The Legal Advisor to the Government, Attorney Gali Baharav-Miara, today (Sunday) presented her position against the broadcasting bill led by Communications Minister Shlomo Kari.
In a letter she sent to Justice Minister Yariv Levin, Baharav-Miara noted that the proposal "raises serious legal and constitutional difficulties and endangers the image of the free media in Israel.".
According to her, the law includes a comprehensive reform, but is not ready for advancement, as it still contains arrangements that raise concerns about political and economic involvement in the work of media organizations.
She also warned that the elimination of the mechanisms for overseeing news broadcasts could make the systems vulnerable to external influences and harm the reliability of the broadcast and the public's right to know.
Baharav-Miara emphasized: "Advancing the bill in its current form raises concerns about a serious violation of freedom of expression and the press, and jeopardizes the image of the free media in Israel and its ability to perform its essential role in a democratic society.".
According to her, the procedural flaws that occurred in the process - including the failure to conduct a professional consultation process with the regulatory authority - require the law to be returned to a proper work track in the government.
It was also written that the regulatory authority's decision, which determined that there was a fundamental flaw in the chapter dealing with the reliability of broadcasts, "requires a reexamination" of the bill.
Baharav-Miara noted that the Ministry of Communications chose to ignore the recommendation of the professional bodies and continued to promote the law, which deepens the procedural flaw.
Minister Shlomo Kari responded: "They are in a panic - the era of control is over! The Broadcasting Law does not 'risk the image of free media' - it simply puts an end to the stranglehold of the bureaucrats and attorneys on the media in Israel. You will not continue to control it. You will not continue to accuse elected officials of trying to control, when those who actually controlled, rudely and without public accountability - are the attorneys and bureaucrats subordinate to them. The era in which the regulators you invented were slaves of the powerful media channels, and servants of your political goals, is over. You even took control of the Regulatory Authority and turned it into a biased political-legal arm - an extension of the Legal Counsel to the Government, which faithfully serves the powerful commercial channels.".
""This era is over - and this time for real. Pressures, threats or exercises will not help you. Any attempt to control the wording of a fundamental and high-quality government law just because you are afraid of losing control - will fail. The people of Israel have been waiting for this reform for years. Zero unnecessary regulation. A free and competitive market - transparency in ratings without government interference, without attorneys and officials, without control by insiders. A new world, adapted to 2025 - where the public is once again the real owner of the house.".
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