Second Authority for Television and Radio Law, 5750-1990

חוק הרשות השניה לטלויזיה ורדיו, התש"ן–1990

Published: 1990-02-13Last amended 2026-07-28✓ Amendment status checked against the Knesset legislation record on 2026-09-09

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Unofficial English translation — for reference only. It may contain errors or omissions and cannot be relied on as a legal text. Only the Hebrew text published in Reshumot is legally binding.More

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Despite these checks, it may contain errors, omissions, or imprecise renderings of legal terminology and cross-references, and it may not yet reflect the latest amendments. It cannot be relied upon as a legal text.

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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Third Schedule

1.§

In this Schedule –

"licence holder" – a holder of a minor licence and a holder of a designated minor licence, as defined in section 71f;

"independent director" – a director who is not an interested party in the company, an office holder therein or an office holder of an interested party in the company, and is not a family member of an interested party or of an office holder as aforesaid, provided that no person shall be appointed in whom any of the following applies:

(1)he is a Knesset member, a State employee, a member of the Council, an employee of the Authority or an employee of a broadcasting licensee or an interested party in a corporation that is a broadcasting licensee;

(2)he is not an Israeli citizen;

(3)he has been convicted of an offence which, in the opinion of the Attorney General, involves moral turpitude;

(4)he is bankrupt;

(5)his other occupations are liable to create a conflict of interests with his role as an independent director;

(6)he has a personal, economic or other connection, including as an employee, to a broadcasting licensee, to one who is an interested party in a corporation that is a broadcasting licensee, and also to one who holds, directly, any proportion of means of control in a broadcasting licensee as aforesaid; for this purpose, "broadcasting licensee" – including a holder of a broadcasting licence under the Communications Law;

(7)he has a personal, business or political connection to a Minister of the Government; for the purpose of this section, membership in a party alone shall not be regarded as a personal or political connection;

(8)he is a member of the active leadership of a party;

(9)he is connected, directly or indirectly, himself or through his relative, agent or partner, by contract or transaction with the Authority or with a broadcasting licensee, or he is an interested party in a corporation, including a partnership, that is so connected;

"news unit" – a unit for the production of news comprising correspondents, presenters and coverage means;

"office holder" – as defined in the Companies Law, 5759-1999;

"news editor" – the editor and manager of the licence holder's news unit appointed pursuant to section 3.

2.§

A licence holder shall establish a news unit that operates separately and independently from the commercial and marketing system of the channel.

3.§

The board of directors of the licence holder shall appoint a news editor who has experience in the field of news content; the appointment of the news editor or his removal from office shall be effected by a majority of at least seventy-five per cent of the members of the board of directors of the company and with the consent of at least one of the directors appointed in accordance with the provisions of section 7.

4.§

The news editor shall manage the news unit independently and shall act according to his professional judgment with respect to news content, including making decisions on matters of news content, having regard to his budget.

5.§

The news editor shall be responsible, inter alia, for ethical matters in news broadcasts, which are regulated by the ethics rules under this Law and by the licence holder's ethics code, if one exists.

6.§

Employees of the news unit shall be directly subordinate to the news editor and they shall not engage, whether directly or indirectly, in the marketing of airtime intended for advertising spots or in the production of advertising spots or sponsorship broadcasts broadcast in the channel's overall broadcasts, or in any commercial matter on behalf of the licence holder.

7.§

(a)The board of directors of a licence holder and the sub-committee for news matters to be appointed by the board of directors shall include at least two directors as detailed below:

(1)in relation to a holder of a designated minor licence – two independent directors to be elected by the general meeting of the licence holder, with the approval of the Council;

(2)in relation to a holder of a minor licence who is not a holder of a designated minor licence – one director to be appointed by the Council in accordance with the provisions of sections 67(b), (c), (e) and (f), and one independent director to be elected by the general meeting of the licence holder, with the approval of the Council.

(b)An independent director shall be appointed for a period of three years, and may be reappointed.

(c)An independent director shall cease to serve before the expiry of his term of office upon the occurrence of any of the following:

(1)he resigned by written notice to the Council;

(2)he was convicted of an offence which, in the opinion of the Attorney General, involves moral turpitude;

(3)one of the disqualifications listed in the definition of "independent director" applies to him;

(4)he was permanently prevented from fulfilling his role, and the general meeting removed him from office by written notice, with the approval of the Council;

(5)the holder of a designated minor licence in which he serves became a holder of a minor licence, and the Council appointed a director in accordance with the provisions of subsection (a)(2), and also the general meeting resolved to remove him from office.

8.§

The board of directors shall appoint a sub-committee for news matters; the sub-committee for news matters shall hold at least one meeting per quarter, or more frequently in accordance with the needs of the licence holder, and shall maintain minutes of its deliberations.

9.§

In the broadcasts of the licence holder, a clear distinction shall be maintained between news broadcasts and other broadcasts.

10.§

The articles of association of the licence holder shall include the following provisions:

News broadcasts –

The board of directors of the company shall ensure compliance with the provisions of law and of the licence, including in all matters relating to the independence of news broadcasts in the channel, and shall act to maintain a structural separation between the shareholders and the content staff of the news unit;

The board of directors of the company shall appoint a news editor and manager of the news unit who has experience in the field of news content (hereinafter – the news editor) in accordance with the provisions of subsection B; the news editor shall act to ensure the independence of the news unit and its employees, who are directly subordinate to him, in the production and editing of the news, the reliability of news broadcasts and their appropriate standard of production, and to observe the ethics rules under the Second Authority for Television and Radio Law, 5750-1990 (hereinafter – the Second Authority Law);

The news editor shall ensure that news broadcasts do not reflect the positions of the licence holder, its managers, its shareholders or its employees.

The appointment of the news editor or his removal from office shall be effected by a majority of at least seventy-five per cent of the members of the board of directors of the company and with the consent of at least one of the directors appointed in accordance with the provisions of section 7 of the Third Schedule to the Second Authority Law;

Budget of the news unit –

To ensure the independence of the news unit and its employees in the production and editing of the news, the reliability of its broadcasts and their appropriate standard of production, the licence holder shall invest a separate and dedicated annual budget each year for the production and editing of the news;

The budget shall serve the news unit alone;

The licence holder shall act to transfer the news budget to the news unit at the times and in the amounts to be determined in advance;

The news unit of the licence holder shall be independent economically, in such manner that the activities of the news unit shall be managed, accountably, separately from the activities of the channel's other broadcasts;

The board of directors shall appoint a sub-committee for news matters; the directors appointed in accordance with the provisions of section 7 of the Third Schedule to the Second Authority Law shall serve on the board of directors of the company and on the sub-committee for news broadcast matters to be appointed by the board of directors;

The sub-committee for news broadcast matters shall hold at least one meeting per quarter and shall maintain minutes of its deliberations.

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