Knesset Channel Broadcasts Law, 5764-2003
חוק שידורי ערוץ הכנסת, תשס"ד-2003
Published: 2003-12-29Consolidated Hebrew text as of 2026-08-02 · Last amended 2026-07-28✓ Amendment status checked against the Knesset legislation record on 2026-09-17
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The Hebrew text as published in Reshumot (ספר החוקים) and on the Knesset website is the sole authoritative and legally binding version. In any discrepancy, the Hebrew text prevails.
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Purposes of the Law§
1.
The purpose of this Law is to regulate the broadcasts of the Knesset Channel on television and on the internet and their distribution to the general public, in order to enable access to Knesset deliberations and to the variety of aspects of its work, to cultivate civic awareness and to strengthen the values of democracy, including the status of the Knesset as the elected house of the State, all in connection with the work of the Knesset and in a manner that will ensure transparency with respect to its work.
Definitions§
2.
In this Law –
"the Broadcasting Body" – the holder of the licence for broadcasts under this Law;
"the Council" – as defined in the Communications Law;
"the Communications Law" – the Communications Law (Telecommunications and Broadcasts), 5742-1982;
"the Channel", "the Knesset Channel" – the Knesset Channel on which Knesset broadcasts and supplementary programmes shall be transmitted on television and on the internet;
"supplementary programmes" – programmes dealing with Knesset affairs, or programmes whose purpose is the cultivation of civic awareness and the strengthening of the values of democracy, or whose subject matter is the provision of information or enrichment, all in connection with the variety of aspects of the work of the Knesset, the activity of Knesset members or political activity, or written updates on current affairs in Israel and in the world to be broadcast in accordance with Regulations under section 4;
"Knesset broadcasts" – broadcasts of plenary sessions of the Knesset, of meetings of Knesset committees and of state events held by the Knesset at the Knesset premises or outside the premises (in this Law – state events);
"service announcement" – a broadcast on behalf of a state body, whose purpose is the transmission of information to the public on matters of health, safety, security, environmental quality, welfare and the rights and duties of the citizen, provided that it does not have the effect of promoting a commercial interest of any body or the acquisition of any product or service.
Knesset Channel Broadcasts§
3.
(a)Knesset broadcasts and supplementary programmes shall be transmitted on the Knesset Channel in accordance with the provisions of this Law.
(b)
(1)Knesset Channel broadcasts shall include broadcasts on television and on the internet, as well as services directly ancillary thereto, including on-demand or audio services, and in respect of television broadcasts – including interactive or bidirectional broadcasts; internet broadcasts shall include only Knesset broadcasts, whether or not they are also broadcast on television, and supplementary programmes that were or are being broadcast on television;
(2)The provisions of this Law shall apply to internet broadcasts, with the necessary modifications, unless it is prescribed in the Law or in Regulations under section 4 that they apply to television broadcasts only.
Determination of Policy regarding Knesset Channel Broadcasts§
4.
The Knesset Committee shall determine by Regulations the policy in respect of –
(1)the characteristics of the Channel and the broadcasts thereon;
(2)the scope and duration of broadcasts on the Channel, provided that no broadcasts shall take place on the Sabbath and on Jewish festivals;
(3)the manner of coverage of Knesset broadcasts, including the manner of determining which Knesset committee meetings shall be broadcast live and in a first broadcast that is not a live broadcast;
(4)coverage of official events of national importance;
(5)the types of service announcements that shall be permitted for broadcast and the manner of their broadcast;
(6)the types of programmes that the Broadcasting Body may include within the framework of supplementary programmes, including provisions regarding the broadcast of written updates on parliamentary matters and on current affairs in Israel and in the world during the broadcasts of the Broadcasting Body;
(7)(Repealed)
(8)use of material recorded or filmed by the Broadcasting Body for the purpose of carrying out Knesset broadcasts, including such material that was not broadcast within the framework of Knesset broadcasts.
