Coalition vs media: Israeli gov’t reportedly discusses plans to close state-funded KAN & Army Radio

In the latest round of conflicts between the right-wing government and Israeli media outlets, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and several other ministers reportedly slammed the KAN News public broadcaster, Army Radio, and the Haaretz newspaper.

Several coalition members, particularly Communications Minister Shlomo Karhi, have long advocated for the privatization of Israel’s state-funded media outlets, both on the grounds of free-market principles as well as due to their alleged left-wing bias.

Several Israeli media outlets reported on comments made in Sunday’s government meeting.

Diaspora Affairs Minister Amichai Chikli accused several media outlets of inciting against the government and questioned why such organizations should continue to receive public funding.

“Why should it be funded?” Netanyahu agreed, referring to KAN News.

“There is enormous waste there without any control. Almost a billion shekels. Let the market decide! Give the citizens of Israel the choice,” he reportedly said, adding that the Knesset’s Communications Committee would soon reach a decision on the issue.

Karhi has long pushed for legislation to shut down KAN, however, his efforts have, so far, failed due to intra-party opposition, particularly from Knesset Economic Affairs Committee Chairman David Bitan.

Last month, Bitan rejected Karhi’s latest proposal to establish a new “media committee” with the authority to advance the privatization proposals.

A recent bill proposed by Karhi, which called for the complete closure of KAN if no buyer was found within two years, was stopped by Bitan’s committee after he argued that “public broadcasting is necessary.”

Netanyahu, known for pushing free-market legislation and privatization earlier in his career, is reportedly on the side of Karhi.

However, the prime minister is barred from engaging directly with legislation involving the media market due to a conflict-of-interest agreement he signed in light of his ongoing trial, which includes allegations of attempting to influence media coverage.

Nevertheless, during Sunday’s government meeting, Netanyahu reportedly instructed Karhi and Defense Minister Israel Katz to examine the necessity of another perennial problem child – Army Radio.

For over a decade, governments have considered closing or privatizing the highly popular Army Radio, which remains under the purview of the Israel Defense Forces.

Karhi later stated that he and Katz were working on plans to close the radio station, which he accused of becoming “detached from its original mission,” adding that it “has long since become a political stronghold.”

It is “unreasonable for a democratic country to operate a military radio station, let alone a political one,” he said, further blaming the radio station for “depressing” the soldiers, rather than uplifting them.

Netanyahu’s comments about Army Radio were sharply criticized by the left-wing NGO “Movement for the Quality of Government (MQC),” which said they were “a blatant violation of the conflict-of-interest agreement.”

The MQG accused Netanyahu of advancing “systematic efforts to take control of independent media channels in Israel and subject them to narrow political considerations,” and called on the Attorney General to intervene.

Another media outlet attacked during the government meeting was the far-left newspaper Haaretz. Chikli reportedly accused the paper of inciting against Israel and doing “enormous damage to the country.”

During last week's “Combatting Antisemitism” conference, organized by the Diaspora Ministry, Chikli called Haaretz a “beacon of lies, anti-Zionism and propaganda.”

At the end of last year, the cabinet announced it would sever all ties with Haaretz.