New players have joined the investor group of Assaf Rappaport and the other founders of Wiz in the acquisition of television channel Reshet 13. Rappaport, Yinon Costica, Ami Luttwak, and Roy Reznik, are being joined by Wix president Nir Zohar, and according to sources familiar with the matter other prominent names in Israel’s technology industry will also join, among them Monday.com founder Roy Mann; Eido Gal, one of the founders of Riskified; Amit Stibbe, partner of former member of Knesset Stav Shaffir and son of the astronaut Eytan Stibbe; Kobi Richter, whose name has been mentioned in the past as a member of the investor group; and Merav Bahat, co-founder of Dazz, which was acquired by Wiz, and a close friend of Rappaport since their days at Microsoft; and the Kibbutz Movement.
On Friday, Reshet 13’s management announced the decision by the channel’s owner Len Blavatnik to sell it to the group led by Rappaport. The investment will be made through the Merit Spread Foundation, which has been active for several years in raising donations for various social causes. The group says that investment via the foundation will ensure the channel’s neutrality and freedom from influence by the group. In line with that, the Merit Spread Foundation is due to announce the identity of the CEO of the channel within the next few days, and the names of the directors who will oversee it.
More investors sought
At present, the list of investors is only partial, and the group is working on co-opting more members.
The background to the report is the turnaround in the race to acquire Reshet 13. The investor group will pay $25 million for a majority stake held by Len Blavatnik’s Access Industries, and it has committed to injecting $45 million into the channel in the first year of ownership, and $100 million over three years. The group’s aim is that the channel should reach operating breakeven by the end of the third year. The Merit Spread Foundation will become the controlling shareholder in the channel, while Access Industries and WBD will retain minority holdings. The foundation’s founder and CEO is Alon Tal, and he will represent the owners.
Blavatnik initially agreed a sale of Reshet 13 to Hot and i24 News owner Patrick Drahi. The group led by Assaf Rappaport overtook Drahi and two investors who joined him recently, Arthur Essebag and John Paulson, because of regulatory problems with Drahi’s offer. The Second Broadcasting Authority, which regulates Channel 13, demanded answers to a long list of questions, and the Competition Authority twice rejected Drahi’s applications for permission to make a preliminary injection of finance, because of his connection to competing channels.
Published by Globes, Israel business news – en.globes.co.il – on March 15, 2026.
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