Filming and Broadcasting of the Speaker at Plenary Sessions of the Knesset§
4a.
When filming and broadcasting plenary sessions of the Knesset, the Broadcasting Body shall broadcast the person who has been granted the right to speak by the chairperson of the session, or the chairperson of the session when the chairperson is the speaker; nothing in the provisions of this section shall prevent the Broadcasting Body from simultaneously filming and broadcasting other occurrences in the Knesset plenary, during the remarks of the speaker.
Provisions regarding the Council under this Law§
4b.
(a)For the purpose of exercising its powers and fulfilling its functions under this Law, two additional members who are public representatives with knowledge and experience in parliamentary work, including former Knesset members or former Knesset employees, shall serve on the Council; one shall be appointed by the Speaker of the Knesset and the other shall be appointed by the Leader of the Opposition.
(b)A member of the Council appointed under subsection (a) shall have no casting vote and shall not participate in a vote connected to the tender for the selection of the Broadcasting Body; however, nothing in these provisions shall prevent such member from participating in meetings at which votes as aforesaid are held.
(c)The provisions applicable by law regarding the examination of the eligibility and suitability of candidates for membership of the Council in accordance with the provisions of subsection (a), as well as the provisions of sections 6b(d), 6c and 6d of the Communications Law, shall apply to members of the Council appointed under the said subsection, with the necessary modifications and with this modification: in section 6c(a), at the end thereof, the following shall be read: "however, a Council member appointed under the provisions of section 4b of the Knesset Channel Broadcasts Law, 5764-2003, shall not be regarded as connected to a matter under deliberation by the Council or by a committee of its committees solely because such member also takes into account the affairs of the Knesset or because such member is a former Knesset member or a former Knesset employee.".
Functions and Powers of the Council§
5.
(a)The Council shall select the Broadcasting Body and shall grant it a licence for broadcasts on the Knesset Channel in accordance with the provisions of section 7, and shall supervise on an ongoing basis the conduct of broadcasts on the Channel and the implementation of the provisions of this Law and of the Regulations, rules and instructions thereunder.
(b)The Council may determine rules and also give instructions regarding the broadcasts on the Knesset Channel and the manner of operation of the Broadcasting Body, including determining rules on the matters set out below, provided that in matters for which policy has been determined under section 4, the Council shall determine the rules in accordance with the policy determined as aforesaid:
(1)ethics in the broadcasts of the Channel;
(2)the subjects, style, content, scope and manner of scheduling of service announcements permitted under this Law;
(3)broadcasts in an emergency;
(4)determination of the types of obligations the breach of which shall entitle the chairperson of the Council to impose a monetary sanction on the Broadcasting Body, in accordance with the provisions of section 18.
(c)The Council may determine that provisions regarding television broadcasts that apply, by law, to television broadcasts to the public and to bodies broadcasting to the public by law, shall apply, with the adaptations and modifications it determines, to broadcasts of the Channel and to the Broadcasting Body.
Coordination Team§
6.
(a)The Speaker of the Knesset shall appoint a coordination team that shall include at least three Knesset employees.
(b)The coordination team shall serve as a liaison and coordinating body between the Council and the Knesset, and between the Broadcasting Body and the Knesset.
(c)The Council shall not determine rules required for the purpose of implementing the provisions of this Law, or the tender conditions under section 7, unless it has consulted with the coordination team.
(d)The coordination team and the representatives of the Broadcasting Body shall decide on the broadcast schedule of the committees whose deliberations shall be broadcast each week, whether by direct broadcast or by indirect broadcast, in accordance with the policy determined by the Knesset Committee under the provisions of section 4.
(e)A Knesset employee appointed as a member of the coordination team who ceases to be such an employee shall cease to serve as a member of the coordination team, and the Speaker of the Knesset shall appoint another employee in his or her place.
Selection of the Broadcasting Body§
7.
