European Broadcasting Union Director General Noel Curran sent a letter to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Tuesday, in which he expressed concern about the possible closure of the Israeli Public Broadcasting Corporation's news division.
New Communications Minister Shlomo Karhi recently spoke out in favor of closing Kan News, the third largest newscaster in Israel after channels 12 and 13.
Kirel was chosen to represent Israel in the 2023 Eurovision Song Contest to take place in May in Liverpool. She is currently working on the song she will perform in the contest.
But without a functioning news division, the company will not meet its public service commitment, which calls into question its eligibility for membership in the European Broadcasting Union and Israel's ability to participate in major events, such as the Eurovision Song Contest.
"We trust the new government will safeguard the independence of Kan and enable it to continue to fulfill its mission in democratic society," Curran said in his letter.
"As far as I remember, we declared our independence as a Jewish and democratic state some 75 years ago," Karhi said in response to the letter. "The citizens of Israel elected a right-wing government to implement a liberal economic agenda, including in the media market," he said.
"I am committed to the Israeli public and not to a foreign body. We will find the solution that will balance the cultural expression of Israel that we want to bring to the media market," the minister said.
Karhi claimed Kan must not be funded by the government and slammed its news division for anti-Netanyahu bias. His fellow minister Miri Regev, famously said in a previous Netanyahu government that there was no point in allowing and budgeting a public broadcaster if the government would be unable to control its content.
i24NEWS contributed to this report