THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS

20 Friday, July 23, 1976

Israeli Media Faces Censorship Over Government Criticism

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BY UZI BENZIMAN

(Copyright 1976, JTA, Inc.)

JERUSALEM (JTA) —
Premier Yitzhak Rabin has
sought, but failed, to impose
political censorship on the
press. Rabin's wanted to
extend the legal powers of

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censorship to cover secret
diplomatic exchanges and
secret meetings with for-
eign envoys. But members
of his own party balked at
the implications of the pro-
posed measure (the media of
course was up in arms
against it) and it was
quietly shelved. Now, seven
Labor Knesseters have pre-
pared a bill which would
significantly curtail the in-
dependence of the Broad-
casting Authority.
Under the present legal
situation the Broadcasting
Authority is an independent
body, appointed by the pres-
ident of the state. While the
members of the Authority
— radio's and TV's top poli-
cymaking and supervisory
committee — are nominated
by the government, they
have always been chosen to
represent wide circles of
public life, such as the au-
thors and the artists organi-
zations, the universities, the
Hebrew Language Academy
and the Jewish Agency.
The 31 members of the
Authority are responsible
for basic policy, for approv-
ing radio and TV programs,
and for supervising these
media's budgets. The direc-
tor-general of the Broad-
casting Authority is respon-
sible for the day-to-day
running of radio and televi-
sion.
Radio and the TV have,
over the years, been en-
couraged to function in
accordance with strict
journalistic, professional
considerations — and thus
they often criticize and
embarrass the govern-
ment.
The new Laborite bill of-
fers two alternative versions
to change this administra-
tive structure. The first ver-

sion proposes the abolition
of the Authority's powers
entirely and their transfer
to the minister of education.
The second, a more moder-
ate version, would maintain
the Authority, but put its
director-general under the
minister of education's di-
rect control.
Explaining their proposal
the seven Knesseters argue
that radio and TV news cov-
erage has often been unbal-
anced and has contained
"harmful and negative ma-
terial." Since the govern-
ment, the Knesset and the
Authority itself are appar-
ently powerless to act
against this situation, they
contend, the law must be
amended.
From the opposite end of
the political spectrum, a
similar bill is expected soon
from Knesseters Geula
Cohen and Eliezer Shostak
of the Likud. The bill pro-
vides, inter alia, that: the
Broadcasting Authority
must ensure that radio and
TV portray a broad spec-
trum of political views; the
authority must not broad-
cast material that offends
"public morality or de-
cency," or public sensibili-
ties; and that the Authority
must not broadcast mate-
rial that could incite either
to crime or to violations of
the public order.

The minister in charge
of implementing the law,
or the Broadcasting Au-
thority would be obliged
under the bill to prohibit
the broadcasting of any
programs that violate any
of the above-mentioned
precepts. The minister,
moveover, would have the
power to fire any employee
of the Broadcasting Au-

.

thority who has violated
these precepts.
The two bills come at a
time of mounting criticism
from Knesseters aimed at
both radio and TV. Since the
election of the present Knes-
set, some 20 motions for the
agenda have been presented
dealing with news reports,
songs or films, that have
been screened or broadcast.
By this concentration on
the contents of the broad-
casts, the Knesseters are
contributing to a dangerous
tendency that may end in a
concrete limitation on the
freedom of the press.
Partly, no doubt as a result
of its present political diffi-
culties (the weakness of the
government is one of them),
Israel may be dragging it-
self into a dangerously self-
righteous and chauvinistic
mood.
One of the main defenses
against such an eventuality
is the maintenance of Is-
rael's traditional freedom of
thought, speech and writ-
ing. However, the nation's

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Rabin misses no oppor-
tunity to attack the press,
accusing it of confusing
the public and impairing
relations between Israel
and the U.S. Knesset
Speaker Israel Yeshayahu
often argues that the press
does not reflect daily par-
liamentary work, prefer-
ring instead to highlight
trivial, though sensa-
tional, events in the
House.
The media in Israel may
no doubt need some profes-
sional improvements. But
the difficulties facing the
nation today are not the re-
sult of the mass media's
operations. Indeed, by ac-
curately reporting and ana-
lyzing those difficulties, the
Israeli press makes its im-
portant contribution to-
wards establishing new and
better standards for the
country.

Lady Bird Johnson in Israel,
Will Meet Top Leadership

JERUSALEM — "I am
touched by the feeling for
Lyndon I find in this land —
and grateful."
This was the brief inscrip-
tion Lady Bird Johnson,
widow of the late U.S. presi-
dent, Lyndon B. Johnson,
wrote on a copy of his book
"The Vantage Point" on dis-
play at the Hebrew U. here.
Mrs. Johnson visited the
university with her daugh-
ter, Luci Nugent, as part of
her week-long unofficial
visit to Israel that began
Monday.
Hebrew U. is running an
exhibition of Americana as
its tribute to the Bicenten-
nial, and the Johnson book
is one of the displays.

Jerusalem Youth
Center Dedicated

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leaders — perhaps unwit-
tingly — are threatening
this fundamental demo-
cratic safeguard.

NEW YORK — The Faye
L.Schenk Youth Aliya Day
Center, recently dedicated
in Jerusalem, will serve as a
special school for 170 disad-
vantaged teenage drop-outs
living in Kiryat Menahem,
one of the city's poorer
areas.
The Schenk Center pro-
vides 29 hours of vocational
training, 18 hours of general
academic studies, and four
hours in social activities and
sports, in addition to art
and cultural enrichment
programs. Two balanced
meals are served daily. The
building will occupy a built-
up area of 18,000 square
feet, including a gymna-
sium.
Kiryat Menahem, with a
population of more than 5,-
000. has the highest concen-
tration of families with
large numbers of children in
Jerusalem. Over half the
parents come as penniless
immigrants from North
African and Middle Eastern
countries:
The center was built with
funds provided by the Wom-
en's Zionist Organization
and the Israeli government.

MRS. JOHNSON

Though her visit is nomin-
ally unofficial, Mrs. John-
son and her two daughters
are meeting with many of
'Israel's top leaders, includ-
ing the premier and foreign
minister, during their visit.
Tuesday they toured the
Yad Vashem Holocaust
Memorial and called on
President Ephraim Katzir
at his official residence.
They also plan to visit the
Johnson Family Forest.
The Johnson family plans
to spend one evening with
Mrs. Miriam Eshkol, widow
of the late premier Levi
Eshkol — the Israeli leader
who struck up a warm rela-
tionship with Johnson in the
mid-60s. Partly due to that
relationship, Johnson be-
came the first U.S. Presi-
dent to authorize meaning-
ful American arms supplies
to Israel Skyhawk air-
planes in the late 60s.

WHO Condemned

BOSTON — The Ameri-'
can Physicians Fellowship
rebuked the World Health
Organization for its re-
cent condemnation of Israel.
They charge that WHO re-
fused to consider the report
of its own committee, sent
to investigate health serv-
ices in the Israeli occupied
territories, which "gave Is-
rael a clean bill of health."
The Fellowship resolu-
tion, passed in June, "de-
plored this misuse of the
prestige of what should be a
non-political organization
by an Arab and Communist
alignment."

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