Shlomo Karhi

Karhi was born in Ramat Gan in 1982 and grew up in Zimrat, a moshav in southern Israel.[1] In a 2019 candidate profile, he described himself as the eldest in a family of 17 siblings.[5] The Jewish Virtual Library says he studied at Merkaz HaRav Yeshiva before military service.[1] He identified his family’s origins as Tunisian and later described Arabic as his mother tongue.[6]

Karhi served in the Israel Defense Forces’ 97th Nahal Battalion, reaching the rank of first sergeant; his biographical profile also lists reserve service in the Gefen Brigade.[1]

He earned a bachelor’s degree in managerial accounting and information systems at the Lev Academic Center, also known as the Jerusalem College of Technology.[1] He subsequently completed a master’s degree in 2011 and a doctorate in industrial engineering in 2013 at Ben-Gurion University of the Negev.[1] His doctoral research concerned scheduling in multi-purpose machine systems.[1]

Karhi is married to Efrat and has seven children.[1] His biographical profile identifies Zimrat as his residence, although in his 2019 candidate interview he described himself as a resident of Sderot who had grown up in Zimrat.[1][5]

Between 2006 and 2014, Karhi held academic positions that included lecturing at Sapir Academic College, Ben-Gurion University, and Bar-Ilan University.[1] In 2014, he became a permanent lecturer in Bar-Ilan’s Department of Management.[1] An accountant by trade, he was still lecturing in that department before entering the Knesset.[3][7]

Karhi entered parliamentary politics in 2019, winning election to the 21st Knesset on the Likud list as a representative of the southern region.[1] He said that growing up in the periphery and experiencing its social and economic gaps motivated him to seek office and represent residents of the Negev.[5] In later Knesset terms, he chaired the Lobby for a Democratic Israel and the Lobby for the Negev, and became chair of the Subcommittee for Negev Affairs.[1]

In a 2019 interview, Karhi said he had initiated legislation with MK Yoav Kisch to remove mortgage prepayment penalties.[7] He described the proposal as a way to let young couples and other apartment buyers improve their loan terms without penalties that could reach tens of thousands of shekels.[7] He said the Knesset Economics Committee had approved the bill for second and third readings, and that he intended to seek retroactive application and continue advancing it in the next Knesset.[7]

Benjamin Netanyahu announced in December 2022 that Karhi would become communications minister; it was his first ministerial position.[8][3] The ministry’s responsibilities include setting communications policy, opening the market to competition, developing infrastructure, and licensing and supervising communications providers.[9]

In 2023, Karhi led a 14-member Israeli delegation to Riyadh for the Universal Postal Union’s Extraordinary Congress and addressed the gathering.[6] His address was the first speech by an Israeli minister in Saudi Arabia.[6] He referred to his family’s Tunisian origins and concluded with a blessing in Arabic.[6]

In November 2023, Karhi announced a “principle agreement” with Elon Musk concerning Starlink satellite terminals.[10] Under the arrangement as Karhi described it, terminals could operate in Israel and the Gaza Strip only with approval from Israel’s Ministry of Communications.[10] The announcement followed Musk’s statement that SpaceX would try to help international aid agencies in Gaza obtain internet access, and Karhi’s objection that Hamas might use the network.[10]

Before taking office, Karhi had advocated privatizing or closing the Israel Public Broadcasting Corporation, known as Kan, and renewed legislation on the subject.[8] In December 2022, he said he wanted a free and competitive communications market but would first study the issue after entering the ministry.[8]

In March 2023, he proposed abolishing the Second Authority for Television and Radio and the Cable and Satellite Broadcasting Council.[11][12] His proposals included removing the requirement for a license to broadcast news and reallocating frequencies used by public radio to commercial national stations.[11][12] He described his approach as “less intervention, more competition and freedom,” arguing that fewer regulators and licensing requirements would lower prices and create opportunities for new broadcasters.[11][12]

Karhi also sought to prohibit advertising on the public broadcaster and place its budget under direct state control.[12] The Finance Ministry’s legal adviser objected to an earlier proposal restricting Kan’s advertising revenue and changing its funding arrangements.[11] His broader public-broadcasting agenda included an initiative to privatize Kan’s news division.[1]

In November 2024, a bill promoted by Karhi and MK Tally Gotliv to privatize the public broadcaster received approval from the ministerial legislation committee.[13] It proposed ending public funding and transferring broadcasting to private operators; if no suitable licensee were selected, the corporation would cease broadcasting and related activity within two years.[13] The proposal subsequently passed a first-reading vote by 49–46.[13] Karhi argued that the public should not have to finance public broadcasting.[13]

On July 16, 2026, the Knesset passed Karhi’s broadcasting reform in second and third readings by 53 votes to 48.[14] The law established a new broadcast media authority, with the communications minister participating in the appointment of six of its nine council members following a search committee’s recommendation.[14] It removed cross-ownership restrictions and ended the structural separation between commercial channels and their news companies.[14]

The enacted law provided for investment in original Israeli productions but exempted foreign companies from that obligation.[14] Other provisions were reported as removing longstanding oversight mechanisms and minimum journalistic standards and increasing government influence over television ratings and the allocation of state advertising.[4] Karhi defended the reform as a means of reducing regulation, breaking up monopolies, and expanding diversity and consumer choice.[4] In the Knesset, he thanked Netanyahu for assigning him the task and declared that the mission of delivering a right-wing media reform had been completed.[4]

