s plans to overhaul media ‘a danger to Israeli democracy’
Add ToI as a Preferred Source on GoogleSam Sokol is a former political correspondent at The Times of Israel. He was previously a reporter for the Jerusalem Post, Jewish Telegraphic Agency and Haaretz. He is the author of "Putin’s Hybrid War and the Jews"
Former Supreme Court justice Hanan Melcer, who now serves as president of the Israeli Press Council, warns that the government’s plans to overhaul the media market poses “a danger to Israeli democracy” and pledges to “use all means at our disposal to thwart this plot.”
Addressing the Knesset Economic Affairs Committee, Melcer criticizes what he describes as a strategy of pushing multiple private member bills at once in an effort to obscure the full scope of what is happening.
“If we look at the picture as a whole, it is to negate the democratic nature of the state, because its democratic nature depends on free media,” he tells lawmakers.
Critics, including the Foreign Press Association and the Union of Journalists in Israel, have accused the government of undermining democracy through the advancement of legislative initiatives that would grant it oversight over television ratings data and privatize the Israeli Public Broadcasting Corporation and Army Radio.
“The private market is suffocating from excessive regulation and public broadcasting is not public and sometimes harmful,” counters Communications Minister Shlomo Karhi, calling for a “substantive, responsible discussion that is the basis for democratic decision-making.”
“Public broadcasting was required in the last century; today there is no justification for funding such a product at public expense, certainly not in news and current affairs. I intend to privatize or close the Israel Public Broadcasting Corporation; not only is it worthless — it harms the market and perpetuates injustices,” he asserts, railing against “propaganda” and “biased, offensive broadcasts.”
“My vision for public broadcasting is no news and current affairs funded by the public. When they say I want Russia, it is exactly the opposite. Channel 11 will be dedicated to original productions and Israeli creations only,” with the government allocating NIS 500 million ($139 million) for such content, Karhi says.
“This shows that the private bills are the government’s proxy, and then they should have gone through the attorney general,” Melcer shoots back.
Earlier today, the European Broadcasting Union warned that the planned changes could jeopardize Israel’s participation in the Eurovision Song Contest, restrict access to World Cup broadcasts, and “lead to a vacuum in reliable news dissemination” about Israel.
The Times of Israel Community.