Knesset legal adviser says controversial media overhaul bill can’t be changed further, risking Haredi support for it

Knesset Legal Adviser Sagit Afik tells the special Knesset committee overseeing Communications Minister Shlomo Karhi’s highly controversial media reform bill that it is no longer possible to adjust clauses in the legislation to halt media broadcasts in the government media application on Shabbat or to filter adult content, as demanded by the ultra-Orthodox factions.

Afik’s comments are a severe blow to the bill, since the ultra-Orthodox parties have refused to back the legislation without the changes because they claim that in its current format, it would expand access to television broadcasts on Shabbat.

According to a report by Channel 13, the United Torah Judaism party is now refusing to vote for the bill, which could deprive the coalition of its majority for the legislation.

Shas also says it also cannot back the legislation because “the amendments we demanded, at the instruction of the rabbis, in order to prevent harm to religious values, were not included.”

However, the party says it will support splitting the bill and advancing other provisions regarding regulation for new television channels, including the pro-government Channel 14.

Karhi’s media overhaul bill would give the government significant control over broadcast media, news sites, and other media, and has been criticized by the Knesset’s professional legal staff and by Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara, who have warned that it undermines press freedom and allows for political interference in the media.