The project for a dedicated Israeli news channel was one of the designated channels enshrined in the 1997 Yossi Peled cabinet and was meant to be Israel's first news channel, but after a series of lengthy judicial battles, the channel never launched. It was part of a package of dedicated channels on Israeli cable television, and all of them but the news channel did go on air.
The channel was supposed to be broadcast on channel 7 on both cable and satellite companies and would have delivered news from Israel and the world throughout the day. The bid for the channel stipulated that its revenue should come from commercial advertising and sponsored content.
Background In 1997, the government approved the report of the Yossi Peled committee, set up to create a proposal to expand and reorganize the public broadcasting system. The report recommended the adoption of a new policy to create a free market for electronic media, based on the principle of an "open sky" for everyone. The committee recommended licenses for direct-to-home satellite television (Yes), the creation of a new private terrestrial channel (which would become (Channel 10), and the creation of five or six dedicated cable channels: an Arabic service, a Russian channel, an Amharic channel for Ethiopians in Israel, a channel for Israeli cultural heritage (which would become Channel 20, now conservative channel Now 14), an Israeli music channel (Channel 24) and a news channel, all of which financed by commercial advertising.Aviva Carroll, The government approved the Peled report for the opening of the broadcasting sector, Globes, 11 August 1997
In 1998, the Ministry of Communications, by means of the Cable and Satellite Broadcasting Council, did the preliminary selection of the five channels (the Amharic channel was excluded from the initial plan). The decision included Al-Hala TV (Arabic), a news channel, a Russian channel, a music channel (Channel 24) and a cultural heritage channel.Efi Landau, The Ministry of Communications published a tender for the early screening of the dedicated channels, Globes, 1 December 1998
At the dawn of the 21st century, the Ministry of Communications started issuing license bids for these specialized channels. As of 2014, only four of these launched.
The bid On 14 November 2000, the Ministry of Communications launched the bid for the news channel, the first among the five. At a press conference in Tel Aviv, Minister of Communications Binyamin Ben-Eliezer, Cable and Satellite Broadcasting Council president Dorit Inbar and director of the Public Broadcasting Administration Yoram Mokedi presented the bidding terms for the news channel. The launch date for the channel's launch was set to be November 2001.Rohl Konen-Diener, Launch of the dedicated news channel, TheMarker, 14 November 2000
The goal of the bid was to create a news channel with a local Israeli character, with 60% of its programming dedicated to news on Israeli events and 15% to programs on events outside Israel. The bid also suggested that the license should be given for ten years, with the option of increasing it for six more years. In its first year, it would broadcast a minimum of at least eight hours a day, and, in the second year, twelve hours a day. During the licensing period, it was also stipulated that the channel should be obliged to broadcast from 6pm to 11pm. According to the license terms, the channel should pay the cable and satellite companies a single NIS 100,000 tax to the State and a 5% compensation to the Treasury after three years of the operation of the license.
Companies involved Several groups and companies expressed their interest in bidding for the news channel, among them was Tom Communications, which was bidding for what would become Channel 10.Ronnie Koren-Dierer, Tom Communications is considering taking part in the bid for the dedicated all-news channel, TheMarker, 14 November 2000 Tia Communications, a company linked to Herzliya Studios, also showed interest.Ronnie Koren-Dierer, News channel: Tia Communications in advanced negotiations with NBC; Moshe Shlonsky emerges as CEO of the group led by Slavin and Gal, TheMarker, 1 January 2001 Finally, two groups presented concrete proposals: Hadashot 24 and Hadashot Israel.
Hadashot 24 With the announcement of the bid for the news channel, Ya'akov Eilon left Channel 2 to take part in the bid and to have an active role in the new channel. He joined the Hadashot 24 (News 24) group, led by Nissim Meshaal, and, with him, several renowned journalists, including Yair Stern, Geula Even and Amnon Barkai, joined. Yaakov Ayalon and Nissim Meshaal invested their own money in the group, with each of them having 10% of the shares. Other investors of the group, at its founding, were: the Ofer brothers (around 20%), Shai Nesher (around 10%) and Dankner Investments (5%). Meshaal was the group's CEO and Ayalon was selected to be the director of its news department, presenting the future channel's main newscast.
Hadashot Israel The second group that took part in the bidding for the all-news channel was the Hadashot Israel group, led by Moshe Slonsky, and its news department was led by Ilana Dayan, which had previously left Telad and Channel 2.Aviva Carroll, Ilana Dayan returns to Israel, Globes, 18 December 2001 Other journalists invested in the group to make their success viable and to obtain financial gains with the news channel, Among the investors were Globus Group (former financer of the Cannon Group – owner of the G.G. Israel Studios in Neve Ilan (around 12%), Formula Company (around 20%) and Eliyahu Rochman (around 25% of the group). The Hadashot Israel Group was also responsible of the production for the newscasts of the "Third Channel"; which was on the verge of being created at the time – Channel 10.
