Communications Minister Shlomo Karhi dropped a bombshell last week when he told the special Knesset panel formed to advance his controversial media regulation bill that a key clause requiring international streaming services, such as Netflix and Disney Plus, to invest in Israeli productions had been removed by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the request of US President Donald Trump.

Currently, only domestic commercial broadcasters such as channels 12 and 13, along with multi-channel television providers such as Yes and Hot, are required to invest in original Israeli productions. International streaming services, whose market share has surged in recent years, face no such obligation.

One of the original stated aims of Karhi’s bill was to ease and equalize investment obligations by expanding them to additional players, which, he argued, would allow the burden on Israeli channels to be reduced.

However, when pressed on the provision’s status at the meeting, Karhi admitted that Netanyahu unilaterally decided to strike the requirement after Trump demanded it. His comment triggered outrage from opposition lawmakers, representatives of the local industry, and legal officials, who warned that exempting global streaming giants from funding local content would impose a discriminatory disadvantage on local broadcasters and ultimately destroy Israel’s film and television industry.

In an astounding exchange, Karhi said, “The prime minister decided to remove [the clause] because it is a demand coming from the president of the United States.”

In response, Giyora Wahle, the former head of the Israel Association of Cinema and Television Professionals (ACT), exclaimed: “Are we the 51st state? Is this the legislature of the United States or of Israel? Whose interests are you serving? There won’t be original Israeli production left here.”

Karhi responded that Netanyahu had removed the clause as part of his “broader diplomatic considerations,” and that the partnership with the American president was “too important for Israel’s survival.”

Wahle later told The Times of Israel that, while he knew that Netflix was lobbying for an exemption, he had no idea that the Communications Ministry had made a final decision.

“We were told, and it was stated on the record,........

© The Times of Israel