A petition has been filed with the High Court of Justice asking the court to order the police to investigate 18 prominent media personalities who appear on the pro-government Channel 14 news outlet for various criminal offenses, including sedition and incitement to violence.

The petition, filed Sunday by the Movement for Fair Regulation, cites a raft of inflammatory comments made by the right-wing commentators, anchors and pundits on Channel 14’s news programs over the last two years, and accuses police of failing to act on a complaint the organization submitted over a year ago detailing many of the alleged offenses.

The petition also demands that the State Attorney’s Office and the attorney general explain why they have not instructed police to investigate the alleged offenses in news coverage, which the Movement for Fair Regulation, an organization founded in 2024, describes as a “pure poison capsule” designed to undermine trust in the Supreme Court and a danger to democracy.

“These statements are intended not only to undermine trust, to belittle, humiliate and incite hatred toward the court, but to completely deny the public basis for its legitimacy and to encourage refusal to abide by its rulings,” the petition alleges.

“These comments, one by one, day after day, program after program, on a broadcasting channel that is one of the most watched in Israel, constitute a real danger to the democratic system practiced in the country,” the Movement for Fair Regulation’s petition alleges, and asserts that the antagonistic messaging has now “seeped and spread” into public discourse.

In response to the petition, the High Court on Monday ordered the police, the State Attorney’s Office, and Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara to update the court within 14 days as to when they will make a decision on whether to investigate the channel’s pundits.

Channel 14, which has yet to issue a response to the petition, has become increasingly popular over the last five years and is now the second most watched channel in Israel, after Channel 12.

Critics say its pundits and anchors frequently engage in extreme, incendiary and hyperbolic rhetoric against those it perceives as hostile to the government.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and many of his cabinet ministers have given interviews on Channel 14 — particularly its flagship show “Patriots” —  while shunning Israel’s other commercial channels and the Kan public broadcaster.

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