In a move that could reshape Israel’s media landscape and has already sparked fierce legal and union opposition, Len Blavatnik, the controlling shareholder of Channel 13 — one of Israel’s two commercial television channels — has reportedly decided to sell his shares in the channel to cable tycoon Patrick Drahi.

The decision comes despite a significantly higher financial offer from a consortium of tech entrepreneurs and amid allegations of political intervention from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s circle.

The deal, which the board of Channel 13 approved in recent days, has set the stage for a bruising legal confrontation.

The Union of Journalists in Israel has already petitioned the attorney general and the competition commissioner to block the sale, describing the proposed new ownership structure as a “fiction” designed to bypass broadcasting laws and warning of a hostile takeover that could decimate the channel’s independent news division.

Blavatnik reportedly rejected a robust offer from a group of Israeli tech leaders led by Wiz CEO Assaf Rappaport. According to a report on Sunday in The Financial Times, the group offered to invest approximately $120 million over three years to stabilize the channel and preserve its journalistic independence.

But Blavatnik chose Drahi’s bid, which involves an immediate injection of only $25 million. According to The Marker business daily, sources close to the negotiations suggest the decision was driven not by business metrics but by regulatory and political pressure

Messages were reportedly conveyed to Blavatnik suggesting that a sale to the tech group would face bureaucratic delays orchestrated by the government, whereas a transfer of shares to Drahi — who also owns the HOT cable network and the i24NEWS channel — would be fast-tracked.

“The message was that the government would approve a sale to Drahi in five minutes,” sources close to the negotiations told The Marker.

The urgency of the sale is underpinned by the channel’s acute financial distress. According to financial data obtained by The Marker, Channel 13 burned through NIS 340 million (approximately $110 million) between 2022 and 2025.

The report attributes this collapse to a “management failure” involving heavy investment in expensive reality productions like “Big Brother” and “The Voice” during a period of shrinking advertising revenue.

Without a dramatic turnaround, the channel is projected to lose another NIS 250 million ($80 million) by 2027. This financial hole reportedly left the company unable to survive without an immediate infusion of capital, paving the way for Drahi’s entry.

The central legal obstacle to the deal is Israel’s cross-ownership law, which forbids the owner of cable infrastructure (like Drahi’s HOT) from holding more than 15% of a broadcast news channel (like Channel 13). Furthermore, the Competition Authority would likely scrutinize a merger between two major media players in such a concentrated market.

To circumvent these restrictions, the deal is reportedly structured so that Drahi will officially hold no more than 15% of the shares initially. The remaining shares and control would officially reside with Channel 13’s current CEO, Emiliano Calemzuk, who would act as the “face” of the ownership.

The Union of Journalists argues that this arrangement is a transparent loophole. While Drahi would technically be a minority shareholder, he would be the sole investor injecting capital into the cash-strapped channel, making him the de facto controlling owner.

In an urgent letter sent last week to Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara and Competition Commissioner Michal Cohen, attorneys representing the Union of Journalists slammed the arrangement.

“Even if Mr. Calemzuk… is presented to the regulators as holding the majority of the means of control… it is understood that one who does not inject funds into the deal… cannot be a true controlling owner,” wrote Amir Basha and Gilad Zvida. They argued that presenting Calemzuk as the owner while Drahi funds the operation is “a fiction” that cannot be ignored.

The union’s legal team also warned against “gun jumping” — the illegal practice of coordinating operations or transferring funds before receiving regulatory approval. Reports indicate that Blavatnik’s primary condition for the sale was that the buyer assume immediate financial responsibility for the channel.

“The parties are prohibited from performing any act that creates a link on the part of the purchaser to the company until the commissioner’s decision is received,” the union’s letter stated, noting that premature funding would constitute a violation of the Competition Law. The lawyers warned that such violations could lead to criminal proceedings, citing precedents from both Israeli and US law.

Netanyahu’s watchful eye

The political undertones of the deal are heavy. Blavatnik, who purchased Channel 10 (which later merged into Reshet 13) over a decade ago, stated during a police questioning in 2017 that he had consulted with Netanyahu regarding his media investments in Israel.

According to reports at the time, Blavatnik told the police that the prime minister had urged him to acquire Channel 10 in 2015, claiming it would be a “national mission” — so as to prevent the channel from falling into the hands of a competing bidder whom Netanyahu described as “ultra-left.”

Critics now see a recurrence of this pattern. Communications Minister Shlomo Karhi has held meetings with Drahi’s representatives and Reshet CEO Calemzuk in recent months. Karhi is also actively promoting legislation to abolish the cross-ownership ban, which would eventually allow Drahi to own the channel outright.

Simultaneously, Drahi’s i24NEWS has been described as increasingly aligned with the government’s narrative, in a media market that is becoming less independent and nonpartisan.

Channel 13’s news division is characterized by many as critical of the government and has had several exposes that led to friction with the prime minister and his supporters. In contrast, Channel 14 serves as a right-wing counterweight, consistently providing coverage favorable to the current coalition.

Channel 14, however, does not broadcast on Shabbat, leaving a gap in pro-government programming during the prime Friday evening viewing hours. This is where many believe Drahi’s i24NEWS comes in.

i24NEWS has recently launched a Hebrew-language television channel that critics describe as convenient for the current Netanyahu-led coalition, with a clear right-wing political agenda. Critics note that its Friday night program, “The Friday Cabinet,” appears positioned to capture the pro-Netanyahu audience when Channel 14 is off the air.

Employees at Channel 13 fear that a Drahi takeover will lead to a merger between Channel 13’s news division and i24NEWS, effectively neutralizing Channel 13’s independent editorial line and aligning it with the government’s narrative.

Fears of mass layoffs

The staff at Channel 13 is now bracing for impact, as the deal is expected to result in a massive wave of layoffs. Consequently, the Union of Journalists has declared a work dispute and is preparing for a strike.

In a letter to the Channel 13 board, the union demanded that the directors halt the “illegal” transaction.

“We believe that it is now correct to wait until the picture clarifies regarding the identity of the owners… and their intentions regarding the news company, its journalistic independence, and the occupational future of its employees,” the TV channel’s Workers Committee stated. The workers also explicitly rejected the possibility of mass firings: “Mass layoffs in News 13 of the type mentioned in the media… have never been on the negotiating table and we oppose them strongly.”

Complicating matters is Drahi’s own financial precarity. The telecom magnate is currently grappling with debts estimated in the billions of euros and has been liquidating assets globally. In Israel, he has already initiated deep cuts at i24NEWS, where dozens of employees have recently left or been fired.

The Union of Journalists raised this point in its appeal to the regulators, questioning the logic of allowing a tycoon in financial distress to acquire a major public broadcast asset. “There is a concern that Mr. Drahi… may be fleeing assets abroad,” the letter noted, suggesting that owning a major Israeli news channel might be intended to provide him with “immunity” or political leverage in Israel.

Despite the uproar, Channel 13 CEO Calemzuk defended the move in a message to employees, calling Drahi a “strong strategic investor” who would strengthen the channel’s financial stability.

However, with the union threatening to take the matter to the Labor Court and the Supreme Court, and with regulators now under pressure to intervene, the sale of Channel 13 is far from a done deal – and is shaping up to be a defining battle over the boundaries between money, media, and politics in Israel.

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