Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu today denied allegations that he was trying to gain control over the media.
"I want to make it clear - I will not be bought or deterred - not by criticism, not by slander , and not by screen-time flattery, all of which have been tried, as you know. I understand one thing the more opposition to opening the media market to greater competition, the more I know that I am doing the right thing," Netanyahu said.
He continued, "I have recently been hearing a lot of talk about my supposed attempts to take control of the media market. The opposite is true. Let's start with public broadcasting: had I wanted to stop public broadcasting, I would have allowed the new corporation to go on the air when it was not ready. The corporation would have failed, and the Channel 1 screen would have been blank or faulty, and more time was therefore needed to enable the new corporation to get organized properly and go on the air when it is ready. During the extension, Channel 1 will continue broadcasting; there will be no blank screens.
Netanyahu added, "The main reform I am pushing is not there. The main reform is in the commercial television channels. It is about time for more television and news channels that can compete with the existing channels. There is overconcentration in broadcasting in Israel that exists practically nowhere else in the free world. I checked. Countries the size of Israel and even smaller - Denmark has six television channels, Belgium five television channels, and Finland eight television channels. The Israeli public is starving, really starving, and it is entitled to free choice in television, too - that is what I am working for."
Netanyahu also said, "Just like there used to be only two cellular companies, two bus companies, and two airlines, and today there are more, because we opened the markets to competition - it will be the same in the media market. Any investor who wants, right and left, up and down, from the site, from the center - everyone can invest in these channels. The Israeli public is the one who will choose what to watch; no one will decide for it. The reason I am also Minister of Communications is in order to open this market to competition, just like I opened many other markets in the Israeli economy."
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on July 24, 2016
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