The Knesset bill to close the Israel Broadcasting Authority will be discussed in a special Knesset committee, led by MK Karin Elharrar (Yesh Atid). The decision was approved by an eight to four majority in committee, and received harsh criticism from the opposition benches, who protested the decision. This means that there will be no discussion of the bill in the Economic Affairs Committee, headed by MK Avishay Braverman (Labor) because of the fear in the Ministry of Communications and the Ministry of Finance that it would be difficult to pass the bill in its current form in a committee headed by the opposition.
“The time has come to return public broadcast in Israel to the public,” said Elharrar. “I am grateful to Minister Erdan for the trust he placed in me and I pledge to act to pass a fair, correct law, which takes into account all the parties involved in the matter, and will guarantee the citizens of Israel quality, independent, public broadcast.
Braverman criticized the decision, and said: “Someone decided that he wants a coalition puppet and not to take a chance. This is a disgrace to the Knesset. I can swallow my own pride, but it is not okay to disgrace the Knesset. You can pass a decision with a majority, but everyone who deals with it knows that we discuss it all the time. The point is that they don’t want someone from the opposition. The harm isn’t to me, personally. This Knesset breaks all the rules.”
Opposition leader Isaac Herzog called the decision “an outrage,” and said: “Establishing this special committee is an insult to chairman of the economic committee Avishay Braverman. The matter of public broadcast has always been discussed in the Economic Affairs Committee. The current Knesset does not recognize the sacred balance between the coalition and the opposition. Why was a special committee established? The answer is clear: so the prime minister can control public broadcast.”
In the background, the Israel Broadcast Authority protest continues. This morning, workers disrupted Kol Yisrael broadcast, and, this afternoon, they began broader disruptions of radio and Channel 1 broadcasts. Tonight’s basketball game between Maccabi Haifa and Hapoel Jerusalem will not be broadcast. Backed by the Histradrut (General Federation of Labor in Israel) and the Journalists Association, hundreds of Israel Broadcast Authority workers protested in front of the Ministry of Finance and the Knesset in Jerusalem.
The workers called on Minister of Finance Yair Lapid and Minister of Communications Gilad Erdan, “To end the communications carnival,” and to drop this plan, hinting at the World Cup in Brazil, which are scheduled to air on Channel 1 in nine days. The workers, accompanied by Brazilian dancers and drummers, wanted to emphasize the service they provide to the public by making World Cup matches available for free. At one point, the workers, who are members of unions represented by the Histadrut, blocked access to the Knesset, and were dispersed by police.
Channel 1 engineering committee head Moshe Segev denounced what he called “a unilateral decision to send 2,000 workers home. This is not streamlining. There is no guarantee that anyone from the current Broadcast Authority will end up at the new Authority. There is going to be an unyielding war, we won’t be nice anymore. We expect the whole country will cry over this. I hope that by the World Cup there will be a guarantee of negotiations for Israel Broadcast Authority workers to continue to work. But right now, things are uncertain, and so is the World Cup.”
At the end of the protest there was an additional meeting regarding the ongoing negotiations between Israel Broadcast Authority workers, Minister of Communications Gilad Erdan, Histadrut Chairman Avi Nissenkorn, and senior Finance Ministry officials. In the meeting, which ended without progress, Histadrut representatives emphasized that they are asking to discuss one of the three issues connected to Israel Broadcast Authority workers, which are: severance agreements, employment at the new Broadcast Authority, and new employee agreements. Also discussed was the matter of the Education TV channel employees, who, unlike other Israel Broadcast Authority employees, are considered state employees.
The Ministry of Communications said: “Alongside our commitment to rescue public broadcast, to cancel the TV license tax, and to provide Israel’s 8 million citizens with the content they deserve on their screens each evening, we wish to reach agreements and understandings with the workers, and this is why the negotiations continue.”
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on June 2, 2014
© Copyright of Globes Publisher Itonut (1983) Ltd. 2014