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Censorship in Israel is officially carried out by the Israeli Military Censor, a unit in the Israeli government officially tasked with carrying out preventive censorship regarding the publication of information that might affect the security of Israel. The body is headed by the Israeli Chief Censor, a military official appointed by Israel's Minister of Defense, who bestows upon the Chief Censor the authority to suppress information he deems compromising from being made public in the media, [1] [2] such as Israel's nuclear weapons program and Israel's military operations outside its borders. On average, 2240 press articles in Israel are censored by the Israeli Military Censor each year, approximately 240 of which in full, and around 2000 partially. [3]
Articles concerning potentially controversial topics must be submitted to the Israeli Military Censor in advance; failing to do so may cause the reporter to lose his right to work as a journalist in Israel [4] and, in the case of foreign reporters, to be barred from the country. [5] [6] [7]
Reporters Without Borders report on Israel states that "Under Israel’s military censorship, reporting on a variety of security issues requires prior approval by the authorities. In addition to the possibility of civil defamation suits, journalists can also be charged with criminal defamation and "insulting a public official". There is a freedom of information law but it is sometimes hard to implement. The confidentiality of sources is not protected by statutory law". [8]
Every journalist working within Israel is required to be accredited by the Israeli Government Press Office. The office is allowed to deny applications based on political or security considerations. [9]
Following the 2017 Qatar diplomatic crisis, Israel took steps to ban Qatar-based Al Jazeera by closing its Jerusalem office, revoking press cards, and asking cable and satellite broadcasters not to broadcast Al Jazeera. Defence minister Avigdor Lieberman had described some of Al Jazeera reports as "Nazi Germany–style" propaganda. It was not clear if the measures covered Al Jazeera English, considered less strident. [10]
As of 2020, Israel ranks 88th in the World Press Freedom Index. [11]
Before the Oslo Accords, Israeli police and government controlled the Palestinian territories, and with this, Israel censored the books and information Palestinians can read and output. By 1991, some 10,000 books had been banned, fax machines had been banned, and a number of phone lines had been cut. In addition, publications of anything with content considered "political significance" in the West Bank, Palestinian territory, had been prohibited, and Arab publications had been be "completely stopped"[ dubious ]. [12] [ better source needed ]
Reporters Without Borders have raised serious concern regarding the treatment of journalists in Israel, particularly Palestinian journalists. Their current section on Israel states: "[…] journalists are exposed to open hostility from members of the government. Smear campaigns have been waged against media outlets and journalists by politicians with the help of their party and supporters, exposing the targets to harassment and anonymous messages and forcing them seek personal protection. […] The Israel Defence Forces often violate the rights of Palestinian journalists, especially when they are covering demonstrations or clashes in the West Bank or Gaza Strip" [11]
In their section on Palestine, they write that "the Israeli forces have continued to subject Palestinian journalists to arrest, interrogation and administrative detention, often without any clear grounds. In recent years, the Israeli authorities have also closed several Palestinian media outlets for allegedly inciting violence." [13]
On 7 December 2021, Reporters Without Borders and the Euro-Mediterranean Human Rights Monitor called for an immediate end to the Israeli travel bans that prevent dozens of Palestinian journalists from leaving the West Bank and Gaza Strip. At that time, RSF was aware of at least 21 Palestinian journalists who were banned from travelling abroad. In many cases, the travel bans have remained in place for years. [14]
On 18 August 2022, Israeli forces issued military orders imposing the closure of seven prominent Palestinian human rights groups' offices after accusing them of operating as fronts for terrorist organizations. [15] The UN and other international organizations condemned Israel’s escalating attacks against Palestinian civil society. [16]
In 2019, Christophe Deloire, director-general of Reporters Without Borders, accused Israel of war crimes after two journalists were shot and killed by the Israeli Defense Forces in Gaza while covering a protest. [17] [18] In an interview with the Jerusalem Post, Deloire said that "when Israel shot those journalists, it was intentional… The journalists could be clearly identified as journalists, with cameras and jackets and it could not be just by chance". [17]
A commission of inquiry mandated by the United Nations Human Rights Council came to the conclusion that the shooting with live ammunition by the Israeli Defense Forces, which ultimately resulted in 183 casualties, was a "serious human rights and humanitarian law violations" which "may constitute war crimes or crimes against humanity". The Commission found "reasonable grounds" to believe that Israeli snipers shot at journalists, while knowing they were clearly recognizable as such. [19]
According to the Committee to Protect Journalists, 18 Palestinian journalists were killed in Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territories between 2001–2021. [20]
In 2021, Israel bombed and completely destroyed the building with the headquarters of the Associated Press and Al Jazeera in the Gaza Strip. [21]
In 2022, Palestinian-American journalist Shireen Abu Akleh was killed with a shot to her head while covering an operation of the Israel Defense Forces in the Palestinian city of Jenin. Upon doing its own investigation, American news channel CNN concluded that her death was the result of a targeted Israeli killing. [22] On 5 September, the IDF admitted a "high possibility" that the journalist was "accidentally hit" by army fire, but said that, despite US requests to do so, it would not undertake a criminal investigation into her death. [23]
The Israeli Military Censor has the power to prevent publication of certain news items. The censorship rules largely concern military issues such as not reporting if a missile hit or missed its target, troop movements, etc. but it is also empowered to control information about the oil industry and water supply. [9] Journalists who bypass the military censor or publish items that were censored may be subject to criminal prosecution and jail time; the censor also has the authority to close newspapers. However, these extreme measures have been rarely used. [24] One notable instance where a newspaper was closed temporarily was in the case of the Kav 300 affair where it was eventually discovered that the censor was used by the Shin Bet to cover up internal wrongdoings in the agency and led to one of the biggest public scandals in Israel during the 1980s. Following the incident the two main papers, HaAretz and Yediot Ahronot stopped participating in the Editors' Committee.
