The Broadcasting Authority has cracked down on the broadcast of news attributed to unidentified sources. A directive issued Sunday ordered the news staff to refrain from airing anonymous news items unless they have a “significant public interest” and then only with the approval of the director general of the Broadcasting Authority or the directors of its radio or television branches.
The directive was issued by the Broadcasting Authority’s management committee as a result of a radio report last month which claimed that a senior American personality had suggested to a high level Israeli personality that the U.S. would like to see Premier Menachem Begin replaced by a more moderate leader.
The report triggered a storm of indignation in Israel and was promptly denied by Israeli and American officials. It was attributed to an anonymous source. But Labor MK Yossi Sarid charged later that the Israeli personality was Foreign Minister Moshe Dayan and claimed Dayan had leaked the report to a radio correspondent while he was in Washington accompanying Begin last month. Dayan angrily rejected the allegation and asked Attorney General Aharon Barak to bring libel action against Sarid. Barak refused on grounds that it would be against the public interest.
As a result of the flood of denials, Israel Radio was in the position of having given wide currency to an unconfirmed rumor. But Yitzhak Livni, Director General of the Broadcast Authority, defended the radio report at the management committee meeting. He said it was based on four independent sources each of which confirmed its authenticity.
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