(a)The Broadcasting Body shall be selected by tender to be published by the Council; the tender conditions shall be determined in accordance with the policy outlined by the Knesset Committee in Regulations under section 4 and with the rules determined by the Council as referred to in section 5, and shall include reference also to the maximum consideration to be paid by the Knesset to the winner within the framework of its approved budget.
(b)The Council shall serve as the tenders committee for the selection of the Broadcasting Body, and the chairperson of the Council shall be the chairperson, however the chairperson shall have no casting vote.
(c)The tenders committee may, to the extent it sees fit, consult experts who are not among its members, and shall also consult with the coordination team on questions relating to the manner of public access to parliamentary work processes.
(d)The tenders committee shall deliberate on the proposals and shall decide on the winner of the tender, and it may disqualify any proposal or even all the proposals.
(e)Petitions against decisions of a tenders committee under this Law shall be heard by the Supreme Court sitting as the High Court of Justice only.
Right to Participate in the Tender§
8.
(a)Any one of the following shall be entitled to participate in the tender:
(1)a corporation entitled by law to produce and broadcast news programmes on television in Israel;
(2)a corporation registered in Israel whose principal place of business is in Israel, provided that the following conditions are fulfilled in respect of it:
(a)the majority of the directors of the corporation and the chief executive officer of the corporation, or persons fulfilling such roles even if their title is different, are Israeli citizens and residents thereof;
(b)control of the participant shall not be held by a person who is not an Israeli citizen and resident thereof;
(c)the participant, a person with an interest or a controlling shareholder therein, is not the State of Israel, a governmental authority, a government company or a corporation established by law;
(d)the participant, a person with an interest or a controlling shareholder therein, is not one of the following:
(1)a party, as defined in the Parties Law, 5752-1992;
(2)a representative or agent of a party;
(3)a body connected to a faction as defined in the Party Financing Law, 5733-1973;
(4)another body connected to a party or a faction, or a representative or agent of such a body, if in the opinion of the Council it is liable to use the Channel's broadcasts to advance the special purposes of the party or the said bodies;
(5)a person in whom one of the conditions referred to in paragraphs (1) to (4) was fulfilled in the four years preceding the date of submission of the proposal in the tender;
(e)none of the following is a controlling shareholder in the participant:
(1)the holder of a general licence for cable broadcasts or the holder of a licence for satellite broadcasts, as defined in the Communications Law, or the holder of a general licence for broadcasts by means of digital broadcasting stations as defined in the Broadcasting Distribution by means of Digital Broadcasting Stations Law, 5772-2012, including a person who is a controlling shareholder or a person with an interest in the holder of such a licence;
(2)the holder of a licence for television broadcasts under the Second Television and Radio Authority Law, 5750-1990, including a person who is a controlling shareholder in the holder of such a licence;
(3)a national daily newspaper or a corporation that is the publisher of such a newspaper, including a person who is a person with an interest or a controlling shareholder therein;
(f)a daily newspaper that is among the two most widely circulated daily newspapers in Israel is not a person with an interest in the participant;
(g)the participant, chief executive officer, editor, person with an interest in the participant or controlling shareholder therein, has not been convicted of an offence which, by reason of its nature, gravity or circumstances, renders such person unfit to broadcast broadcasts from the Knesset.
(b)A corporation as referred to in subsection (a)(1) (in this section – news corporation) or a corporation as referred to in subsection (a)(2) shall undertake, as a condition of its participation in the tender, to maintain a separate accounting system in respect of its activity as a Broadcasting Body on the Knesset Channel, unless it has established a separate corporation in accordance with the provisions of subsection (c).
(c)
(1)The Council may require a news corporation or a corporation as referred to in subsection (a)(2) to undertake, as a condition of its participation in the tender, to establish a separate corporation for the purpose of its activity as a Broadcasting Body on the Knesset Channel, to be held by it in full ownership (in this subsection – separate corporation);
(2)For the purposes of this Law, a separate corporation established by a news corporation shall be regarded as a person entitled by law to produce and broadcast news programmes on television in Israel;
(3)The provisions of this subsection shall apply notwithstanding the provisions of any law, licence or concession prescribing a prohibition or restriction in respect of the establishment of a separate corporation by a news corporation.
