In 2011, an inter-ministerial team was established, headed by Maj. Gen. (res.) Danny Yatom (hereinafter: Orphan Committee), to formulate recommendations regarding the application of public supervision of the station's broadcasts. The team, which was made up of military and security personnel, recommended that the station continue to be maintained and left under the responsibility of the military, while tightening its supervision by a designated committee in the Broadcasting Authority.
In 2016, then-Defense Minister Avigdor Lieberman instructed then-Defense Ministry Director General Maj. Gen. (res.) Udi Adam to submit his recommendation regarding the plant's activity. This followed the directive of then-Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Gadi Eisenkot to transfer the station to civilian responsibility. On October 18,2016, Maj. Gen. (res.) Adam recommended two alternatives: leaving the station under the control of the IDF while increasing civilian oversight of its news content, or subordinating it to the Public Broadcasting Corporation. The defense minister chose to subordinate Army Radio to the Ministry of Defense, but this move was not promoted in the end.
On January 28,2021, then-Minister of Defense Benny Gantz appointed an inter-ministerial committee headed by the Director General of the Ministry of Defense at the time, Maj. Gen. (res.) Amir Eshel (hereinafter: Eshel Committee), to examine the manner in which IDF waves are transmitted from the defense establishment. The committee reviewed a number of alternatives, including stopping the station's business in news and current affairs content, closing the station, transferring it to the Public Broadcasting Corporation, and privatizing it. However, the committee did not complete its work due to the dissolution of the Knesset.
On April 4,2023, the Minister of Defense at the time, Yoav Gallant, appointed an advisory committee to examine the activities of the Galei Tzahal station, headed by the Director General of the Ministry of Defense at the time, Maj. Gen. (res.) Eyal Zamir (hereinafter: Zamir Committee). As part of its conclusions, the Zamir Committee recommended that the station continue to operate in its current form as a military unit headed by a permanent commander, while rejecting the alternatives of closing the station, privatizing it or transferring it to the Ministry of Defense. The Zamir Committee justified its recommendations by saying that the alternatives discussed could lead to a fundamental change in the nature of the station. At the same time, the committee recommended changes in the station's activities, including, inter alia, prioritizing and increasing the number of programs dealing with the defense establishment; the inclusion of current affairs programs in the broadcast schedule but not as a major part of it; ensuring that the diversity of voices in the Israeli public is reflected within the boundaries of the state sector; anchoring the manner in which the station commander is appointed by an independent professional committee; and establishing an up-to-date code of ethics. In contrast to all the recommendations of the committees that preceded it, the recommendations of the Zamir Committee were adopted by then-Minister of Defense Gallant, who began implementing them.
- From here we turn to a summary of the sequence of events that led to the decision that is the focus of the petitions at hand.
At the Cabinet meeting held on March 30,2025, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu appealed to Defense Minister Yisrael Katz and Communications Minister Dr. Shlomo Karei to examine the closure of the Galei Tzahal station, noting that the station "Not required". Subsequently, Minister Katz announced, on June 5,2025, that he had decided to establish an additional advisory committee to re-examine the activity and status of the Galei Tzahal station (hereinafter: The Committee or Advisory Committee). On August 11,2025, Minister Katz signed a letter of appointment of the members of the Advisory Committee (hereinafter: Letter of Appointment), in the framework of which it was determined that the committee would be headed by Maj. Gen. (res.) Yiftach Ron-Tal, and its members would include Dr. Dalia Zelikovitz, Mr. Doron Cohen, Mr. Yonatan Ben Hamo, Ms. Sara Haetzni-Cohen, and Mr. Elad Malka (who will also serve as the committee's secretary). The letter of appointment authorized the committee to examine possible models for operating the station, including removing it from the defense establishment, privatizing it, managing it by an external body, and the possibility of leaving it as an IDF unit while formulating recommendations for how to operate it. In addition, the letter of appointment stipulates that the committee must submit its recommendations by September 30,2025.
- On September 10,2025, following the commencement of the Advisory Committee's activities, the Deputy Attorney General for Public-Administrative Affairs and Public-Constitutional Affairs, Adv. Gil Limon and Adv. Avital Sompolinsky (hereinafter: the Deputy Attorney General), sent a letter to the Attorney General for the Defense Establishment, Adv. Hila Erlich Amar, regarding the Committee's activities. In their letter, the Deputy Attorney General noted that the Legal Advisor Department received public inquiries in which claims were raised about various flaws in the procedures for establishing the Advisory Committee and in its work procedures. Among the issues raised in the public inquiries addressed by the Deputy Attorney General were allegations of political affiliation and bias stemming from previous statements by some of the appointed committee members. Against this background, the Deputy Attorney General asked the Attorney General to accept her legal position regarding the claims raised in the aforementioned public inquiries.
