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‘Privatization’ of IPBC: Termination of Public Broadcasting and Free Media in Israel

>> Click here to read the full Position Paper

The bill to privatize the Israeli Public Broadcasting Corporation (IPBC), submitted by MK Tali Gottlieb (Likud) in 2022 and now being promoted by Communications Minister Shlomo Karhi, is an escalation of the war waged by the government against the free media in Israel in general and the IPBC in particular. It spells the closure of the only television channel in the country that operates entirely for the public’s benefit.

The current government’s war against a free media began with the inauguration of the 25th Knesset. Upon the formation of Netanyahu’s government, Minister Karhi declared his intention “to privatize the IPBC” and voiced his opposition to “a news channel funded by public money.”

However, public broadcasting cannot be privatized, as its very handover to private entities will turn it into a purely commercial operation, subordinate to a politically-affiliated regulator. Moreover, a public news channel detached from political and economic influences is essential to safeguard freedom of expression and democracy. If it becomes law, the bill will harm freedom of expression, freedom of the press, and Israeli original production. Upholding the IPBC’s independence is a moral and social obligation, that will be betrayed by every member of Knesset supporting such a law.

Should the dispositions in the bill be implemented, Channel 11 and Reshet Bet will be run as commercial broadcasts to all intents and purposes, by a new operator selected in a tender and under the control of the Second Authority Council and subject to the Second Authority Law. The IPBC will cease to exist and there will no longer be public broadcasting in Israel.

Zulat’s position is that the real purpose of the bill is to bring about the elimination of public broadcasting in order to bolster the political echelon’s control over the media. Since the government presently has no power over the IPBC’s broadcasts and content, the bill seeks to bring its replacement closer under the wings of the political echelon.

Zulat strongly opposes the bill and warns against turning public broadcasting into a political tool. The IPBC is a central pillar for sustaining a live and active democracy. Accordingly, Zulat calls on the government and legislators to preserve freedom of the press and freedom of expression. 

 

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Dr. Maha Sabbah Karkabi

 

Senior Lecturer in the Department of Sociology and Anthropology, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev. She holds a Ph.D. in Sociology from Tel Aviv University (2015), a postdoctoral fellowship at the Center for Gender Studies, SOAS, University of London (2015-2016), a postdoctoral fellowship in the Department of Sociology at Tel Aviv University (2016-2017), and a postdoctoral fellowship Ph.D. at the Humphrey Institute for Social Research, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev (2018-2020).
Dr. Maha Karbahi’s areas of interest focus on the connection between social change, family behavior, and gender inequality in societies in the process of change and specifically in Palestinian Arab society in Israel. Her research draws attention to the study of family life and employment, using a combined “ethnic lens” and “gender lens” and paying attention to the perspective of Palestinian Arab women, a group characterized by intersections between multiple marginal locations, which over the years has remained hidden from the research eye. Dr. Karkabi-Sabah’s research is published in professional journals and chapters in scientific books that are considered pioneers in family research, work, and gender equality.

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Prof. Frances Raday

Professor Emeritus in the Lieberman Chair in Labor Law, in the Faculty of Law at the Hebrew University and serves as a full professor in the College of Management’s academic track, where she also serves as chair of the graduate program and as honorary president of the Concord Center for International Law Absorption. Radai was a member of a working group of the UN Human Rights Council on discrimination against women. In addition, she is a prominent and feminist human rights activist.

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Dr. Rawia Aburabia 

Faculty member of Sapir Academic College’s School of Law, received her PhD from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. Her research deals with the interface between law, gender, minorities, and human rights. Has published in leading journals on the subject of the matrimonial laws pertaining to Muslim women in Israel. Her book Under the Law, Outside Justice: Polygamy, Gendered Citizenship, and Colonialism in Israeli Law is expected to be published as part of the Gender Series of Kibbutz Meuhad Publishing House.

Dr. Aburabia has extensive experience in international human rights and public law. She has worked as a jurist for the Association for Civil Right and has been invited as a specialist to address such international forums as the United Nations and the European Parliament on the subject of indigenous communities and minority rights. She has interned with Human Rights Watch in Washington DC, and has been a member of the executive board of Amnesty International. In 2018, she was selected by the magazine Globes as one of the 40 most promising young persons in Israel under the age of 40.

 

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Ron Kessler

With over two decades of experience in the field of digital content, Ron has participated in numerous political and social campaigns. He helped run the digital activity of senior public officials, and worked in various NGOs. Ron is a fundamentally optimistic man, who believes that Israel can be changed and so can people. Lives in Tel Aviv.