High Court freezes new media law

Nine justices of the High Court of Justice will hear the case concerning Israel’s new Broadcasting Law, which the court has temporarily suspended. The court issued a conditional order on Thursday requiring the government to explain why the legislation should not be canceled. The state must file its response by January 7, 2027.

The decision follows allegations of legislative defects in the law’s creation. The court stated that serious failures throughout the process make the challenges against the statute exceptionally strong. Attorney-General Gali Baharav-Miara asked the court to hold the law in abeyance until it rules on the 11 petitions filed against it.

Baharav-Miara told the court that professional review was rushed through a committee effectively controlled by Communications Minister Shlomo Karhi. She warned that the law could trigger business and ownership changes that would be difficult to reverse if the court later strikes the legislation down.

Yaniv Goldberg, head of the Economic Division at the Movement for Quality Government, commented on the ruling. "The communications minister can announce that he will not cooperate with the proceedings, but he cannot exempt himself from the rule of law," Goldberg said. He added that the court is demanding answers to allegations of flaws in the legislative process while suspending the law’s entry into force.

Goldberg described the move as an important step forward in the petitions. "A proper legislative process is intended to ensure that decisions affecting the information available to every citizen are made transparently, following professional review and genuine debate," he stated. He affirmed the group’s intent to overturn the law and protect media independence from political control.

The Knesset passed the law by a 53-48 vote in July, shortly before the dissolution of the legislature. It was one of Karhi’s central legislative initiatives. The court had previously frozen the provisions of the broadcasting reform in July when they were set to take effect that summer.

The reform is scheduled to enter into force two years after the law’s publication. Under the proposed structure, a search committee chaired by the Communications Ministry director-general would recommend candidates for six public positions on a new nine-member regulatory council. The communications minister would appoint those candidates, while three remaining council members would be civil servants representing the ministry and regulators.