On September 21,2025, the Legal Advisor to the Defense Establishment submitted its position in response to the Deputy Attorney General's letter, in which it was claimed that there was no flaw in the committee's activities and that the Minister of Defense had no intention of delaying its work. On October 5,2025, the Legal Advisor to the Government once again contacted the Legal Counsel of the Defense Establishment with a request for supplementation on the issue of the alleged political affiliations of some of the committee members. The Legal Counsel of the Defense Establishment responded to this request in its response of October 23,2025, in which he reiterated his position that the composition of the committee meets the requirements of the law and noted that the Minister of Defense does not intend to delay its work.
- Between me and me, on September 11,2025, about a month after the establishment of the committee and the beginning of its activity, and after six meetings had already been held, the committee's chairman, Maj. (res.) Ron-Tal, announced that he wanted to end his position. This is against the background of concerns about a conflict of interest between his position on the committee and his position as a commentator at Channel 14, in which he is also the owner and controlling shareholder of the regional radio station Kol Chai, and is therefore expected to be affected by the closure of the Galei Tzahal station. With the retirement of Maj. Gen. (res.) Ron-Tal, Dr. Dalia Zelikovich was appointed chairman of the committee in his place.
- In total, the committee held 19 meetings (in August-October 2025), during which it met with officials and representatives from the media, the IDF, cultural and academic figures, representatives of professional and social organizations, representatives of bereaved families, wounded IDF soldiers, and former station commanders. Among the speakers who appeared before the committee were the station commander, Mr. Tal Lev-Ram, and the head of the personnel unit, Brig. Amir Wadmani. The latter discussed the implementation of the Zamir Committee's conclusions, emphasized the processes carried out at the station and the use and value that the army derives from it during the war, but refrained from expressing a position on the question of whether the station should be closed or removed from the army's boundaries. In addition, representatives of the Ministry of Communications, the Second Authority, the Regional Radio Union, and senior media and academics appeared before the committee. The committee was also presented with the findings of a survey commissioned by Dialog, which was intended to examine listening habits and public attitudes toward Army Radio, along with listening data based on TGI surveys. The committee also toured the Galei Tzahal and Galgalatz stations.
- On October 28,2025, the committee submitted its recommendations to the Minister of Defense. In the report, which included the committee's conclusions, it was stated that according to its members, most of the station's broadcasts deal with news, politics and commentary. Thus, the committee's report states: "Dealing with current affairs under the crown of the Israel Defense Forces is like a photographer in a hall"; and that the military's operation of a civilian radio station that broadcasts news and political current affairs is an anomaly that does not exist in democratic countries, which raises substantial and frequent difficulties that affect both the functioning of the military and the station's activity. Against this background, the committee recommended two alternatives: The first alternative, which was called "The Soldiers' Home, " was to operate the station as a state military unit without dealing with current affairs and news content, including the closure of the news department, with the exception of the broadcasting of news bulletins produced by the public broadcasting corporation Kan. The second alternative is to shut down IDF Radio altogether, while continuing the activity of Galgalatz in its current format on radio broadcasts and on social networks.
- On November 12,2025, Minister Katz announced his decision to adopt the committee's recommendations and his choice of the second proposed alternative - the closure of the station altogether.
- On November 13,2025, the day after the Minister of Defense announced that he was adopting the committee's recommendation to close the Galei Tzahal station, a draft of a proposed decision to the government regarding the closure of the station (hereinafter: the draft resolution) and a draft opinion of the legal advisor to the defense establishment were sent to the government, according to which there is no legal impediment to approving the proposed resolution.
- On December 22,2025, when a cabinet meeting was scheduled to be held to discuss the proposed resolution and at the end of which a vote would be held on the matter, the Deputy Attorney General submitted an opinion to the Attorney General, in which it was argued that there was a legal impediment to the adoption of the proposed resolution. Thus, the opinion argues that the decision to close the Galatz requires primary legislation and an orderly public-parliamentary debate. It was also claimed that the composition of the advisory committee included members with significant political affiliations to the Likud party, while senior officials from the defense establishment and journalists with clear and relevant experience were absent from it. It was further argued that there is a real concern that extraneous considerations relating to the nature of current affairs coverage at the station will be considered, and that insufficient weight has not been given to the infringement of freedom of expression and freedom of the press, while alternatives that are less harmful have not been examined - first and foremost the continued implementation of the recommendations of the Zamir Committee.
Later that day (December 22,2025), a Cabinet meeting was held, in which the main points of the opinions of the Deputy Attorney General were presented to the ministers, and then a discussion was held on the proposed resolution. At the end of the discussion, the government decided to adopt the proposed resolution, and the government's decision was given on the subject of the petitions, which is the following formula: