Israel’s government will give the new ad agency its fair shake after Fox News announced its plan to shut down its advertising contracts with the country, Channel 10 reported.
The announcement came after Fox announced it was withdrawing its advertising deals with the government of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and the governing Likud Party following an election that saw the country lose its majority in parliament.
The move came after Israel suspended its ad contracts with Fox, a deal that was in place since the beginning of the year, but which ended after the election.
Israel’s new advertising chief, Yair Golan, announced Friday that the government will grant the new agency a 30 percent stake in the company.
Channel 10 cited the government’s decree to award the agency a 5 percent stake as the reason behind the decision.
“We will give them a fair shake,” the decree stated.
“We will grant them all the privileges of the new advertising industry and give them the chance to grow and innovate.”
Channel 10 cited Golan as saying that “a fair shake” would be granted to the new company.
Fox News has said it has withdrawn its advertising deal with Israel because it is unable to continue its contract with Netanyahu’s government.
It had previously signed up to run ad campaigns in Israel for Fox News Channel and Fox News Israel.
Israelis overwhelmingly approved a law that gives the government the power to cancel or suspend contracts with advertising companies, as well as to fine those companies up to $500,000.
The law came into effect in December, and was amended to include a clause that allowed the government to cancel contracts with any company that “has a clear financial advantage over the other.”
Fox News was one of several media outlets that were banned from advertising in Israel following the government decree.
Israel has been criticized by critics for the ban, including the European Union and other nations that have accused Israel of interfering in the media.
Netanyahu has said that the ban is necessary to fight corruption and a “lack of independence of the press,” and that he is committed to strengthening the media to promote “Israeli values.”
Fox has not responded to a request for comment.