Results of the bid On 17 April 2001 at noon, the winning group to operate the channel was announced at a press conference in Tel Aviv. Lawyer Dorit Inbar, who was also CSBC president at the time, announced that Nissim Mashal's Hadashot 24 group won the bid. After its win, defeated group Hadashot Israel questioned the way it was administered. Its representant declared that the leaders would decide if they should appeal from the decision of the bidding commission to the justice.
Meanwhile, Hadashot 24 promised to launch the channel on air for up to six months after winning, at the end of 2001. Ya'akov Eilon, head of the group's news department, announced that the channel would work in a format similar to that of CNN, with live broadcasts and news bulletins 24 hours a day. Ilana Dayan, head of the news department of the Hadashot Israel group, lamented the decision of the bidding commission to grant the license to Hadashot 24, but wished the rivals success in its operation.
Legal problems Hadashot Israel's petition to the Tel Aviv District Court On 6 May of that year, Hadashot Israel decided to present a petition ot the Tel Aviv District Court with the aim of obtaining a judicial order that forbate the Ministry of Communications from granting the operating license to Hadashot 24 and to transfer the license to this group. In the petition, Hadashot Israel's representants alleged that the OK from the CSBC assessor Eli Nissan was biased, and, consequently, the choice of Hadashot 24 as the winning group should be rejected. The petition also noticed that the CSBC decision contained numeric and countability errors and that Hadashot 24's proposal did not attend to the demanded norms.
The trial lasted around three months, during which judgr Dr. Oded Modrik, examined the allegations of the Hadashot Israel group, which lost the bid, and the decision process by the CSBC during the bidding commission's hearings. The sentence on the issue was handed down in early August that year.Aviva Krull, Israel News to appeal its petition's rejection to High Court of Justice, Globes English, 7 August 2001
Rejection of Hadashot Israel's appeal On 5 August, the District Court rejected Hadashot Israel's petition and maintained Hadashot 24's status as the winner. In the sentence, Dr. Oded Modrik wrote that, excluding some comments and remarks, practically all of the group's arguments wer erejected. It was also determined that Hadashot Israel should pay judicial costs worth NIS 25,000 to the Communications Ministry and the Cable and Satellite Broadcasting Council, and a further NIS 25,000 to Hadashot 24.
Winning bid Hadashot 24 promised after the verdict that the channel would launch in early 2002, delayed from late 2001, as a result of a petition to the District Court, which dragged the launch four munths beyond the initial plan.
Hadashot Israel's appeal to the Supreme Court Two days after the district court gave the license to Hadashot 24, Hadashot Israel issued an announcement informing that it pretended to appeal to the Supreme Court of Israel to reverse the decision. Around two weeks later, the group did it.Today, who will operate the all-news channel will be decided, HaAretz, 17 December 2001
The decision to present the appeal caused a new delay to its launch. Hadashot 24 CEO Nissim Meshal complained that Hadashot Israel was trying to damage his group and delaying its launch again, and that it was causing severe financial damage to it.
Accepting Hadashot Israel's appeal On 18 December, after a long and exhaustive judicial battle, the Supreme Courte accepted Hadashot Israel's appeal, this rendering Hadashot 24's license non-valid. Supreme Court judges, its vice-president Shlomo Levin, judge Yitzhak Englerd and judge Ayla Procaccia, determined in their decision that the question of operating the channel should return to the CSBC's bidding committee, which would examine if Hadashot Israel was in line with the minimum requisites and could obtain a license.
Meanwhile, winner Hadashot Israel, signed a contract with Channel 10 to produce its daily newscasts. It was initially expected for them to be presented by Ilana Dayan, but she refused the offer, preferring to join another current affairs program. At the same time, it became known that the channel made asimilar proposal to Rafi Reshef, who also rejected it. Finally, Yaakov Eilon was selected to present the newscasts, by sealing a contract with Channel 10 and not Hadashot Israel, which won the bid after competing with Hadashot 24, of which Eilon was one of the leaders. This caused a new delay for the bid, which was expected to start only in January 2003.Aviva Krull, The all-news channel will only start in January 2003, Globes, 10 April 2002
Return to the bidding committee Dissolution of Hadashot 24 With the decision of the Supreme Court, the group decided not to continue with the judicial process in case the Bidding Committee granted the license to Hadashot Israel. Around two weeks after the decision, Hadashot 24 Administrative Council president Udi Angel, announced that, in a council meeting, the process to dissolve the group began following the Supreme Court's decision.
During all that time, the bidding commission discussed if Hadashot Israel should attend to the minimum requisites to receive the license to replace Hadashot 24, which had been deactivated. Lawyer Dorit Inbar, who was the president of the CSBC at the time, believed that, if Hadashot Israel did not win the license, there was the possibility of archiving the license and not launching the channel.
Hadashot Israel wins the bid