“It is no secret that several of the candidates assigned reserved slots, led by Yaakov Bardugo, got their start here at Channel 14. I know them personally, and I know them well. We worked together. I saw them day after day defending their views on air—without blinking or apologizing,” Channel 14 broadcaster Yaara Zered said earlier this month, while “reporting” on the Likud list submitted ahead of the October Knesset elections.

That is no coincidence. Most of the people whom Likud chairman Benjamin Netanyahu—Channel 14’s revered and uncontested star—placed in reserved slots on the party list come from the channel itself. Five of the seven reserved slots went to broadcasters, panelists, or regular guests. As Zered noted, most owe their public profile to exposure on the channel. Ironically, Zered herself was also offered a reserved slot on the Likud list; this was hardly a secret, as the channel was quick to boast about it.

Bardugo, who was placed 11th on the list, is a close political advisor to Netanyahu and one of Channel 14’s most prominent broadcasters. He hosts his own program, appears frequently on “The News Broadcast,” and is described as the channel’s “senior political commentator.” Channel 13 political correspondent Michael Shemesh reported that, during discussions over the reserved slots, Netanyahu was also in touch with people close to Channel 14 owner Yitzhak Mirilashvili—the son of oligarch Mikhael (Mico) Mirilashvili.

Yaakov Bardugo at a Channel 14 conference in Jerusalem, 2022. (Photo: Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)

In addition to Bardugo, Netanyahu gave reserved slots to several Channel 14 panelists and regular guests. Amir Avivi is a frequent fixture on the channel’s flagship program, “The Patriots,” and appears on panels on “The News Broadcast.” Avivi later said he would decline the reserved slot and serve as an “external minister.” Attorney David Peter, who has also represented the Netanyahu government in High Court of Justice proceedings, appears alongside Bardugo and Yehuda Schlesinger on “Seven” and “The News Broadcast.” Itzik Bunzel appears chiefly on the “Five” and “Seven” editions, while Eli Goldschmidt is a regular guest on Shimon Riklin’s “Riklin & Co.”

Netanyahu also sought to reserve a slot for Zered, a presenter on the channel. Erez Tadmor, another regular Channel 14 guest who often appears on panels on “Riklin & Co.” and “Seven,” ran in the primaries and has also secured a place on the Likud list.

The Channel 14 figures who received reserved slots had no reason to flinch before the channel’s cameras. Channel 14 routinely broadcasts government propaganda and echoes Likud talking points. But their move from the studio to the party may give Mirilashvili pause: it further exposes the channel to legal challenges over potential violations of election law.

These rules are designed to prevent parties from sidestepping campaign-finance restrictions through ostensibly separate entities. An entity defined as an “election activist” must register with the State Comptroller and comply with transparency requirements and financial restrictions; failure to register can lead to an immediate order halting its activities. An entity deemed “affiliated with a faction” faces even stricter financial limits, and its financial activity is effectively treated as the party’s own.

Last month, Dr. Ayala Panievsky and Shuki Tausig, editor of “The Seventh Eye,” published an academic study examining, among other things, government propaganda on Channel 14. By comparing the channel’s content with Netanyahu’s public statements, the study found government propaganda in nearly half of the channel’s broadcasts.

In August, “The Seventh Eye” also published a comprehensive analysis of thousands of statements aired on Channel 14 about Gadi Eisenkot, chair of the Yashar party and a former IDF chief of staff, Netanyahu’s main political rival. We found that the channel devoted significantly more airtime to Eisenkot than other news channels did, that the vast majority of the coverage was negative, and that much of the negative coverage closely echoed Likud’s campaign messaging about him.

Last July, “The Seventh Eye” published an article detailing how Channel 14 mounted a campaign to promote candidates in the Likud primaries and collect data on potential voters. Earlier, in 2024, “The Seventh Eye” published a series of public reports documenting hundreds of examples of government propaganda and the glorification of Prime Minister Netanyahu, who is facing criminal charges.

The flow of broadcasters, panelists, and guests from Channel 14 into Likud’s ranks further illustrates the symbiosis between the channel and the party. It shows that Channel 14 is not merely a news channel—or even an ordinary television channel—but a propaganda platform in every sense of the term.

“Does anyone still need proof that Channel 14 is a Likud propaganda pipeline and should be subject to the restrictions of the Political Parties Financing Law?” MK Vladimir Beliak wrote after the Likud list was published. “A party is receiving an illegal advantage here, one that undoubtedly undermines the integrity of the election. The chair of the Central Elections Committee and the State Comptroller’s Office should address this matter urgently.”

Channel 14 did not respond to a request for comment.

This article was published in Hebrew on September 9, 2026
Translation: Harriet Brown