High Court freezes TV regulatory body’s activities over controversial appointments

Second Authority was continuing to operate despite petitions against it and repeated government requests for extensions from the High Court

The High Court of Justice issued a temporary injunction on Sunday ordering that the activities of the Second Authority commercial broadcasting regulatory body be frozen pending a further decision, due to recent changes made to the agency’s composition that are the subject of petitions to the court.

Justice Alex Stein reprimanded the government and the communications minister for failing to file their responses to the petitions on time, after the court granted repeated extension requests to the government. The court turned down a further extension request made earlier on Sunday, four days after the latest deadline expired.

Stein called the latest extension request “unacceptable” and ordered that the petitions be heard “as quickly as possible” by a three-judge panel.

The Union of Journalists in Israel as well as the Movement for Quality Government and other organizations petitioned the High Court in March after the government made several controversial appointments to the Second Authority.

Among those appointed were Yifat Ben Hai Segev — a former chair of the Cable and Satellite Broadcasting Council who had also served on the advisory board for Channel 13 — as chair of the Second Authority council.

Ben Hai Segev was also a witness for the prosecution in Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s criminal trial, but reversed her testimony in court in 2022 from what she had originally told investigators before the premier was indicted in 2020.

Along with Segev, the government appointed two outspoken supporters of Netanyahu to the council, Kinneret Barashi and Haim Shein.

Stein noted in his tersely worded order that the Second Authority is continuing to function and operate, while at the same time pointing out that the government had continued to file repeated extension requests for filing its response to the petitions.

A battle for Channel 13 and the larger media landscape

The controversy over the leadership of the Second Authority for Television and Radio is taking place as the body weighs a key decision on the future ownership of Channel 13, which it regulates in addition to channels 12 and 14, as well as against the backdrop of the government’s larger agenda to overhaul Israel’s media landscape.

In March, entrepreneur Assaf Rappaport and a group of hi-tech businessmen emerged as the lead contenders to buy Channel 13. Rappaport has been an outspoken critic of the government, first over its judicial overhaul agenda and then over its handling of the hostages held by Hamas in Gaza following the October 7, 2023, invasion.

In its response to the court order, the Union of Journalists claimed that the changes to the regulatory council were made, in part, “to thwart” a proposed buyout of Channel 13, and said that three new members of the Second Authority council appointed by the government have “clear political ties to the prime minister.”

“The Second Authority Council should be staffed by professionals, for the benefit of the entire public, and not political appointees who act in the interests of the government,” the Union of Journalists said in response to the High Court injunction.

Tehilla Shwartz Altshuler, a senior fellow at the Israel Democracy Institute, agreed, telling The Times of Israel that the appointments of Bar-Hai Segev and others are part of Netanyahu and Communications Minister Shlomo Karhi’s efforts to “torpedo” the Channel 13 deal.

“The government doesn’t want this deal — it wants [Channel 13] to be closed or sold to someone they like. They will do whatever they can now to destroy the deal, in complete contradiction to the public interest,” she said.

Karhi turned to reshaping the Second Authority for Television and Radio through appointments after concluding that his broader legislative overhaul of the media market was unlikely to pass, Shwartz Althsuler argued.

“He originally wanted to close the Second Authority and merge it with the Cable and Satellite Broadcasting Council under his ongoing legislation,” she said, referring to Karhi’s broadcast media bill currently under discussion in the Knesset.

“When he realized it was unlikely to pass, Karhi decided to start interfering with appointments, and when the previous council’s term ended, the opportunity fell into his hands like ripe fruit,” she said.

After the previous council’s term expired, Karhi moved to appoint a new slate of members seen as sympathetic to the government, including naming Ben-Hai Segev as chair, despite her being at the center of multiple conflicts of interest tied to her prior roles in the industry and her involvement in the prime minister’s corruption trial.

“You can’t immediately serve on the board of one of the channels and then become the regulator,” Shwartz Altshuler said, referring to Ben-Hai Segev’s previous position as a member of Channel 13’s board.

While the Communications Ministry’s legal adviser initially required a six-month cooling-off period barring her from operating in the television market, it was later shortened to three months and limited only to Channel 13.

The Movement for Quality Government also cited concerns over the attitude of the Second Authority to Channel 13’s ownership in welcoming the temporary injunction.

“There is more than reasonable concern that irrevocable facts [on the ground] will be established, including regarding the approval of the Channel 13 deal,” said Yaniv Goldberg, the head of the Movement for Quality Government’s economy department.

“The court’s decision is an important step in protecting the free media in Israel from the government’s political interference,” he said. “Government ministers must understand that a free media is one of the cornerstones of democratic rule, and cease their attempts to control the media and tilt it in their favor.”

Said Ben Hai Segev in response, “The High Court’s decision to issue a temporary injunction harms the broader Israeli public first and foremost since it is freezing the activities and decisions that are designed to protect and work on behalf of the public interest, freedom of expression, Israeli creativity, and more.”

Shwartz Altshuler argued that, beyond controlling the Channel 13 deal or the composition of the Second Authority, Karhi’s larger goal is to destabilize the media environment, and that the court’s intervention represents a significant setback for him.

“The court is saying to the government that you tried to install an unsuitable person — an inappropriate political appointment — to control television in Israel, and you won’t succeed,” she said.