Netanyahu speaking during cabinet meeting October 30, 2016
Netanyahu speaking during cabinet meeting October 30, 2016Flash90

Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu announced Thursday that he would dissolve the government and call for elections if the Israel Public Broadcasting Corporation (IPBC) begins operations, Channel 10 reported.

Earlier in the day Netanyahu and others on the committee of the Finance Ministry and the Prime Minister's office to find a solution to the issue of the public broadcasting network suggested that both the IPBC and the organization that preceded it, the Israel Broadcasting Authority (IBA) be shut down.

Avi Nissenkorn, the chairman of the Histadrut Labor Federation, threatened that "if the public broadcasting is shut down, I will shut down the country" in response to the proposal to close both organizations.

The committee released a statement earlier saying that "It would require another 200 million shekels (abut $50 million) a year to operate the authority, so it will need to find another source of funding."

Netanyahu's remarks came after Treasury officials began discussing that to close the IBA would cost, even when assuming that the new authority would be more efficient, 200 million shekels a year.