High Court freezes government move to shutter Army Radio pending ruling
Defense Minister Israel Katz announced the decision to shutter the military broadcaster last week, with the closure slated to take effect in March.
Ahead of the scheduled hearing, and just hours after the government and the attorney-general submitted their preliminary responses, Supreme Court President Isaac Amit on Sunday ordered that the government’s decision to shutter Army Radio be frozen until further notice.
The interim order comes amid a widening legal clash between the government and the A-G over the decision to close the military broadcaster, with Attorney-General Gali Baharav-Miara warning the High Court that the move is legally flawed and risks causing irreversible harm.
“The decision is laden with errors,” Baharav-Miara said, noting that the court is expected to hear the case by the end of January.
Representing IDF Chief of Staff Lt.-Gen. Eyal Zamir , the attorney-general’s Office, submitted an accompanying advisory opinion urging the court to issue an interim order freezing both the government’s decision and any preparatory steps taken to implement it until the court rules.
It further noted that the time between the decision and its execution is only about two months.
