Advisers to Israeli interim Prime Minister Ehud Olmert recommend closing down IBA's first channel and creating a new public television station. Their plan calls for appointing an attorney to liquidate the organisation in its current format. Uri Shenar, the former head of Channel 2 franchisee Keshet, would be in charge of creating the new organisation.

Loss of jobs
According to Ha'aretz, the plan would involve the loss of 1,000 IBA jobs at a cost of millions of euros. The replacement for Channel 1 would be set up according to the recommendations of a special commission, appointed by Olmert in 2004. The aim is to separate public broadcasting from partisan politics and ensure its independence.

No decision made yet
In addition, while the Finance Ministry has agreed in principle to underwrite severance packages for the workers who will lose their jobs, no one can predict how much this will cost. Ra'anan Dinur, director-general of the Prime Minister's office, said: “At this stage no decision has been made about the IBA. The prime minister will be presented with various options for the future in the light of the IBA's crisis”.

Read more at the website of Ha'aretz.