(d)The Council may prescribe, in the tender or in the licence, provisions concerning corporate governance rules for the purpose of ensuring the public interest, including in respect of the appointment of independent directors and appropriate oversight of the conduct of the corporation; such provisions shall apply to a news corporation if it was required to establish a separate corporation in accordance with the provisions of subsection (c), to a corporation as referred to in subsection (a)(2), or to both, all as the Council shall determine; provisions prescribed under this subsection shall apply notwithstanding the provisions of any law, licence or concession.
Revocation, Restriction or Suspension of the Licence§
9.
The Council may revoke a licence for broadcasts on the Channel, restrict it or suspend it in any one of the following cases, provided that the licence holder has been given an opportunity to be heard:
(1)the licence holder failed to disclose to the Council or to the tenders committee, as the case may be, information that was required to be disclosed, or provided them with incorrect information;
(2)the licence holder failed to comply with the provisions of the Law, the Regulations, the rules or the instructions thereunder;
(3)the licence holder materially breached a condition of the licence;
(4)the licence holder breached a condition of the licence, in a breach that is not material, and did not remedy the breach as directed by the Council;
(5)the licence holder did not commence broadcasts within the time prescribed for it in the licence;
(6)one or more of the conditions qualifying the licence holder to hold the licence ceased to be fulfilled;
(7)a receiver or provisional liquidator was appointed for the licence holder, a winding-up order was made in respect of it, or the corporation resolved to wind up voluntarily;
(8)the licence holder requested the revocation of its licence.
Restrictions on the Transfer of Ownership in the Broadcasting Body§
10.
(a)10% or more of the means of control in the Broadcasting Body shall not be transferred without the prior approval of the Council and in accordance with the conditions of the approval.
(b)Means of control in the Broadcasting Body shall not be transferred without the prior approval of the Council and in accordance with the conditions of the approval, if as a result of the transfer a person would become a person with an interest or a controlling shareholder in the Broadcasting Body, or would cease to be a person with an interest or a controlling shareholder in the Broadcasting Body.
(c)No changes shall be made in the control of the Broadcasting Body and no means of control therein shall be transferred, if as a result of the changes or the transfer the provisions of section 8 would cease to be fulfilled in respect of it.
(d)In section 8 and in this section, "means of control", "person with an interest" and "control" – as defined in section 1 of the Communications Law.
Knesset Broadcasts§
11.
(a)The Broadcasting Body shall broadcast all deliberations of the Knesset plenary in their entirety, in real time and without any interruption or editing, and shall not refrain from broadcasting them or cancel them, except in accordance with Regulations determined by the Knesset Committee.
(b)The Broadcasting Body shall broadcast deliberations of Knesset committees and state events, in accordance with the provisions prescribed under the Law and with the following provisions:
(1)all committee deliberations taking place at the Knesset premises shall be filmed and broadcast on the Knesset Channel, unless the deliberation is confidential by any law, or if the committee has decided otherwise;
(2)all state events that the Knesset has requested to be broadcast shall be broadcast on the Knesset Channel, provided that the number of such events shall not exceed ten per year; nothing in the provisions of this paragraph shall prevent the Broadcasting Body from filming and broadcasting additional state events.
(b1)The Broadcasting Body shall accompany the television broadcasts of deliberations of the Knesset plenary and Knesset committees with captioning that includes information and explanatory notes on the nature of the said deliberations, in accordance with rules determined by the Council or instructions given to the licence holder after consultation with the coordination team.
(c)Television broadcasts that the Broadcasting Body transmits and that are not broadcast live shall be accompanied by a translation into Arabic or into Hebrew, as the case may be; in respect of translation under this subsection, the Council may determine rules or give instructions to the licence holder, after consultation with the coordination team, including determining an exemption from the obligation to translate television broadcasts to which the provisions of the Television Broadcasts (Subtitles and Sign Language) Law, 5765-2005, apply.
Ensuring Reliable Broadcasts§
12.
The Broadcasting Body shall ensure that the content it broadcasts –
(1)shall be reliable, fair and professional, with fidelity to factual truth and to the duty of reporting to the public, and in respect of supplementary programmes and background information for Knesset broadcasts – shall give adequate expression to the variety of views and opinions prevalent in the public;
(2)in supplementary programmes – shall not include a serious infringement of the dignity of the Knesset as the elected house of the State, unless the content is of news or educational value that justifies, in the circumstances of the matter, its broadcast, provided that the infringement does not exceed the extent required; nothing in these provisions shall prevent factual coverage of events in the Knesset or of the activities of Knesset members.
Prohibition of Advertising§
13.
Knesset Channel broadcasts shall not include advertising, but subject to the provisions prescribed under sections 4 and 5, service announcements shall be permitted.
Volume Level in Service Announcements, Trailers and Other Broadcasts§
13a.
The Broadcasting Body shall not broadcast a service announcement, trailer or broadcast of another type determined by the Council in rules, at a volume level exceeding the range of volume level customary in a programme that is not a service announcement, trailer or broadcast of another type as aforesaid, as determined by the Council in rules; in this section, "trailer" – any one of the following:
(1)an announcement informing of the broadcast schedule or of one or more broadcasts to be transmitted in the future, whether immediately after its broadcast or later on the same day or at another time;
(2)an announcement intended to promote the broadcasts of the Broadcasting Body.
Satellite Broadcast§
14.
(a)The Broadcasting Body shall transmit the Channel's broadcasts for distribution by means of satellite, in broadcasts that are not encrypted and that are intended for unscrambled reception by any person, unless the Council has determined, with the approval of the Knesset Committee, another format for the transmission of the broadcasts.
(b)The holder of a general licence for cable broadcasts and the holder of a licence for satellite broadcasts under the Communications Law shall transmit, within the framework of their broadcasts, the Channel's broadcasts, and the provisions of sections 6u(b) and 6aw1 of the Communications Law regarding the exemption from payments shall apply in this respect.
Distribution of Broadcast Material§
15.
(a)
(1)The intellectual property rights in Knesset broadcasts shall be in the ownership of the Knesset, unless otherwise prescribed in Regulations or rules under this Law;
(2)In this subsection –
"intellectual property" – including copyright under the Copyright Law, 5768-2007, and performers' and broadcasters' rights under the Performers' and Broadcasters' Rights Law, 5744-1984;
"Knesset broadcasts" – including material that was recorded or filmed, even if it was not actually broadcast.
(b)Notwithstanding the provisions of subsection (a), Knesset broadcasts shall be available free of charge for use by any person who wishes to use them, unless otherwise prescribed in Regulations regarding the use or regarding payment.
(c)A person who wishes to have recordings after broadcast shall pay the Broadcasting Body a payment in respect of the expenses involved therein, based on the cost price, in accordance with rules determined by the Council; however, the Knesset shall be entitled to receive, without payment, recordings of all Knesset broadcasts.
Absence of Exclusivity in Broadcasts§
16.
(a)The Broadcasting Body shall not have exclusivity in Knesset broadcasts, and shall conduct its broadcasts in a manner that does not in practice prevent filming and broadcasts by other parties that have been approved as referred to in subsection (b).
(b)The Speaker of the Knesset, or a person authorised by the Speaker for that purpose, may permit additional parties to film and broadcast the deliberations of the plenary and the committees, all or part of them, including special sessions and events at the Knesset, provided that in the opinion of the Speaker of the Knesset, no disruption will be caused to the ability to properly carry out the Broadcasting Body's broadcasts under the provisions of this Law.
Preservation of Broadcast Material§
17.
