Netanyahu's battle against public broadcasting
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, worried that a new independent broadcasting corporation would veer left right under his nose, has postponed its launch by two years.
Preparations to shut down the Israel Broadcasting Authority, the state's broadcasting network, and replace it with a new public broadcasting corporation have been stepped up over the past few weeks.
The new corporation was scheduled to begin operations on Oct. 1. As a result of the reform of the Israel Broadcasting Authority and legislation for that express purpose, it seemed Israel's collapsing public broadcasting was finally about to get some good news. To stick to the crowded timetable legislated by the Knesset, the nascent corporation worked around the clock, recruiting new journalists and editors who would be the basis of a powerful and relevant new news entity. Just about every day, news reports were filled with stories of contracts with top journalists, some of them from the Israel Broadcasting Authority and others who decided to leave various commercial media outlets for this new venture.
