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The Army Will Take Over Commercial Broadcasting Signals
Posted by Nimrod Kozlovski on Wednesday, March 19 @ 21:21:50 EST Free Expression
A freedom of speech activist filed a petition against the Israeli defense force’s (IDF) plan to take over commercial channels’ signals in case of a missile attack aimed at Israel. In case of a missile attack on Israel the IDF spokesman will take control over all broadcasting channels (including foreign commercial cable channels) in Israel. Technically this will be done by overriding the switch in the cable and satellite broadcasting center. The IDF plans to use the IDF studio as the sole vehicle of information to the public in the minutes following a missile launching. Right after a detection of a missile launching, there will be 5-15 minutes of an official broadcasting to inform about the status of the alarm and to give preliminary instructions to the public.

The petition to the supreme court argues that the IDF’s plan severely infringes upon freedom of speech. As claimed, especially in a time of a missile attack it is imperative to enable the free flow of information from commercial and foreign channels as the CNN and BBC. Only through the commercial and foreign channels the public can be fully informed in real time about the war. The petitioner claims that the public can be officially informed by the public channels (channel “1” and the “voice of Israel”) while simultaneously having the commercial and foreign channels kept untouched.

The ministry of justice announced that an IDF’s take over the channels will be limited to up to 15 minutes in each attack unless a genuine and imminent need to save lives arises.

The commercial channels in Israel claim that an expropriation of all broadcasting signals is a lethal strike to the free press and public discourse in Israel. The commercial channels want to retain the ability to air in real time pictures from the missiles’ crashing scene, to interview experts other than the ones hosted by the IDF studio and to critically question the army’s actions.

While One could justify the IDF’s decision to inform the public accurately in case of an attack, a more proportional solution could be found. In a multi-lingual society as Israel with many immigrants and foreign workers it makes a lot of sense to centrally inform the public in various languages to prevent panic and achieve efficiency in public reaction. Therefore, the IDF’s reasoning of a multi-lingual public addressing is welcomed. Yet, a more proportionate mean could be found. The IDF could split the cable channels’ screen and enable both the official message and the commercial broadcasting. Alternatively, it could screen a warning on the commercial channels’ screen advising the audience to switch to the official channel or screen-type the official message. Read more: Haaretz (in hebrew).
 
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