Keshet holds a stake in its own rival's parent company. Channel 14 belongs to Yitzchak Mirilashvili. i24NEWS belongs to Patrick Drahi. The families and cross-holdings behind Israeli TV and print.
Israel's television and newspaper industry is controlled by a small number of business families, and several of them already appear elsewhere in Olam's coverage of Israeli wealth: the Adelson estate, Patrick Drahi, and Yitzchak Mirilashvili's son all sit inside this same media map.
Keshet 12: The Wertheim Family's Channel
Keshet 12, Israel's top-rated commercial channel, is owned by Keshet Media Group, itself controlled by the Wertheim family, built originally on the family's position as Coca-Cola's Israeli representatives, alongside longtime CEO Avi Nir, who has run the company since 2002 and built its international arm, Keshet International, into an Emmy-winning global format exporter (Homeland began as a Keshet Israeli format). Businessman Yitzhak Tshuva sold his family's 22% stake in Keshet in 2021 for NIS 50 million to a new investment fund, Rakiah, alongside other private investors, in a deal valuing Keshet at a record NIS 226 million.
Reshet 13: A Sale That Changed Hands Twice in a Year
Reshet Media, which operates Keshet's main rival Reshet 13, has gone through an unusually turbulent ownership fight since 2025. Access Industries and Warner Bros. Discovery, the channel's foreign backers, first announced in March 2025 a management-led buyout that would have handed CEO Emiliano Calemzuk's investor group a 74% stake, per Globes' reporting on the original deal. That plan did not close as announced. By February 2026, Access Industries' board instead chose a competing offer led by Patrick Drahi, according to the Jerusalem Post's reporting on the board's decision, over a rival bid backed by Israeli tech executives.
Drahi's bid then ran into regulatory trouble because he already owns Hot Telecommunication Systems and the i24NEWS channel, raising cross-ownership concerns; Israel's Competition Authority rejected a related loan request, according to Calcalist's reporting on the regulatory pushback. Access Industries then agreed to sell control instead to the Merit Spread Foundation, a public-benefit vehicle backed by Wiz co-founder Assaf Rappaport and entrepreneurs from Wix, Monday.com, and Riskified, replacing Drahi's group as the buyer. The transaction still required approval from Israel's Second Authority for Television and Radio as of this writing, and Reshet's ownership has changed hands in outline three times since March 2025 without a single deal fully closing.
Channel 14: Already Olam's Territory
Channel 14 was won in a 2013 government tender by Yitzchak Mirilashvili, son of Watergen owner Mikhael Mirilashvili, whose family's post-Soviet capital and philanthropic footprint Olam has profiled in depth (see below). Channel 14 was the only bidder in its original 2013 license tender, a detail that underscores how small and closed Israel's broadcast-licensing world has historically been.
Print: Adelson, Mozes, Schocken, and Drahi
Israel's print sector maps onto largely the same small set of families. Israel Hayom and Makor Rishon are controlled by the Adelson family (Sheldon and Miriam Adelson), whose broader business empire Olam has covered extensively. Yedioth Ahronoth, along with Ynet, Calcalist, and several other outlets, is controlled by the Mozes family (Arnon Mozes). Haaretz and TheMarker belong to the Schocken family, alongside businessman Leonid Nevzlin. And i24NEWS, Israel's English, French, and Arabic international channel, is owned outright by French-Israeli telecom billionaire Patrick Drahi, the same Drahi whose Hot Telecommunication Systems is currently up for sale and whose Reshet 13 bid was displaced by the Merit Spread Foundation, per Olam's telecom ownership map.
Why This Concentration Matters
A small number of family-controlled companies set the terms of Israeli public discourse across both broadcast and print, and cross-holdings like Keshet's minority position tied to its own rival's ownership fight mean the competitive picture is more consolidated than a simple channel-by-channel view suggests. The collapse of Drahi's Reshet bid over cross-ownership concerns, given his existing Hot and i24NEWS holdings, is itself a live illustration of how tightly concentrated the sector already is.
The Map, at a Glance
| Outlet | Controlling Owner | Status |
|---|---|---|
| Keshet 12 | Wertheim family, plus Rakiah investment fund (2021, ex-Tshuva stake) | CEO Avi Nir since 2002 |
| Reshet 13 | Access Industries / WBD, transitioning to Merit Spread Foundation (Assaf Rappaport-backed) | Sale process ongoing since March 2025; regulatory approval pending |
| Channel 14 | Yitzchak Mirilashvili | Since winning the sole 2013 license tender |
| Israel Hayom / Makor Rishon | Adelson family | Ongoing |
| Yedioth Ahronoth / Ynet / Calcalist | Mozes family | Ongoing |
| Haaretz / TheMarker | Schocken family, plus Leonid Nevzlin | Ongoing |
| i24NEWS | Patrick Drahi | Ongoing |
Frequently Asked Questions
Who owns Keshet 12?
Keshet Media Group, controlled by the Wertheim family alongside CEO Avi Nir; a 22% stake formerly held by Yitzhak Tshuva's family was sold in 2021 to the investment fund Rakiah and other private investors.
Who owns Reshet 13?
Access Industries and Warner Bros. Discovery controlled Reshet 13 as of early 2026, but were in the process of selling control. A planned sale to Patrick Drahi collapsed over regulatory cross-ownership concerns, and Access agreed instead to sell to the Merit Spread Foundation, backed by Wiz co-founder Assaf Rappaport, pending regulatory approval.
Who owns Channel 14?
Yitzchak Mirilashvili, son of Watergen owner Mikhael Mirilashvili, won the channel's original broadcast license in a 2013 tender in which he was the only bidder.
Related Olam Coverage
- Mikhael Mirilashvili: Owner of Watergen
- Yitzchak Mirilashvili, Watergen, VK, Channel 14
- Who Owns Israel's Telecoms? Bezeq, Cellcom, Partner, Hot Mapped
Sources
Wikipedia, Keshet Media Group; Calcalist, Tshuva's Keshet stake sale (2021); Wikipedia, RGE Group ownership; Globes, original Reshet 13 buyout announcement (March 2025); Jerusalem Post, Drahi's board-approved Reshet bid (Feb. 2026); Calcalist, Rappaport's Merit Spread Foundation replaces Drahi (March 2026); Wikipedia, Channel 14 (Israel) license history; Wikipedia, list of news media ownership in Israel.
