Central Elections Committee Chairman Justice Salim Joubran denied on Tuesday a petition filed against Israel Hayom's distribution ahead of the March 17 elections, ruling the petition had failed to meet the burden of proof. In early February, attorney Shachar Ben-Meir petitioned the committee for an injunction against the paper, citing its distribution constituted unsanctioned electioneering on behalf of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and the Likud party. Joubran ruled that the petitioner had failed to present the committee with sufficient evidence indicating there was any direct financial or organizational link between Israel Hayom, the prime minister and the Likud. During the hearing, the committee chairman said that he had firsthand knowledge of instances when the paper reported issues that did not reflect Netanyahu or the Likud's positions, such as a decision made last week to deny the Likud's petition against the activities of the Victory 15 campaign. Joubran further quoted Channel 10 News reporter Raviv Drucker, a strong critic of the prime minister, who said that he himself had failed to adequately establish the alleged link between Israel Hayom and the Prime Minister's Office. "There is public controversy over newspapers (other than Israel Hayom) that have a political agenda," Joubran said, noting that while public discourse was welcome, "agenda-free journalism cannot exist, in practice, in the real world." In his ruling, the committee chairman said, "Decisions regarding which news items to cover and to what extent are at the heart of the prerogative afforded to the editor of a newspaper ... unauthorized, 'backdoor' regulation over the content of newspapers cannot be allowed." The committee further ordered Ben-Meir to pay the respondents' proceeding-related expenses, in the amount of 20,000 shekels ($5,000). Israel Hayom was represented at the hearing by attorneys Avigdor Klagsbald, Amir Shraga and Don Sosunov.
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שיתוף כתבה
Elections committee denies anti-Israel Hayom petition
Justice Salim Joubran denies motion attempting to label Israel Hayom as unsanctioned electioneering for Netanyahu • "Agenda-free journalism cannot exist, in practice, in the real world," he rules • Petitioner to pay all proceeding-related expenses.