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High Court presses state over Galatz closure committee’s prior statements

From Jerusalem Post · () English

Translated from English and summarized by DistantNews. Read the original for the full story.

At a glance

News Named sources In the courts
  • The High Court of Justice questioned the state regarding prior statements made by members of a committee appointed to review Army Radio's future.
  • The central issue is whether these statements tainted the committee's process, leading to the recommendation to close the station.
  • The government approved the closure of the 75-year-old station, but it has been frozen by an interim court order.

Israel's High Court of Justice pressed the state on Tuesday over potential bias within a committee tasked with examining the future of Army Radio, also known as Galatz. The hearing focused on whether members of the advisory committee, appointed by Defense Minister Israel Katz, had expressed predetermined views against the station before commencing their review.

The committee was appointed by Katz in 2025 to review the future of Army Radio, a military-run station that also operates as a national news and current-affairs broadcaster. It ultimately recommended either closing Galatz’s news and current-affairs division or shutting the station entirely.

· Court Document SummaryDescribing the background of the committee's formation and its recommendation.

The committee was established in 2025 to assess Army Radio, a military-run broadcaster that also functions as a national news and current-affairs outlet. Its ultimate recommendation was to either close the news and current-affairs division or shut down the station entirely, a decision subsequently adopted by Katz.

The government officially approved the closure of the 75-year-old station in December, with broadcasts slated to cease within two months. However, the move was halted by an interim court order pending the outcome of petitions against the decision. Petitioners, including Army Radio workers and the Histadrut labor federation, argue that some committee members had publicly voiced negative opinions about Galatz before their appointment, thereby compromising the integrity of the review process.

After more than 75 years on air, Army Radio has become part of Israel’s public broadcasting landscape.

· Gali Baharav-MiaraAttorney-General's argument regarding the station's public significance.

Adding complexity to the legal arguments, Attorney-General Gali Baharav-Miara has taken a stance that Army Radio is no longer a purely internal military matter. In a January filing, she argued that after more than seven decades on air, Galatz has become an integral part of Israel's public broadcasting landscape, reaching nearly a million listeners daily and serving as one of only two nationwide Hebrew public radio stations with comprehensive news and current-affairs programming. Baharav-Miara contends that closing such a significant public entity should involve primary legislation from the Knesset, not just a government decision.

Closing such a station by government decision, rather than through primary legislation in the Knesset, raises serious legal difficu

· Gali Baharav-MiaraAttorney-General's legal position on the closure process.
About this summary

Originally published by Jerusalem Post in English. Translated, summarized, and contextualized automatically by DistantNews, with a note on how the source frames the story. Not individually reviewed before publishing. How this works.

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