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Wednesday, April 15, 2026
Knesset panel chair rejects legal adviser’s call for transferring media bill to Economics Committee
Add ToI as a Preferred Source on GoogleAriela 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.
Likud MK Galit Distel-Atbaryan, who chairs the special committee to advance the government’s controversial media overhaul bill, rejects a call by Knesset Legal Adviser Sagit Afik to transfer deliberations on the bill from her leadership to the Knesset Economics Committee.
The dispute follows a heated session earlier this week in which the Distel-Atbaryan barred the panel’s legal staff from speaking, prompting them to walk out.
Distel-Atbaryan says before the committee today, “The legal adviser’s recommendation is not acceptable to me. I will continue to lead this committee.”
The chair reiterates her unsubstantiated accusations that the legal staff is deliberately delaying proceedings after she refused to accept their recommendations, which she claims were based on instructions from Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara, who opposes the bill.
“Because I am not willing to transfer all control over the media to Baharav-Miara, today I receive a letter instructing that the law be moved to the Economics Committee,” Distel-Atbaryan says.
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