Knesset legal adviser pans attempt to remove judicial oversight on foreign media censorship bill as ‘constitutionally problematic’

Knesset legal adviser Sagit Afik pans draft legislation allowing the government to censor foreign media as “constitutionally problematic” after lawmakers attempt to remove a clause requiring judicial authorization for the closure of outlets deemed to pose “an actual harm to the state’s security.”

During a debate in the Knesset National Security Committee, Afik objects to efforts by Communications Minister Shlomo Karhi and rightwing lawmakers to change a clause requiring a judge to sign off on shuttering foreign networks operating in Israel and instead only grant the judiciary the power to hear an appeal against a government decision on the matter.

Committee legal adviser Miri Frenkel-Shor also objects, stating that shutting down a media outlet “is a matter of balancing freedom of expression and state security here and we need to be extremely careful.”

Communications Minister Karhi pushes back against their objections, stating that there is “no precedent” for requiring a judge to sign off on a government decision “and it must not be allowed.”

“Too few people understand that the media today is a weapon, and if we do not neutralize this weapon, it may strike us dead,” adds committee chairman MK Zvika Fogel (Otzma Yehudit). “This law is good and the responsibility should remain with those who are responsible.”

Under the bill, the communications minister will be empowered to shutter foreign networks operating in Israel and confiscate their equipment if the defense minister identifies that their broadcasts pose “an actual harm to the state’s security.”

If ultimately passed into law, the bill — which would also allow for the censoring of a targeted network’s website — would pave the way for Communications Minister Shlomo Karhi to follow through on his threat to shut down Qatari news channel Al Jazeera, which he has said is working against Israel’s defense interests and fueling anti-Israel sentiment.

It passed a first reading in the Knesset plenum in February and is currently being prepared for its second and third readings in the committee.

A previous amendment pushed by Fogel — which would have given National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir, in consultation with the National Security Committee, the power to make the final determination in banning an outlet — received strong pushback from Minister Benny Gantz’s National Unity faction, which threatened to veto the controversial legislation.

Karhi has previously taken aim at domestic media as well, threatening to halt government advertising in “Bolshevik abomination” Haaretz and promoting a far-reaching communications reform that critics assert undermines the freedom of the press.