Attorney General Asks High Court to Freeze Karhi's Media Law Pending Challenges

Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara asked the High Court of Justice to freeze Communications Minister Shlomo Karhi's media overhaul law while legal challenges against it play out, warning that letting it take effect in the meantime could do lasting damage to media independence, The Times of Israel reported.

In a position paper to the court, Baharav-Miara argued that both the process used to pass the law and several of its substantive provisions raise serious legal problems, describing it as containing an "extreme accumulation of substantive defects." She said the law "effectively abolishes the main comprehensive framework intended to ensure the journalistic independence and reliability of news broadcasts in Israel, without establishing a dedicated alternative."

The Knesset passed the overhaul by a 53-48 vote on July 16, ahead of the October 27 election. During the debate, Karhi acknowledged that Netanyahu had originally tasked him with advancing the changes, even though the prime minister himself faces conflict-of-interest restrictions on media policy because of his ongoing trial.

Watchdog groups and opposition parties petitioned the High Court almost immediately after the law passed, seeking both its annulment and an interim freeze. Justice Ofer Grosskopf already moved to block some of its immediate provisions, citing what he called weighty challenges to both the law's process and its substance, a ruling Karhi has characterized as the government's own court defying the Knesset's will.