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PM: I will not be bought nor deterred from broadcasting reform

July 24, 2016

At the opening of the weekly Cabinet meeting today (Sunday), Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu spoke about the importance of investment in developing infrastructure in the Arab sector, calling for “a reality of one state with one law,” referring to efforts to tighten law enforcement in Arab communities.

“Our government is investing considerable resources in developing the Arab sector: economic development, education, transportation, housing solutions and other issues,” Netanyahu said, “alongside all of these, we are working to create a reality of one state with one law; law and order for everyone, without exception. This is desirable and the time has come for it to be so in the State of Israel.”

The main part of the Prime Minister’s words was devoted to the brouhaha surrounding the decision to postpone the creation of the new Public Broadcasting Corporation to replace the old Israeli Broadcasting Authority. The delay brought condemnations from Education Minister Naftali Bennett, who said it reflected government desire to limit free speech, and others.

Netanyahu fired back at this criticism, claiming that he desires further privatization of broadcasting and more competition, the “opposite” of greater control.

“Recently, I have heard much verbiage about my attempts, as it were, to take control of the communications market. The opposite is true. Let us start with public broadcasting. If I wanted to darken the screen for public broadcasting, I would allow the new corporation to go on the air when it is unready,” said the Prime Minister, putting forth the claim that the delay in enacting broadcasting reform stems from purely practical and logistical considerations.

If the move to the Corporation happened on schedule, claimed the PM, “the corporation would fail and Channel 1 [the public broadcasting TV channel] would go dark or be grounded; therefore, an extension is needed to allow the new corporation to get properly organized and go on the air when it is ready.”

Netanyahu then went on to make the argument that the move to the Corporation is only part of a greater agenda of broadcast reform that he has in mind, as part of efforts to break monopolies wherever they may be found in the Israeli economy.

“The main part of the reform is not there. The main part of the reform is commercial television channels. The time has come for there to be more television and news channels that will be able to compete with the existing channels. Israel has cartelization of television broadcasts that is almost unprecedented in the free world. I checked countries that are our size or smaller. Denmark has six television channels. Belgium has five and Finland eight. The Israeli public is crying out, it is crying out and it is entitled to receive freedom of choice vis-à-vis television as well, and I am working to this end.”

The Prime Minister connected this issue to past successes by government under his rule to promote greater competition in other industries.

“Just like when there were only two cellphone companies, two bus companies, two airlines, and today there are more because we opened the markets to competition – so it will be in the communications market. Any investor – from the right or left, above or below, from the side, from the center – will be able to invest in these channels. It is the Israeli public that will choose what to watch and nobody will choose for it. The reason that I am holding the Communications portfolio is in order to open this market to competition like I opened many other markets in the Israeli economy to competition.”

Prime Minister Netanyahu concluded with a message to his detractors.

“I would like to clarify something else: I will be neither bought nor deterred, not with criticism, not with mudslinging and not with fawning air time which, as you know, I receive endlessly. I understand one thing – the greater the opposition to opening the communications market, the more I understand that I am doing the right thing.”

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