Keshet Seeks Court Order to Delay Executive’s Move to Channel 13

Keshet, the operator of Channel 12, has asked the Tel Aviv Regional Labor Court to delay scheduling executive Itai Dankner’s move to rival Channel 13. Its application seeks to prevent him from starting there on November 4, 2026, by enforcing a four-month restriction on joining a competitor. Keshet says Dankner’s employment agreement contains that restriction and that it offered to pay him throughout the period. Its stated purpose is “to protect confidential, current information of competitive value.” The company alleges that Dankner initially acknowledged the clause and asked to shorten the period, but subsequently said he would not comply. According to Keshet’s account, Dankner has worked for the company since January 2019, handling both immediate and longer-term programming schedules. It says his responsibilities included advising chief executive Hilik Sharir and business-development work involving its news company. The application describes access to plans roughly 18 months ahead, including launch dates, schedules, episode counts and, in some cases, production costs. Keshet also says two strategically important prime-time programs are planned for the four months following his departure and that he personally supervised them. These are the company’s arguments for an injunction, rather than court findings. Dankner and Reshet had not yet filed responses when the application was reported on October 29. No ruling or hearing date was reported.