Jerusalem
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The Israeli government has authorised the closure of the nation’s Army Radio after 75 years of broadcasting, in a transfer that shutters one of Israel’s oldest media establishments at a time of mounting issues over press freedom.
Under the proposal, launched by Defense Minister Israel Katz, the station, generally known as Galei Tzahal, will stop operations on March 1.
The decision handed unanimously Monday regardless of opposition from Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara, who warned in an official memorandum that the choice lacked the required factual {and professional} basis and that advancing it violated the legislation.
“The decision forms part of a broader move to undermine public broadcasting in Israel and to restrict freedom of expression,” Baharav-Miara mentioned in a press release.
Israeli (*75*) Minister Benjamin Netanyahu welcomed the choice, saying “a military station broadcasting under the army’s authority exists in North Korea and perhaps a few other countries, and we certainly don’t want to be counted among them.”
The Israel Press Council, the Israeli journalists’ union, and different civil society teams have mentioned they’ll problem the choice within the Supreme Court.
Katz introduced his intention to shut down Army Radio final month, amid a broader government push to consolidate management over the media sphere, together with a dramatic broadcast regulation reform that will give the government sweeping authority to nice and sanction information retailers.
The military-run broadcaster is legally an IDF unit overseen by the Chief of Staff, however has a vibrant information division operated by each troopers and civilian journalists, who host some of the nation’s hottest political speak exhibits and a few of the journalists are often important of politicians and the army.
Katz isn’t the primary protection minister to dislike the tone of Army Radio’s journalist and others had beforehand floated the thought of closing or restructuring it. But he’s the primary to take motion – – convening what critics have referred to as a hand-picked committee of figures politically aligned with the government who really helpful closing the station down or changing it to a distinct mannequin, with out substantial information and political content material.
Katz mentioned in a press release that “a reality in which a radio station, intended for all citizens of the state, is operated by the army is an anomaly that does not exist in democratic countries.”
“This anomaly causes substantial difficulty for the IDF stemming from the involuntary involvement of the IDF in political discourse. The station’s engagement in political content harms the Israel Defense Forces, its soldiers, and its unity.”
Opposition Leader Yair Lapid condemned the choice, calling it “part of the government’s campaign to abolish freedom of speech in Israel during an election year. They fail to control reality, so they try to control consciousness. Wherever there’s a truth inconvenient to the government, they act to eliminate it.”
“The government doesn’t know how to deal with the cost of living, the neglect of security … so it shuts down the media,” he mentioned.