Channel 14 filed an urgent petition today (Monday) with the Tel Aviv District Court, requesting a temporary injunction ordering the Democratic Party to allow the channel's crews to enter the event announcing the primary results, after the channel claimed it was the only media outlet that was denied entry.
The petition claims that the Democratic Party invited all national and international television channels and media outlets to cover the event, and even allowed them to set up broadcasting stations at the site, but chose to exclude only Channel 14.
According to the channel, this is illegal discrimination that violates freedom of the press, freedom of expression, and the right of hundreds of thousands of channel viewers to receive direct information from a political event.
In the petition, Channel 14 relies on the Supreme Court's ruling from 2022, issued in the context of a previous petition between the parties, according to which a political party is a dual-substantive body subject to the principles of equality and fairness, and is not permitted to discriminate against media outlets in access to events of a public nature.
In light of the urgency, since the results announcement event is expected to take place tonight, the channel is asking the Tel Aviv District Court to immediately order access for Channel 14 crews and to allow the channel's broadcast station to be placed on site, under the same conditions as those given to other media outlets.
Channel 14 stated: “The decision of the ‘Democrats’ party to prevent a media outlet from covering a news event is a serious violation of press freedom, which takes us back to dark times. We regret that other media outlets choose to cooperate with this conduct. Those who remain silent today will not be able to complain tomorrow when they are the ones being boycotted.”
