Netanyahu and Kahlon
Netanyahu and KahlonFlash90

An unexpected suggestion was brought up at today's joint meeting of the Finance Ministry Committee and the Prime Minister's Office whose agenda was to find a solution to the issue of the public broadcasting network.

The idea floated at the meeting was that both the Israel Broadcasting Authority (IBA) and the organization that was set up to replace it, the Israel Public Broadcasting Corporation (IPBC), be closed.

According to a report by Channel 2, the proposal was not new. It was submitted to Netanyahu during the economic crisis of 2003, when Netanyahu was Finance Minister, by then head of the Budget Department at the Finance Ministry, Amir Levi.

Netanyahu reportedly expressed support for the proposal. The money saved by closing both institutions would have been used to restore the budget to aid northern region of the country.

Netanyahu and Finance Minister Moshe Kahlon announced yesterday that they were setting up a committee to find a solution to the crisis surrounding the two broadcasting corporations.

Netanyahu had backed the new corporation in order to curb wastage, featherbedding and replace the entrenched mostly leftist staff, but discovered that the workers' union compensation demands would make closing the original corporation financially unfeasible and that the new corporation had many of the ills of the older one, including its ability to hire the same type of broadcasters.

The new committee is expected to announce its recommendations in three weeks.