Supreme Court freezes closure of Army Radio, says government must justify position

The Supreme Court issued a conditional order on Monday against the government, requiring it to justify its decision to shutter Army Radio. The decision to temporarily freeze the closure sparked renewed calls from coalition ministers to defy the courts.

The court decision shifted the burden of proof to the government and called on both sides to focus on whether the decision-making process and considerations were correctly followed.

The government must submit its position by no later than March 15, going beyond the March 1 date set by the government to shut the station, according to the decision delivered by Justices Daphne Barak-Erez, Alex Stein and Yechiel Kasher.

The decision sparked open calls from government ministers to ignore the court ruling. Ministers have in recent months repeatedly called to defy court orders, part of the government’s ongoing push to overhaul the judiciary in a move that critics say will undermine Israeli democracy and the system of checks and balances.

Communications Minister Shlomo Karhi vowed to boycott the station and said the court’s rulings should be treated with a “shrug.”

“The decision [to close Army Radio] must be implemented on March 1. Even if the High Court of Justice set a deadline for submitting responses to the conditional order after that date, this does not freeze or nullify a lawful government decision, he wrote on X. “The timetable set by the High Court does not override the law or the government’s authority to govern.”

“As of March 1, any broadcast by Army Radio will be a broadcast in violation of the law and the government’s decision. Therefore, beyond the need to treat an unlawful order with a ‘shrug’ and carry out government decisions as required by law, if God forbid this is not implemented for any reason, I hereby call on government ministers and members of Knesset: As of March 1, do not give interviews to Army Radio,” Karhi said.

Far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir accused the court of political interference.

“Once again, the High Court of Justice is intervening in the decisions of an elected government and acting as a political body rather than a judicial authority, Ben Gvir said.

“A conditional order against the closure of Army Radio is another step on the dangerous path of trampling the will of the voters and turning the court into a judicial dictatorship. Government policy is determined at the ballot box, not in the halls of the High Court.”

Almog Cohen, a lawmaker from Ben-Gvir’s far-right Otzma Yehudit party also called to ignore the court, saying the rulings were “illegitimate.”

“I call on my colleague, Defense Minister Israel Katz, to continue the process of closing Army Radio, which has long since ceased to serve IDF soldiers,” Cohen continued.

In December last year, the cabinet unanimously approved Katz’s controversial proposal to shut down Army Radio by March 1, 2026, arguing that the station’s political and current affairs programming “creates a fundamental difficulty for the IDF, stemming from the IDF’s involuntary involvement in political discourse,” and that its content “harms the Israel Defense Forces, its soldiers and its unity.”

Petitions were swiftly filed, arguing that the decision was made in order “to harm media outlets seen as critical of the government” and to “economically benefit the owners of media outlets close to the government.”

Petitioners also alleged a series of procedural flaws they said infringed on freedom of expression and freedom of the press in Israel.

At the first hearing last week, the justices indicated that cabinet ministers’ calls to shutter the station — which they made before an advisory committee issued its recommendations — could amount to political interference.

Jeremy Sharon contributed to this report.