The Knesset has approved the Communications Reform Law spearheaded by Communications Minister Shlomo Karhi in its second and third readings. The bill passed with the support of 53 Knesset members, while 48 voted against it.

Addressing the Knesset before the vote, Minister Karhi said, "This reform brings freedom to the public. It removes the chains of propaganda from the minds of Israel's citizens and allows them to choose what they want to watch.

"There was a failed attempt to keep power in the hands of monopolies, prevent competition and a free market, and keep the people of Israel from knowing the true picture reflected in the viewing figures. In addition, we are establishing a uniform requirement for promoting Israeli productions, lowering barriers to entry, and breaking up monopolies," he added.

The law provides for the establishment of the Broadcast Communications Authority, an independent statutory body that will consolidate and replace the existing broadcasting regulators. Under the proposal, the authority will operate with an annual budget of NIS 25 million, which will be deducted from the budget of the Israeli Public Broadcasting Corporation.

The law also establishes the Broadcast Communications Council, which will set the authority's policy. The council will consist of nine members and will be required to ensure gender and ethnic representation. A search committee, headed by the Director General of the Ministry of Communications, will be responsible for selecting candidates for the council.

Until additional legislation is enacted, the council will operate without direct enforcement powers over content providers, while the Second Authority for Television and Radio will continue exercising its regulatory powers over existing license holders and radio broadcasters.

The law also requires any Israeli content provider meeting at least one of the following criteria to register in a dedicated registry:

• Annual revenue exceeding NIS 40 million;
• More than 100,000 paying subscribers; or
• More than NIS 100 million in funding from controlling shareholders over the past three years.

In addition, the council will be authorized to designate a provider as having "commercial significance," requiring it to offer its broadcasting rights to all distributors on a non-discriminatory basis.

Regarding original productions, the law introduces a new framework for "premium genres"-drama and documentary programming. Registered content providers will be required to invest at least 6.5% of their annual revenue each fiscal year in financing or producing local content, with 10% of that amount earmarked for documentary programming.

The new requirements will be phased in over five years. The production obligation for broadcasters regulated by the Second Authority will gradually decrease from the current 13%, while the obligation for entities regulated under the Communications Law will decrease from 8%. Providers that were previously exempt will be subject to a gradual obligation beginning at 2%.

Under the law, the Idan+ free-to-air digital television platform will continue operating, with its NIS 25 million annual operating cost deducted from the budget of the Public Broadcasting Corporation. Mandatory carriage requirements will continue to apply only to the veteran television channels already subject to them. Sporting events deemed to be of public importance will be broadcast on channels carried by the Idan+ platform.

With respect to sports broadcasting, the law prohibits broadcasters that own sports broadcasting rights from forcing customers to purchase expensive bundled channel packages. They will instead be required to sell their content to competing distributors on equal terms. The law also establishes clear criteria for identifying "sporting events of public importance," for which no additional viewing fee may be charged.