(a)The Broadcasting Body shall preserve recordings of Knesset broadcasts and of supplementary programmes, or of types of supplementary programmes determined by the Council, in a proper manner such that their quality is not impaired, and shall transfer them to the State Archives and to the Knesset, as shall be prescribed in Regulations of the Speaker of the Knesset.
(b)The original recordings of Knesset broadcasts shall constitute archival material as defined in the Archives Law, 5715-1955, and the provisions of the said Law shall apply to them.
Financial penalty§
18.
(a)If the Chairperson of the Council finds that the broadcasting body has breached one of the obligations set out in section 5(b)(4) or 13a, the Chairperson may, after hearing the broadcasting body, impose on it, in respect of the breach, a financial penalty at a rate of seven times the fine prescribed in section 61(a)(1) of the Penal Law, 5737-1977.
(b)For the purpose of imposing a financial penalty as aforesaid, the provisions of sections 37c to 37i of the Communications Law shall apply, with the necessary modifications.
Sources of funding§
19.
The channel's broadcasts, including the consideration to be paid to the broadcasting body, shall be funded solely from the following sources:
(1)the sum allocated for that purpose in the approved budget of the Knesset;
(2)the broadcast of public service announcements.
Implementation and regulations§
20.
The Speaker of the Knesset shall be responsible for the implementation of this Law and may, in consultation with the Minister of Communications and with the approval of the Knesset Committee, make Regulations for its implementation, except in matters for which another manner of determination has been prescribed in this Law.
Provisions for the transitional period§
21.
(a)In this section, "transitional period" means the period from the commencement date until the date on which the broadcasting body commences its broadcasts, provided that the duration of the transitional period shall not exceed thirty months; the Speaker of the Knesset shall publish a notice in Reshumot (Official Gazette) of the date on which the broadcasting body commences its broadcasts.
(b)For the purpose of formulating the broadcasting concept of the Knesset Channel and characterising it, including the formulation and characterisation of the activities of the broadcasting body and of the rules that shall apply to those broadcasts, the broadcasts on the Knesset Channel shall, during the transitional period, be conducted on an experimental basis, and the provisions of subsections (c) to (e) shall apply to them.
(c)The broadcasts of the Knesset Channel during the transitional period shall be carried out by whomever is selected by the Knesset in the manner referred to in subsection (d), from among those who lawfully produce and broadcast news programmes on television in Israel; if the Knesset is satisfied that no body as aforesaid has been found that is suitable for carrying out the broadcasts on the Knesset Channel during the transitional period, it may decide, with the approval of the Knesset Committee, that those broadcasts shall be carried out by another body with experience and expertise in the field of television broadcasting.
(d)Engagement with the temporary broadcasting body as referred to in subsection (c) does not require a tender under the Mandatory Tenders Law, 5752-1992, but shall be made after examining several proposals that merit consideration; the temporary broadcasting body shall not be precluded from participating in the tender for the determination of the broadcasting body in accordance with the provisions of section 7 solely by reason of its activity in the Knesset broadcasts during the transitional period in accordance with the provisions of this section, but it shall not be accorded priority in the tender solely on that account.
(e)Notwithstanding the provision of section 22 and for as long as the Regulations and rules made under sections 4 and 5 have not entered into force, the Knesset may include in its engagement with the temporary broadcasting body provisions on the matters referred to in section 4 and section 5(b), in whole or in part.
(f)The provisions of this Law, except for the provisions of sections 7 to 9, shall apply to the temporary broadcasting body in the same manner as they apply to the broadcasting body.
Commencement and making of initial Regulations and rules§
22.
This Law shall commence upon the expiry of the Knesset Television Broadcasts (Temporary Provision) Law, 5757-1997 (in this Law – the commencement date), however the initial Regulations and rules under sections 4 and 5 shall be made during the transitional period and before the date of publication of the tender referred to in section 7.
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חוק שידורי ערוץ הכנסת, תשס"ד-2003
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