Journalist Turned Likud MK Seeks Recording Restrictions

Boaz Bismuth, a former newspaper editor and freshman Israeli lawmaker in Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu’s Likud Party, has submitted his first bill, which would restrict journalists from publishing recordings of a person without his or her consent.

Bismuth last year stepped down as chief editor of Israel Hayom, a free newspaper founded by late American Jewish billionaire Sheldon Adelson and widely regarded as a pro-Netanyahu publication. As an erstwhile journalist, Bismuth has come under criticism for attempting to stifle members of his former profession.

“Putting an end to secret recordings!” Bismuth wrote on Twitter. “Today I submitted an amendment to a bill in which I seek to determine that even the act of publicly publishing a recording of a person would be a criminal offense! In the technological age in which we live, anyone can record a conversation that includes sensitive content and publish it publicly. The amendment to the law will guarantee that the publication of such a recording would be considered a serious violation of privacy.”

The bill calls for a jail sentence of up to five years for violations.