During the October 2023 war, Karhi and Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara reached agreement on emergency regulations for action against foreign media organizations deemed to be materially harming Israel’s security.[15] The proposed powers included removing broadcasts from cable and satellite services, blocking websites, closing local offices, and seizing equipment.[15] The regulations were framed generally rather than naming Al Jazeera.[15]

On November 13, 2023, Israel approved measures against the Lebanon-based television station al Mayadeen, which the security cabinet described as a Hezbollah mouthpiece.[16] These measures empowered the Communications Ministry to block the station’s website and police to seize its assets.[16] Karhi had accused Al Jazeera the previous month of pro-Hamas reporting and endangering Israeli soldiers.[16]

The Knesset adopted the temporary Foreign Broadcasters Law on April 1, 2024, allowing action against a foreign broadcaster following specified security assessments and approvals establishing substantial harm to national security.[2] The law permitted 45-day closures, with renewals allowed.[17] On May 5, the government voted unanimously to close Al Jazeera’s operations in Israel temporarily.[2] The order required the confiscation of broadcast equipment and the blocking of websites; police raided the channel’s makeshift bureau in an eastern Jerusalem hotel.[17]

Karhi’s office said the action rested on “proof that it is assisting the enemy, broadcasting propaganda in the service of Hamas, in Arabic and English, to viewers around the world, and even passing sensitive information to the enemy.”[2] The initial ban expired on June 8, and the government extended it on June 9 for another 45 days.[18] Karhi said the extension had been unanimously adopted on the basis of security-agency assessments and referred to the broadcaster as “the Al Jazeera terrorist channel.”[18]

On June 4, the Tel Aviv District Court upheld the ministry’s orders closing broadcasts and offices, blocking website access, and seizing equipment, but shortened their duration from 45 to 35 days.[19] The court found that Al Jazeera had not received a preliminary hearing; it did not void the orders, instead reducing their duration.[19] It emphasized that measures affecting freedom of expression and the press required “powerful evidence: convincing, clear and unequivocal” of substantial harm to state security.[19] The High Court of Justice also directed that a petition challenging the law’s constitutionality receive review by an expanded panel.[19]

In March 2024, the High Court of Justice unanimously annulled the decision by Karhi and Minister David Amsalem to dismiss Israel Postal Company chair Mishael Vaknin.[20] The judges found that the case against Vaknin was “extremely shaky,” lacked the necessary solid grounds, and had proceeded without consultation with the Government Companies Authority, which opposed the dismissal.[20] The court noted Vaknin’s work on the company’s recovery before privatization and warned of a chilling effect on independent professional judgment among directors of government companies.[20]

In 2025, Karhi refused to implement a High Court directive extending a Kan council member’s term, calling the ruling “unlawful” and asserting his authority over appointments.[1] Three days after the July 2026 broadcasting law passed, the High Court temporarily froze provisions scheduled to take immediate effect, including changes to cross-ownership limits and the separation of commercial channels from news companies.[21] The judge cited weighty claims concerning the legislative process and parts of the law, as well as the difficulty of reversing market changes once implemented.[21] Karhi said he would not cooperate with the proceedings and asserted that the injunction had no legal validity.[21]

In September 2026, the High Court unanimously ordered Karhi to sign the appointments of four public-broadcaster council members within seven days.[22] It held that his discretion was particularly limited in order to protect public broadcasting’s independence, and that participation in protests against the judicial overhaul did not justify disqualification.[22] The court also ordered a temporary extension of broadcaster CEO Golan Yochpaz’s term.[22] Karhi responded that the court was taking powers from the government and Knesset.[22]

As an active politician, Karhi’s long-term legacy remains unsettled. His political significance to date is closely tied to efforts to restructure broadcasting, reduce regulation, and challenge the authority of judicial and media institutions he regards as concentrated among institutional elites.[1] His agenda combines support for judicial reform and media restructuring with an emphasis on competition in communications markets.[1][3]

Several major measures and appointment disputes remained before the courts in 2026, including litigation concerning the broadcasting reform and the composition of the public broadcaster’s council.[21][22] Their eventual legal and market effects will help determine the lasting impact of his tenure.

Karhi presents his media reforms as liberalization and increased competition; critics argue that they could weaken independent journalism, expand political influence, and benefit the pro-government Channel 14.[1][4] Watchdog groups and political parties challenged the 2026 law in court.[4] His public thanks to Netanyahu also raised questions concerning Netanyahu’s media-related conflict-of-interest agreement; Karhi said he had obtained a legal opinion finding no conflict regarding the legislation.[4]

Restrictions on Al Jazeera drew concerns from the White House spokeswoman, the Committee to Protect Journalists, and human-rights organizations.[2] In October 2024, Karhi’s office alleged that reporters were passing sensitive troop-location information to the enemy, while the IDF released evidence alleging Hamas or Palestinian Islamic Jihad affiliations among some correspondents.[23] Al Jazeera rejected the evidence as fabricated and characterized it as an effort to silence journalists.[23]

Before entering the Knesset in February 2019, Karhi called Pride parades inappropriate and said they legitimized something contrary to the natural family unit, while acknowledging people’s freedom to choose how to live.[24] LGBTQ-rights advocate Chen Arieli and Karhi’s aunt, Shosh Tuchfeld, responded that the parades were protests for equal rights and against bullying and humiliation.[24]