Complaints from Israel hit a low note in June, when CNN's founder and former chief, Ted Turner, was quoted as likening both sides of the conflict to terrorists. CNN responded by dispatching top executives to the region to meet with government officials. They also met with Israeli reporters to restate the network's commitment to balanced coverage.

An Israeli government official said yesterday that the commission's decision had nothing to do with CNN's coverage. Rather, he said, the government was giving the companies the freedom needed in their commercial dispute with CNN. ''If it is a pure business decision, we should not interfere,'' the official said.

CNN's contracts with the companies last through October. The network, based in Atlanta, said it was confident that it could reach an agreement by then.

In a statement, CNN said, ''Frankly, it is very hard to imagine that the Israeli cable operators, let alone their customers, will be willing to remove such a valuable source of information during this critical time in Israel's history.'' A CNN International executive said the network had shown a willingness to cut its prices.

But Reuters quoted Ram Belinkov, the acting chief executive of Golden Channels, as saying: ''We gave them a proposal of the maximum we are able to pay. If they meet it, we will not take them off. But so far it looks like they don't want to meet it.''