The Knesset plenum approved Communications Minister Shlomo Krei’s bill in its first reading. 54 members of Knesset voted in favor, 47 opposed. The bill, known as the “Broadcasting Law,” is being advanced despite the position of legal counsel and as part of a “deal” with the ultra-Orthodox parties, who received in exchange the advancement of a law strengthening rabbinical courts. The Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara published an opinion on the proposal in September, writing that it “includes arrangements that create increased risks to the character of free media in Israel. There is a real concern regarding significant commercial and political influence and intervention in the work of media bodies.” The bill will proceed to discussions in the Knesset committee.
