Amid labor dispute, Kahlon says 'I too paid a price' over IPBC deal
After Histadrut calls for general labor dispute, Finance Min. Kahlon says that public broadcasting deal with Netanyahu was 'necessary,' despite many detractors concerned it will harm workers' rights.
Amid a labor dispute over the fate of the Israel Public Broadcasting Corporation (IPBC), Finance Minister Moshe Kahlon (Kulanu) claimed Monday that he too paid a political price for the deal he struck with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on the matter.
Kahlon (Kulanu) spoke at a ceremony in the central city of Beit Shemesh, on the heels of Histadrut Labor Federation Avi Nissenkorn calling for a general labor dispute in the entire public sector, in protest of the new IPBC deal between Kahlon and Netanyahu.
"We know that we have experienced some kind of crisis, but I want to tell you that the responsibility we showed here was necessary, and you know what, I too paid a price for it," said Kahlon while sitting next to Netanyahu.
"During the elections, you know how you get in and do not know how you are going out, and no one knows how you are going to end up," added Kahlon.
The labor dispute aims to draw attention to the threat the deal brings to the job security and financial stability of workers of the IPBC (whose launching has repeatedly been postponed) and workers of the Israeli Broadcasting Authority (IBA), which the IPBC is set to replace.
The Histadrut stressed that although the agreed upon changes to the IPBC are far-reaching and have serious implications for the labor relations and workers' rights, the decisions on these changes were made in complete disregard of the workers' representatives.
It should be mentioned that Nissenkorn, who was appointed to head the Histadrut by former head Ofer Eini, is currently running a heated campaign to be elected to the top position against former Labor head Shelly Yachimovich.
Meanwhile, the Israeli journalists' organization filed a petition to the High Court of Justice against Prime Minister Netanyahu, Finance Minister Kahlon, Acting Minister of Communications Tzachi Hanegbi, Attorney General Avichai Mandelblit and the Ministry of Communications over the new IPBC outline.
The petition states that "in the conduct of the respondents, whose actions—including involvement in the appointment of senior officials and other employees of the corporation, the unreasonable postponement of the date of the corporation's inception and the change in the identity of the employees in the corporation—is a wrongful activity that goes against the provisions of the law and its purpose flies is contradictory to the fundamentalk principles of Israeli democracy."
The petiiton continued to say that "Their conduct was carried out without any public discussion, but rather in the dark, a forbidden political deal, in an attempt to change, harm and destroy one of the foundations of Israeli democracy—the public broadcasting corporation - which is the result of the work of public committees, And intensive work (which is also involved in budgets) and was set up over a period of months and years, until today (and indeed for several months) is ready for action on all its components and aspects, including employees, location, devices and equipment."
The journalists' organization wants to cancel the new IPBC outline, including the separation between the corporation and the news division, and prevent the transformation of the outline into law. The organization also demands that the Prime Minister, the Minister of Finance and the Minister of Communications refrain from interfering with the identity of the corporation's managers and journalists, and that the organization should be given a green light to open the corporation in accordance with the law without delay.
Meanwhile, Labor MK Eldad Yaniv petitioned the High Court of Justice against the agreement in a petition filed by attorneys Yuval Yoaz and Doron Barkat, saying that Netanyahu should refrain from discussing the matter because he resigned as Minister of Communications.
However, it now turns out that the absence of Licht, who is the most experienced in the Justice Ministry in all corporate affairs and all communications issues is not only due to his illness. Licht, who was a key factor in drafting the Public Broadcasting Corporation Law, sharply criticized the compromise between the sides and was not invited to consult with Netanyahu on the matter, at the end of which Mandelblit qualified the agreement.
On Thursday, Netanyahu and Kahlon agreed to close the company's news division. According to the agreement, the IBA's news division, currently in liquidation, will continue to operate and broadcast news until the establishment of a new news division.
It was reported on Sunday that Deputy Attorney General Avi Licht opposes the agreement between Netanyahu and Kahlon regarding the compromise reached between the two on the public broadcasting corporation. Licht himself did not attend the crucial meetings between the prime minister, finance and Attorney General Avichai Mandelblit.
Licht was personally promoted by Mandelblit a few months ago to serve as the most senior deputy among all his deputies. After Mandelblit arrived at the meeting instead of Licht, his absence was explained, inter alia, due to the pneumonia he suffered.
While Mandelblit reportedly feels that hte deal is not perfect, he feels it will withstand a High Court petition. Mandelblit issued a statement, saying that "the Prime Minister's preoccupation with the current Israeli public broadcasting law does not raise the suspicion of a conflict of interest."
