Ministers lend support to bill outlawing free newspapers

The cabinet’s Ministerial Committee for Legislation gave its support Sunday to the so-called “Israel Hayom Bill” that would outlaw the free distribution of a popular newspaper.

The bill, which is up for a preliminary vote in the Knesset plenum on Wednesday, would prevent the lowest-priced newspaper of the four highest-read newspapers in the country from costing less than 70% of the cost of the second-lowest-priced newspaper, essentially guaranteeing that no publishers of the four top-selling newspapers would be able to distribute their newspapers freely.

The bill is sponsored by Labor MK Eitan Cabel, who said it was meant to prevent the anti-competitive, market-warping practices of Israel Hayom, a freebie daily known for its support of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, which became the country’s most-read paper this year.

Critics have slammed the bill as trampling free enterprise, and said it was a politically motivated attempt to weaken or silence a media outlet supportive of Netanyahu.

The newspaper is owned by American Jewish billionaire Sheldon Adelson, who has an estimated net worth of $37 billion and is a noted contributor to the Republican Party, along with various pro-Israel and right-wing groups.

The bill has divided Israel’s legal elite.

Justice Minister Tzipi Livni, who chairs the ministerial committee, supported the bill Sunday.

“My stance is clear. Israel Hayom is not a newspaper. It is election propaganda funded by someone very problematic with a worldview that goes against Israel’s interests,” Livni said in an interview with Channel 2 on Saturday.

Attorney General Yehuda Weinstein, meanwhile, said Sunday the bill may be unconstitutional, because it curtails economic rights without demonstrating that the business practices it is restricting have actually caused harm to the market. He recommended that Knesset members vote against it.

As attorney general, Weinstein would be charged with defending the bill if, as is likely, it was challenged in the High Court of Justice.

Coalition discipline will not be enforced for the Wednesday vote — the first of three required for the bill to pass into law — meaning that MKs and ministers are free to vote according to their conscience.