Former communication minister says he was extorted for political appointment - report

Channel 13 reporter Matan Hodorov shared on X on Wednesday recordings published on Haaretz in which former Communications Minister Ayoub Kara, is heard stating that Avraham Natan, currently a member of the Channel 13 board of directors, demanded that he extend the term of Yulia Shamalov-Berkovich as the chairman of the Second Authority for Television and Radio.

According to the report, Natan threatened that if Kara did not implement  the move his "political career will be eliminated." At the end of the post, Hodorov wrote regarding his colleague: "The attorney general should investigate suspicion of extortion through threats and suspend him."

In the recording, Ayoub Kara claims that Natan told him: "He told me don't fire Yulia Berkovich. If you fire her - you're done.

Kara added, “I didn't know who he represented. He told me: 'You see me, I'm the Prime Minister.’ I told him that I follow the truth and the law and cannot move to the right or to the left." 

Kara said that from that moment there was a disconnect. "The moment Avraham Natan told me, 'You will pay for this, you will no longer be in the Knesset.'"

"They told me, 'If you kick her out, we'll kick you out.' Avraham Natan is Natan Eshel's man, and she [Yulia Shamalov-Berkovich] Avraham Natan's," he added in the Haaretz recording.

Entering positions of control and influence

Sefi Ovadia, an additional channel 13 reporter, explained the essence of the recordings at length and in detail, and wrote that Avraham Natan is a "Likud wheel dealer", and that "the two protagonists of this Sicilian story infiltrated via each other's help, and vice versa, positions of control, management and influence at Channel 13.”

Ovadia also wrote, "Natan, the director who allegedly took care of Shamalov-Berkovich at the time, later appointed himself as director of Channel 13, and now he has appointed her as the CEO of the second largest news company in Israel.

Natan previously served as chairman of the Israel Broadcasting Company and as chairman of Keshet. He testified at the Holy Land trial as someone who worked with the state witness Shmuel Dechner and was criticized in the verdict for not telling the truth in court, and for suppressing evidence when he gave evidence. In the past, his appointment as chairman of Trans Israel was also disqualified.

This is not the first time that Channel 13 employees work against the board of directors. On Wednesday morning it was announced that the employees hung protest signs against the appointment of Shamalov-Berkovich at both company sites - Ramat Hachayal and Neve Ilan, including on the door of her office. In addition, they published a letter against her appointment.

Also, it was announced on Tuesday that several large advertising agencies recently sent a threat to the network, stating they would dramatically reduce their budgets if the appointment actually came to fruition. 

The former member of the Knesset was appointed as the new CEO of News 13. Shamalov-Berkovich served as the chairman of the the Second Authority for Television and Radio and as a member of the Knesset on behalf of the Kadima party.