Attorney-General Elyakim Rubenstein has called upon the Knesset to ensure that media companies do not own more than one media enterprise. At issue, chiefly, are the ownership by Yediot Acharonot newspaper - Israel\'s largest - of 24% of one of the companies that jointly run television\'s Channel 2, and Maariv newspaper\'s ownership of 18% of another Channel 2 company. MK Avraham Poraz (Shinui), head of a special Knesset committee on communications, is in favor of legislation that would not force the two papers to sell their Channel 2 holdings.
In a letter to MK Poraz, Rubenstein wrote, \"The fear exists that freedom of speech will be harmed if the trend continues of having the media stages in the hands of only a few. It could lead to a situation of \'self-censorship\' …\" The government position is in line with Rubenstein\'s. Communications Minister Ruby Rivlin has proposed a compromise according to which the papers would be given two years in which to sell their television holdings.
In a letter to MK Poraz, Rubenstein wrote, \"The fear exists that freedom of speech will be harmed if the trend continues of having the media stages in the hands of only a few. It could lead to a situation of \'self-censorship\' …\" The government position is in line with Rubenstein\'s. Communications Minister Ruby Rivlin has proposed a compromise according to which the papers would be given two years in which to sell their television holdings.