Karhi’s media overhaul bill would exempt right-wing Channel 14 from content-sharing requirement, in benefit worth millions

By Ariela Karmel

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25 May 2026, 10:03 pm

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Ariela Karmel is a political correspondent at The Times of Israel. She previously reported for Calcalist and Haaretz. She holds an MA in Middle Eastern and African History from Tel Aviv University and a BA in Political Science from the University of British Columbia.

Illustrative. Channel 14 in Jerusalem on June 2, 2024. (Chaim Goldberg/Flash90)

Lawmakers say the latest version of Communications Minister Shlomo Karhi’s controversial media overhaul bill includes a last-minute amendment that would exempt the pro-government Channel 14 news outlet from a new requirement obligating broadcasters to provide certain content to television platforms free of charge.

The provision was added over the weekend before the special Knesset panel that deliberates the legislation meets today and stipulates that only channels generating more than NIS 600 million ($208 million) in annual revenue would be subject to the requirement, a threshold that would exempt Channel 14 while applying to Channels 12 and 13.

The exemption is estimated to be worth roughly NIS 40 million ($13.8 million) annually.

“Suddenly in the new draft, anyone with more than NIS 600 million in annual revenue has to provide content for free? Who does that serve? Come, everyone let’s all act surprised,” says Yesh Atid MK Shelly Tal Meron sarcastically to Karhi during a Knesset panel session discussing the legislation.

“Do you think we’re stupid? We know that you intervened and decided this on your own, contrary to your ministry’s professional staff, because you want to give Channel 14 special treatment!” she continues.

The amendment concerns so-called catch-up television services, which allow viewers to watch broadcasts shortly after they air. Under the revised proposal, large broadcasters would be required to provide up to 90 minutes of catch-up content to multichannel television platforms free of charge.

Karhi has openly framed the legislation as a response to what he describes as “the left’s monopoly over public awareness through the major channels,” telling Channel 14 in April that the station had already “broken part of that monopoly.”

The legislation, which would give the government significant control over broadcast media, news sites, and other media by establishing a new regulatory council, with a majority of members chosen by the communications minister, has drawn sharp opposition from both the committee’s professional legal staff and Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara, who have warned that the current draft undermines press freedom and allows for political interference in media.