Businessman Len Blavatnik chose the offer led by Patrick Drahi, who is frequently seen with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, to purchase Reshet 13, after rejecting a competing bid backed by Israeli tech executives.
The company’s board convened in recent days and approved the deal, and the sides are expected to sign a principles agreement in the coming days.
Civil society organizations are preparing to challenge the move, arguing it could violate legal provisions and harm competition and freedom of expression. The looming ownership change is also fueling renewed concerns inside the newsrooms about editorial independence in a highly politicized media environment.
If an agreement is signed, the expectation is for broad layoffs at News 13 and i24NEWS. The two organizations employ about 500 people combined, and estimates cited by sources involved in the talks point to cuts on the order of roughly half the workforce, either via a merger or through a structure in which Reshet 13 absorbs i24NEWS, a scenario that has circulated in recent weeks and is now being treated as operational.
Under the emerging framework, Drahi is expected to purchase a 14.99% stake of the channel, valued at around $40-50 million dollar, with most of the funds to be invested in Channel 13. Blavatnik had effectively offered the channel without a purchase price, on the condition that a buyer inject capital and address the network’s debts, a reflection of the financial pressure facing commercial television in Israel.
A competing group led by Assaf Rappaport, alongside Yinon Costica, Ami Luttwak, and Roy Reznik of Wiz, offered a larger financial package, about $100 million in investment over three years, in exchange for control. Sources familiar with the negotiations said a central issue became interim funding until regulatory approvals are secured, alongside the belief conveyed to Blavatnik that Drahi’s track could move faster through regulators.
Emiliano Calemzuk, the network’s CEO, recently aligned himself with Drahi around the joint proposal. Calemzuk has also met several times over the past year with Communications Minister Shlomo Karhi, for meetings whose purpose remains unclear. In the coming days, Dr. Yifat Ben-Hai Segev is expected to enter the role of chair of the Second Authority for Television and Radio, which has substantial influence over timing and conditions for broadcast approvals.
Deal faces regulatory friction
Even with a principle agreement, the deal faces significant regulatory friction. Approval is expected to require review by both the Second Authority and the Israel Competition Authority, alongside Israel’s cross-ownership restrictions that limit holdings across subscription television and commercial broadcast television.
Drahi controls HOT, and while the working assumption is that his initial stake in Reshet 13 would be capped at 15%, sources involved in the process said regulators could still examine whether he becomes the effective controlling party if he is the sole provider of new funding. Another flashpoint is timing, because the proposed capital injection is expected to occur before certain approvals, while i24NEWS is treated as a competitor to News 13, and the competition framework can restrict financial steps that entangle rival news operations prior to clearance.
The newsrooms are already bracing for a prolonged public fight. Sources anticipate organized opposition, and the possibility of court scrutiny has been raised amid an election-year climate and recent government decisions touching other media bodies, including Galei Tzahal.
Inside News 13, the employees’ committee circulated a letter saying it had asked management to pause negotiations over newsroom cuts while ownership remains unresolved. The committee said mass layoffs tied to a change in control or a merger with a competing company were not part of talks to date, and it called for clarity about the future owners’ intentions regarding the newsroom’s journalistic independence and employees’ job security.
In parallel, i24NEWS aired a lengthy segment on the program “Cabinet Shishi” that sharply criticized tech firms associated with the protests against the judicial overhaul, including claims that they “tried to crash the banks” for political reasons, a framing that has become part of the broader political argument over media, protest, and economic power.