The Council for Cable TV and Satellite Broadcasting on Tuesday imposed a 100,800 shekel ($27,980) fine on Channel 20 for "excluding Reform and Conservative movements of Judaism" in its broadcasts in violation of the provisions of its broadcasting license. Channel 20 is a relatively new commercial television channel targeting a more conservative, religious Jewish audience. Following a meeting between the council, channel management and representatives of the Reform and Conservative movements in Israel, it was decided to review how fairly non-Orthodox Jewish streams were represented in the channel's content. After a set review period, it was concluded that the Reform and Conservative movements were absent from the channel's broadcasts, and the channel was fined. Channel 20 was further ordered to report back to the council on its representation of non-Orthodox denominations on a monthly basis. The decision by council chairwoman Yifat Ben-Hay Segev to fine Channel 20 sparked fierce criticism from, among others, media personality Shimon Riklin, who often appears on the channel as a commentator. On Twitter, Riklin tweeted that "according to this logic, the rest of the channels should receive a billion shekel fine for excluding the Right and the religious for decades." Channel 20 declined to comment on the matter.
