The latest political tussle over the future of Israel’s new public broadcasting company appears to be over with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Finance Minister Moshe Kahlon reaching a deal to prevent a coalition fallout.
Netanyahu has reportedly dropped demands to further postpone the institution’s already long-delayed launch — but only in return for coalition backing for a bill that would increase government control over the country’s media landscape.
On Wednesday evening, at an event that was designed to strengthen coalition camaraderie amid recent tensions, Netanyahu called for a six-month delay in opening the public broadcaster, which is set to go live in April. By Thursday morning, speaking at a conference in Tel Aviv, Kahlon revealed that his relationship with the prime minister had deteriorated amid clashes over the new broadcaster.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu with Finance Minister Moshe Kahlon during the weekly cabinet meeting at his office in Jerusalem, on February 19, 2017. (Olivier Fitoussi/POOL)
“Kahlon and Netanyahu are no longer an item,” he said.
Now, the two are said to have come to an agreement for transmission to begin in April if Kahlon backs the repealing of key reforms aimed at ensuring editorial independence for the new corporation and uniting Israel’s three separate broadcasting authorities under a politically appointed oversight body.
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