Fears new Israeli press bill will target embattled Palestinian media

A new bill targeting the Israeli media passed its first reading in the Knesset on Tuesday, prompting fears over the future of press freedoms in the country, and in particular media owned by and directed to Palestinian citizens of Israel.

The bill, titled the Communications Law and proposed by Communications Minister Shlomo Karhi, would see two new regulatory bodies, the Broadcast Media Authority and Council for the Regulation of Audio-Visual Content, set up to replace the country's existing regulation bodies for broadcast media.

Four of the seven members of the council would be chosen by the communications minister, with the director-general of the communications ministry also appointing one official.

All news content providers would be obliged to register with the bodies, which would be granted the power to cancel registrations for broadcasters who fail to comply with the conditions of the legislation and issue fines for violating its terms.

The passing of the bill, by 54 votes in favour to 47 against, has prompted concern about a tightening of press freedom, especially for the Palestinian community in Israel, amid a wider crackdown on the community's freedoms.

Israel has already been criticised for its media restrictions, including via the notorious military censor, with the country ranking 112th out of 180 countries in the World Press Freedoms Index.

Palestinian activist and commentator Abed Abou Shhadeh told The New Arab that the law, which also deregulates the media environment, is an attempt to weaken the hold of public broadcasters and centre-left news in Israeli media.

The bill is set to remove current rules that ensure that news outlets must be an independent company and separate from the television stations from which they are broadcast.

According to Israel's Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara, those rules ensure news content remains separate from commercial interests and political interference.

At the same time, Shhadeh said that the legislation would also tighten the regulatory environment on media owned and operated by Palestinians in Israel, amid an ongoing crackdown on the community's free speech.

A notable recent case includes the arrest of Nadera Shalhoub-Kevorkian, an academic from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, who accused Israel of perpetrating genocide in Gaza on Israeli TV. She late resigned from the university.

Shhadeh also drew attention to the increased crackdown on certain media sources and viewpoints, notably the ban on Al Jazeera in Israel which was imposed following the start of Israel's war on Gaza.

The worst-case scenario for the Palestinian community, Shhadeh said, would be a return to a media environment akin to when Israel's Palestinian community was governed under military rule prior to 1967, which saw draconian limits on freedom of movement and speech.

"This is what is being built up, and I think it should be seen as less freedoms for the Palestinian citizens, to have only one specific view and one specific idea on how to interpret and analyse the current news."

He added that alongside changes to the judicial system and policing, the new media restrictions "clarify the general logic where Israel is headed, and it's a classic textbook of authoritarian change".

Martin Roux, Head of the Crisis Desk at Reporters without Borders (RSF), echoed this, telling The New Arab that the law was part of efforts by Israel's government to "silence voices that criticise the far-right coalition in power".

"As stated almost a year ago, RSF is alarmed at these legal attacks - especially the legislation concerning the public broadcaster Kan - which will have lasting, detrimental effects on Israel's media landscape," he said.

However, he added that the legislation would not pass without a fight, and that a petition was already being filed against it, while the Attorney General's office was refusing to approve the law.

Israeli Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara, who has clashed frequently with the government of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu over his attempted judicial overhaul, said there was "real concern of severe harm to freedom of expression and freedom of the press."