Preparations to shut down the Israel Broadcasting Authority, the state's broadcasting network, and replace it with a new public broadcasting corporation have been stepped up over the past few weeks.

The new corporation was scheduled to begin operations on Oct. 1. As a result of the reform of the Israel Broadcasting Authority and legislation for that express purpose, it seemed Israel's collapsing public broadcasting was finally about to get some good news. To stick to the crowded timetable legislated by the Knesset, the nascent corporation worked around the clock, recruiting new journalists and editors who would be the basis of a powerful and relevant new news entity. Just about every day, news reports were filled with stories of contracts with top journalists, some of them from the Israel Broadcasting Authority and others who decided to leave various commercial media outlets for this new venture.

The corporation was convinced it would become the Israeli version of the BBC. It would emerge as an independent, high-quality public news channel, unfettered by commercial considerations. It would be a refreshing change after so many years treading water under wasteful and corrupt management and subject to the whims of politicians.

The bomb was dropped on the afternoon of July 18, just 2½ months before the new corporation’s launch. It all began with an insinuation by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who also serves as minister of communications, from the Knesset podium. He said that the members of the corporation were not meeting the official timetable, “so we must discuss what to do about it.”