Last update - 00:00 26/09/2004
Olmert to oust controversial IBA director Barel
By Anat Balint
Ehud Olmert, the minister in charge of the Israel Broadcasting Authority (IBA), will shortly begin proceedings to fire IBA director-general Yosef Barel.
Olmert is seeking Barel's dismissal because of the situation at the IBA and a breakdown in communication between his bureau and the IBA management in recent months.
Olmert has wanted to get rid of both Barel and chairman Avraham Natan after several recent events at the IBA, including attempts by IBA management to lower thresholds for several tenders for senior positions - which Olmert put a stop to. Then there was a flight of journalists away from Channel 1 due to the undermining of their professional conditions, and Barel's report of a cumulative deficit for 2001-2 of NIS 35 million, when an external auditor found a deficit of NIS 200 million.
Another serious incident was the setting up of illegal roadblocks by IBA staff who extracted NIS 20 million in TV licensing fees by threatening luckless drivers that their cars would be impounded. Several of Barel's associates were also promoted illegally.
Barel will be summoned to a hearing before Olmert, after which the minister is required to ask for a recommendation by the IBA plenary. Later he will bring up the issue before the cabinet. If Barel is dismissed, it will be the first time a sitting IBA director has been dismissed by a cabinet minister's decision.
The actions by Olmert's bureau are said to be a means of bringing the IBA to a crisis point, after which major changes can be implemented. However in light of past failures, it is not clear how far-reaching the changes will be.
Olmert has already decided on Barel's replacement, an individual described by Olmert's associates as "an outstanding and worthy professional."
In past conversations, Olmert has mentioned two candidates for the job, Avi Benayahu, now head of the Army Radio, and Yohanan Tzangan, presently head of Reshet, a Channel Two franchisee. Talks were held with Benayahu recently about the job, while talks with Tzangan were held only about ten months ago. There may be a third candidate whose name is being kept secret.
The Prime Minister's office had withheld its approval of Barel's dismissal for a long period, but that opposition was apparently lifted a few weeks ago, as long as a substitute could be found for Barel.
Meanwhile,in a a letter to Olmert and Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, Natan has announced his resignation in protest because Olmert has not appointed a board of directors for the IBA for the past nine months.
"I warned that this situation is unreasonable by any public and moral yardstick and that a solution must be found immediately," Natan wrote in his resignation letter.
"Unfortunately, I did not receive an answer. I cannot agree to this situation if steps are not taken to change it. The fact that I remained in my postion might be understood as acceptance of the management of the IBA in this way. Since it seems to me that the issue is not going to be solved soon, I would like to announce my retirement as soon as possible."
Natan's retirement comes after pressure was brought to bear on him from Olmert's bureau and a number of other public figures who sought to prevent his appointment for a second term as IBA chairman. Olmert has not appointed a board of directors since December in order to increase the pressure on Natan, because without the board, the IBA has no public supervision, curtailing Natan's ability to operate.
The actions of Olmert's bureau are said to be a means of bringing the IBA to a "boiling point" that will require major changes. Meanwhile, the Movement for Quality Government has submitted a petition to the High Court of Justice that a board of directors be appointed for the IBA and that Natan be prevented from heading it for a second term. The petition called Natan's term as chairman a period of "crumbling of the stature of the plenary and the board of directors as supervisory bodies."
Barel was appointed to the position temporarily in March 2002 and the cabinet made the appointment permanent in June of that year. Avraham Natan took up his post in October 2002 after the previous chairman, Nahman Shai, was pressured into resigning by Sharon.
Acording to the IBA spokesman, the petition of the Movement for Quality Government has nothing to do with Natan's announcement of his retirement but rather that the petition actually raised the hope that a board would be appointed. However when this did not happen, Natan could no longer agree to carry the responsibility, and so he resigned.
If Barel is dismissed, it will be the first time an IBA director has been dismissed by a minister, however relations between a minister and the IBA director have never before been as strained as they are now. The previous director, Uri Porat, was close to being dismissed by the IBA plenary (the public council which sets IBA policy), however Porat resigned when he realized a majority would be voting for his dismissal.According to the law governing the workings of the IBA, a director can be dismissed in several ways, all of which, except the director's announcement of his own retirement, require cabinet approval. The need for cabinet approval is what led Olmert to obtain approval in principle from Sharon before going ahead.