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Israeli Media Coverage of the Proposed Law on Admission Committees in Community Settlements

Febuary 2011

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On October 27, 2010, the Knesset Constitution, Law and Justice committee agreed to second and third readings of a bill that would normalize admission committees in small community settlements (with up to 500 residents). The bill, which would grant admission committees in these communities the right to turn down candidates who do not match the "community's basic outlook" or its social fabric, was proposed by MKs from Shas, Yisrael Beitenu, the National Union and Kadima.

The proposed law supposedly does not allow rejection of candidates on the basis of religion, race, gender, nationality or disability. But in practical terms it lets community committees reject applicants on the basis of personal considerations alone and thus citizens who do not share the opinions, religion, or outlook of the community's members can be kept out. The bill's opponents regard it as a discriminatory measure that violates the principle of equal justice under the law. It should be noted that the bill's sponsors see it as a means of bypassing High Court rulings that prevent discrimination against Arabs that seek to reside in Jewish community settlements (e.g., the Ka'adan ruling).

This controversial bill, in the view of many, joins an array of anti-democratic, racist and discriminatory legislative proposals that have been put forth during the Knesset's current term, and which have reached various stages of the legislative process.[1] Many of these proposed laws target Israel's Arab public as a collective. These proposals warrant adequate discussion in the media since they are the subjects of deep public, legal and moral controversies. The bill concerning admission committees should be regarded in the context of an ongoing debate in Israel over the image of the Israeli regime and Israeli society. Responsible media should make it possible for its consumers to participate in this important debate.

An investigation by Keshev finds that the major Israeli media failed to fulfill this role in this case. Keshev examined coverage of the proposed legislation on admission committees in the main news editions on Channel 1, Channel 2 and Channel 10 and in the newspapers Ha'aretz, Yedioth Aharonoth, Ma'ariv and Israel Hayom, on October 27 and October 28, 2010.

The investigation finds that before the legislation was approved, the vast majority of major media outlets in Israel completely ignored the issue and thus kept an important public debate from taking place.

After the bill was approved, three media outlets covered the debate about the bill's ramifications, but two of them (Yedioth Aharonoth and Israel Hayom) consigned this coverage to places deep inside their editions. Only Ha'aretz gave this discussion higher billing in the public agenda.

Of greater concern is the fact that the remaining four media outlets (the three television channels and the newspaper Ma'ariv) chose not the cover the controversial bill at all, thereby excluding an important debate from the media agenda and from the public's consciousness.

The research was written for Shutafut-Sharakah, a forum of civil society organizations of which Keshev is member, committed to the advancement of democratic values and the promotion of an equal and shared society for all Israeli citizens, Jews and Arab-Palestinians alike.

[1] These include a bill that would ban commemoration of the Naqba as a day of mourning; a bill that would amend legislation on incitement to outlaw publication of any call denying Israel's existence as a Jewish and democratic state; a bill that would require immigrants to declare their loyalty to Israel as a Jewish, democratic and Zionist state; a bill that would require any organization or person that receives support from a foreign country to register with the registrar of political parties; a bill that would outlaw boycotts; a bill that would strip citizenship from anyone convicted of terrorism or espionage; a bill that would ban headscarves in public places; and a bill that would outlaw the Islamic Movement.

"Press for Peace" project is made possible by the generous support of the American people through the United States Agencyfor International Development (USAID). The contents are theresponsibility of Keshev and do not necessarily reflect theviews of USAID or the United States Government.