News
Cabinet vote on new public broadcaster postponed for three weeks
The Prime Minister and Finance Minister have agreed to postpone a cabinet vote on a controversial new bill to prevent the establishment of a new public broadcasting body.
Benjamin Netanyahu, who is also Communications Minister, and Moshe Kahlon, who heads the Kulanu Party, agreed to establish a temporary committee to assess the financial implications of closing the Israel Broadcasting Corporation (IBC) before its scheduled launch in January.
A joint statement said that the committee has been established in light of Moshe Kahlon’s policy that “the public broadcasting budget not exceed the total planned budget expenditure” and that “the committee will present recommendations to the Prime Minister’s Office and the Treasury after a three-week period”.
The committee will comprise of representatives from the Prime Minister’s Office, the Finance Ministry and the Communications Ministry. Likud MK David Bitan, who has sponsored the draft legislation with Netanyahu’s backing, will not sit on the committee.
Bitan and Netanyahu claim that the IBC, which has already recruited employees, is too expensive. Netanyahu supports reinstating the Israel Broadcasting Authority (IBA), the existing public broadcaster, which is being dismantled following years of perceived inefficiency. Kahlon said earlier this week that scrapping the IBC would cost £358m followed by a further £300m a year.
Critics of the bill claim that Netanyahu’s opposition is fuelled by fears that the IBC will be critical of Netanyahu and his Government.
Although yesterday’s decision represents a temporary compromise on the issue, Haaretz quotes a source close to Netanyahu saying that he still fully intends to close down the IBC. Meanwhile, an anonymous official close to Kahlon is quoted in YNet saying that he is prepared to bring the government down over the issue.
In a related development yesterday, State Comptroller Yosef Shapira announced that he will conduct a review of the government’s handling of the broadcasting sector, including plans to shut the IBC.