High Court freezes government move to shutter Army Radio pending ruling

Defense Minister Israel Katz announced the decision to shut down the military channel last week, with the closure expected to take effect in March.

Ahead of the scheduled hearing and just hours after the government and attorney general submitted their preliminary responses, Chief Justice Isaac Amit on Sunday ordered that the government’s decision to shut down Army Radio be frozen until further notice.

The interim order comes amid a growing legal row between the government and the AG over the decision to shut down the military channel, with Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara warning the High Court that the move is legally flawed and risks causing irreversible harm.

“The decision is fraught with errors,” Baharav-Miara said, noting that the court is expected to hear the case by the end of January.

Representing IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir, the attorney general’s office, submitted an advisory opinion urging the court to issue an interim order freezing both the government’s decision and all preparatory measures taken to implement it until the court rules.

He further noted that the time between the decision and its execution was only about two months.

Katz announces decision to close military radio

Defense Minister Israel Katz announced the decision to shut down the military channel last week, with the closure expected to take effect in March.

Army Radio has been broadcasting for 75 years and has long served as a training ground for generations of Israeli journalists. The government argued that the military had no business running a news channel, especially if it leaned to one side of the political map.

Baharav-Miara warned that “the damage that will be caused by the steps taken now to close the station will be both significant and irreversible.”

Counsel’s position is that an interim injunction is warranted on both procedural and substantive grounds.