The Israeli government unanimously approved a proposal Sunday to defy a Supreme Court injunction that had blocked newly appointed members of the Second Authority for Television and Radio Council from convening. Communications Minister Shlomo Karhi and Justice Minister Yariv Levin spearheaded the move, asserting that the state will not recognize actions taken by the council while it allegedly fails to meet statutory requirements.
Background of the legal dispute
The conflict centers on the Second Authority, which acts as Israel’s public regulator for commercial television and radio. In May, Supreme Court Justice Alex Stein issued a temporary order freezing the council’s activities. The court’s intervention followed a series of petitions challenging the government’s appointments to the regulator, which included chairwoman Yifat Ben-Hay Segev and members Kinneret Barashi and Haim Shine. The court barred the council from meeting or making decisions until further notice after the state again asked for more time to respond to the petitions.
Why the government is challenging the injunction
Minister Karhi stated that the government’s decision to bypass the injunction is rooted in a disagreement over the council’s legal standing. According to Karhi, the council currently fails to meet a statutory requirement for a two-thirds majority. “High Court justices are not the Knesset, and an abuse of power does not give them the authority to erase an explicit statutory requirement simply because they find it inconvenient,” Karhi said. He added that the state would not cooperate with the High Court because, in his view, the court is “trampling the law.”
Justice Minister Yariv Levin echoed this position, emphasizing that the government views the law as the sole source of authority. “The government has a duty to ensure that the law, and only the law, serves as the source of governmental authority,” Levin said.
What happens next
The government’s decision to ignore the injunction creates a direct confrontation between the executive branch and the judiciary. Because the state has officially declared that it will not recognize any decisions, approvals, or appointments made by the council while it remains below the statutory threshold, the regulatory body’s future remains uncertain. The situation remains in flux, as the government has signaled it will continue to use “lawful means” to assert its position regarding the council’s composition and the broader restructuring of the broadcasting sector initiated by Karhi’s Communications Bill.
