Israili government attempted suppression of dissenting media

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Israel’s government unanimously approved at its weekly meeting on Sunday a proposal by Communications Minister Shlomo Karhi that all government bodies or those funded by it will “cease to engage with the newspaper ‘Haaretz’ in any way and not publish any advertisements in it.”

According to a statement from Karhi’s office, the proposal, which was added to the meeting’s agenda at the last minute with the approval of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, came “following numerous articles that harmed the legitimacy of the State of Israel in the world and its right to self-defense, particularly in light of the recent statements by the publisher of Haaretz, Amos Schocken, who expressed support for terrorism and called for sanctions against the government at the newspaper's conference in London.”

Schocken's anti-Israel speech
Israel’s government unanimously approved at its weekly meeting on Sunday a proposal by Communications Minister Shlomo Karhi that all government bodies or those funded by it will “cease to engage with the newspaper ‘Haaretz’ in any way and not publish any advertisements in it.”

According to a statement from Karhi’s office, the proposal, which was added to the meeting’s agenda at the last minute with the approval of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, came “following numerous articles that harmed the legitimacy of the State of Israel in the world and its right to self-defense, particularly in light of the recent statements by the publisher of Haaretz, Amos Schocken, who expressed support for terrorism and called for sanctions against the government at the newspaper's conference in London.”

The exact quotes from Schocken’s speech were, “The Netanyahu government wants to continue and intensify illegal settlement in the territories that were meant for a Palestinian state. It doesn't care about imposing a cruel apartheid regime on the Palestinian population. It dismisses the costs of both sides for defending the settlements while fighting the Palestinian freedom fighter that Israel calls terrorists."

Schocken argued that Israel was ignoring UN resolutions declaring settlements illegal.

Not only did they continue building settlements, but the present government also supports the ethnic cleansing of Palestinians from parts of the occupied territories. In a sense, what is taking place now in the occupied territories and in part of Gaza is a second Nakba of sending, creating refugees, even people who lived in the occupied territories in Area C and the people who live in the north part of Gaza," Schocken said.

He added that "a Palestinian state must be established, and the only way to achieve this, I think, is to apply sanctions against Israel's leader, against the leaders who oppose it, and against the settlers who are in the occupied territories in contravention of international law."

“Zionism is still a justified idea for the Jewish people, but the conduct of successive Israeli governments has distorted its meaning beyond recognition. Israel needs to be put back on the right path, and unfortunately, the main way to do it, I think now, is by international pressure," Schocken concluded.

The method and circumstances of a bill proposal by Communications Minister Shlomo Karhi (Likud) to privatize Israel’s Public Broadcasting Corporation raises “serious concern” that the bill’s real purpose is to shut down a media outlet that is critical of the government and create a “chilling effect” on other media outlets, the attorney-general’s office wrote in a letter to Justice Minister Yariv Levin (Likud) on Sunday.

Levin is the chairman of the Ministerial Committee on Legislation, which sets the government’s positions on legislative proposals and decides which to support once they reach the Knesset. The bill proposal in question was scheduled to pass a vote in the committee on Sunday afternoon.
The aim of the bill is to privatize Israel’s Public Broadcasting Corporation, also known as “Kan”, by ending its public funding and transferring responsibility for operating its television and radio broadcasts to private owners within two years of the law being passed.

The bill stipulates that the corporation’s executive council will first have to present to the communications minister, the finance minister, and the governmental regulator of commercial broadcasting (the Second Authority for Television and Radio) a list of the corporation’s assets.

Stipulation of the bill
Under the bill, within a year of receiving the list, the Second Authority for Television and Radio will publish a tender to select a licensee for television broadcasts. Six months after that, the Second Authority for Television and Radio will announce its decision on the winner of the tender. If no winner is chosen, “the Public Broadcasting Corporation will cease to broadcast and will cease all activity connected to broadcasting within two years of this law coming into effect.”

As far as radio is concerned, under the bill, all of the Public Broadcasting Corporation’s radio broadcasts will cease within two years of the bill becoming law, apart from the broadcasts of the Reshet Bet station (mainly news and current affairs). Within a year of receiving the Public Broadcasting Corporation’s list of assets, the Second Authority for Television and Radio will publish a tender for a national radio broadcasting licensee for that radio station. The bill states that the licensee will be allowed to broadcast advertising, sponsorships, and public service announcements.

The preamble to the bill states that “the Public Broadcasting Corporation’s budget comprises two sources: a government budget fixed by law and linked to the Consumer Price Index; and a budget based on collecting a vehicle radio fee. This budget amounts to NIS 800 million. This is a very high sum, and even those who believe in the importance of public broadcasting are taken aback by its size.”