Israeli coalition crisis raises threat of new elections
JERUSALEM — Israel’s prime minister backed out of an agreement to establish a new broadcasting authority Sunday, creating a coalition crisis with one of his key partners that could lead to early elections.
Benjamin Netanyahu insisted his coalition partners were required to side with his ruling Likud party regarding all media regulation matters. The conflict centres on the fate of the struggling state-run Israel Broadcasting Authority. Netanyahu initially ordered it shut down and replaced with a new corporation, only to reverse course once the emerging personnel of the new body did not seem favourable as hoped to his administration. Finance Minister Moshe Kahlon, head of the centrist Kulanu party, insists the corporation start broadcasting next month as planned.
The crisis has sparked speculation that the coalition could fall apart, and new elections called.
Before departing on a weeklong visit to China, Netanyahu said Kahlon’s insistence was “unacceptable” and there was no need for the new corporation to be established when the current authority could be reformed. Netanyahu has long tried to curb his many detractors in the media, which he considers biased against him. Netanyahu recently confirmed for the first time that he called an early election in 2015 to block legislation aimed at curtailing the distribution of Israel Hayom, a free daily financed by billionaire backer Sheldon Adelson that largely serves as his mouthpiece.