The High Court of Justice ruled unanimously on Tuesday to annul a decision by Communications Minister Shlomo Karhi last year to dismiss the chair of the Kan public broadcaster’s governing council search committee.

The court said that the three reasons Karhi gave for his decision to fire retired judge Nechama Mounitz as head of the search committee were either invalid or lacked evidence, and therefore could not be used to justify her dismissal.

The ruling is significant since the Kan governing council has been rendered inoperative because it currently only has five members out of 12, and needs a quorum of seven to function properly and carry out key duties, such as approving the broadcaster’s annual budget.

Karhi’s dismissal of Mounitz has meant that new members for the council could not be appointed, something which has caused “substantial damage” to the public broadcaster, the High Court said in its ruling.

The court ruling stated specifically that Karhi should now act with the relevant officials to bring about the appointment of the governing council’s full complement of members, including a chairman, “as soon as possible and with the appropriate speed.”

Karhi, a far-right member of the Likud party who has repeatedly called on the government to disobey the High Court, described the ruling as “unlawful” and said he would not obey it.

The decision comes against the background of Karhi’s........

© The Times of Israel