The battle for Kan 11: The dramatic move that reached the Supreme Court
Due to grave concerns over a management vacuum and harm to thousands of employees and creators, members of the broadcasting corporation's board have turned to the court with an urgent demand to prevent the organization's paralysis as early as this coming November.
The crisis of governance and appointments at the public broadcasting corporation Kan is reaching a new boiling point. In a reality where the management and oversight levels of public broadcasting are becoming increasingly hollow, the organization now faces a real danger of a complete management vacuum, which could lead to operational shutdown and dramatic harm to hundreds of employees, creators, and suppliers.
According to a report on the news site The Marker, due to the grave concern over the creation of a command void, the five remaining board members of the corporation have turned to the Supreme Court with an urgent request for an interim injunction. The appeal, filed in parallel with a request by the Hatzlacha organization through attorney Elad Man, demands to extend the tenure of the current CEO, Golan Yochpaz, who is slated to finish his role this coming November at the end of a four-year term.
Board members are asking to prevent the termination of his role on the scheduled date and to extend his tenure until 60 days from the moment a legal convening of the board becomes possible to make decisions on the matter.
The current management distress stems from the fact that the corporation's board, which is supposed to appoint 12 directors by law, is currently composed of only five members. This limited composition has morally and legally prevented the board from convening since the end of 2024, due to the lack of a minimum quorum of seven members.
In their letter, the members warn that the absence of a CEO alongside a paralyzed board will lead to the collapse of the operational system, and will harm not only the broadcasts themselves but also a thousand direct employees and thousands of families of creators, producers, and suppliers who make a living from the organization.
The critical moment in the case is expected to occur on August 26, the date set by the President of the Supreme Court, Justice Isaac Amit, for holding the hearing on the petition, while instructing Minister of Communications Shlomo Karhi to submit his response. The stalemate has been ongoing for about a year and a half, following Minister Karhi's refusal to extend the tenure of the board members and his attempts to torpedo the search committee, steps some of which have already received sharp criticism and cancellation by the Supreme Court as recently as last May.
The upcoming hearing in the Supreme Court does not deal only with a technical extension of a management role, but serves as a litmus test for the independence and resilience of public broadcasting in Israel. While the political struggle surrounding the corporation continues, the upcoming decision will determine whether the system will succeed in maintaining operational continuity and job security for thousands of employees and creators, or whether it will deteriorate into an unprecedented systemic paralysis.
