Knesset panel discusses IBA’s financial woes

Eitan Cabel, chairman of the Knesset’s Economy Committee, says the Israel Broadcast Authority has “reached a moment of truth” and the time has come to establish a subcommittee that will be dedicated to rehabilitating the IBA. According to Israel Radio (which operates under the authority of the IBA), Cabel (Labor) intends to summon both Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Finance Minister Moshe Kahlon to the committee.

The Economy Committee’s legal adviser, Etty Bendler, says that by law, the treasury must finance operations of the IBA until the establishment of a new cooperative. The broadcasting authority has gone a tumultuous reform and is still beset by debt. Bendler says the treasury cannot refuse a funding request from the official receiver. The IBA’s receiver, Prof. David Hahn, has already twice notified the treasury about the IBA’s serious cash flow problem.