In 1996 a new agreement was reached and the Editors' Committee resumed operation. The new agreement allowed military censorship only of articles clearly harmful to national security and allowed the supreme court to override military decisions.
According to information provided by the military censor in response to a Freedom of Information request, in 2017 the censor banned the publication of 271 articles outright, and fully or partially redacted 21% of the articles submitted to it. [25]
In 2018, the censor prohibited the publication of 363 news articles, and partially or fully redacted 2,712 news items submitted to it for prior review. [26] This amounts to more than one news piece being censored and seven news items being redacted per day, on average.
One very commonly used way for Israeli media to circumvent censorship rules is to leak items to foreign news sources, which by virtue of being located outside of Israel are not subject to Israeli censorship. Once published, the Israeli media can simply quote the story. [27] [28]
Israeli laws outlaws hate speech and "expressing support for illegal or terrorist organizations". [9] Section 173 of the legal code makes it a crime to publish any "publication that is liable to crudely offend the religious faith or sentiment of others." [29]
In addition to media censorship, Israeli cinemas are subject to regulation regarding the exhibition of pornography and television stations face restrictions on early broadcasting of programs that are unsuitable for children.
On 1 April 2024, the Knesset passed the "Al Jazeera law", which gives the Israeli government the power to close foreign news networks operating in the country and confiscate their equipment if they are deemed to be threats to national security. The law, passed in a 71 to 10 vote, was planned to be used against the Qatari news channel Al Jazeera according to Minister of Communications Shlomo Karhi. The law can be applied for an initial 45-day period but can be renewed. [30]
Israel banned all films produced in Germany from 1956 until 1967. [33]
Media coverage of the Israeli–Palestinian conflict by journalists in international news media has been said to be biased by both sides and independent observers. These perceptions of bias, possibly exacerbated by the hostile media effect, have generated more complaints of partisan reporting than any other news topic and have led to a proliferation of media watchdog groups.
International human rights organizations, along with the United Nations, and the United States Department of State, have reported human rights violations committed by the State of Israel, particularly against minority groups. These reports include violations of the rights of Palestinians, both inside and outside Israel as well as other groups in Israel.
There are over ten different languages in the Israeli media, with Hebrew as the predominant one. Press in Arabic caters to the Arab citizens of Israel, with readers from areas including those governed by the Palestinian National Authority. During the eighties and nineties, the Israeli press underwent a process of significant change as the media gradually came to be controlled by a limited number of organizations, whereas the papers published by political parties began to disappear. Today, three large, privately owned conglomerates based in Tel Aviv dominate the mass media in Israel.
Media played an important part of the 2008–2009 Israel–Gaza conflict. Foreign press access to Gaza has been limited since November 2008 via either Egypt or Israel. On 29 December 2008, the Israeli Supreme Court ordered that journalists be allowed into Gaza whenever the crossings were opened, but the IDF refused to comply. There have been arrests of journalists due to violations of wartime censorship in Israel, and these have been denounced by international press organizations. Media infrastructure, including Al-Aqsa TV transmission equipment and foreign and local press offices, were hit during the conflict. Media relations also played an important role, with the use of new media on the part of Israel, as well as a clear public relations campaign.
Events in the year 2011 in the Palestinian territories.
In November 2012, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) launched Operation Pillar of Defense, which was an eight-day campaign in the Hamas-governed Gaza Strip, beginning on 14 November 2012 with the killing of Ahmed Jabari, chief of the Gaza military wing of Hamas, by an Israeli airstrike.
The 2014 Gaza War, also known as Operation Protective Edge, and Battle of the Withered Grain, was a military operation launched by Israel on 8 July 2014 in the Gaza Strip, a Palestinian territory that has been governed by Hamas since 2007. Following the kidnapping and murder of three Israeli teenagers in the West Bank by Hamas-affiliated Palestinian militants, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) initiated Operation Brother's Keeper, in which some 350 Palestinians, including nearly all of the active Hamas militants in the West Bank, were arrested. Hamas subsequently fired a greater number of rockets into Israel from the Gaza Strip, triggering a seven-week-long conflict between the two sides. It was one of the deadliest outbreaks of open conflict between Israel and the Palestinians in decades. The combination of Palestinian rocket attacks and Israeli airstrikes resulted in over two thousand deaths, the vast majority of which were Gazan Palestinians. This includes a total of six Israeli civilians who were killed as a result of the conflict.
Yaser Murtaja was a Palestinian video journalist and photographer from the Gaza Strip.
The year 2023 in Israel was defined first by wide-scale protests against a proposed judicial reform, and then by the Hamas-led attack on Israel on October 7, which led to a war and to Israel invading the Gaza Strip.
The following is a list of events during the Israeli–Palestinian conflict in 2022.
Shireen Abu Akleh was a prominent Palestinian-American journalist who worked as a reporter for 25 years for Al Jazeera, before she was killed by an Israeli soldier while wearing a blue press vest and covering a raid on the Jenin refugee camp in the Israeli-occupied West Bank. Abu Akleh was one of the most prominent names across the Middle East for her decades of reporting in the Palestinian territories, and seen as a role model for many Arab and Palestinian women. She is considered to be an icon of Palestinian journalism.
The 2022 Gaza–Israel clashes code-named as Operation Breaking Dawn lasted from 5 to 7 August 2022. The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) conducted some 147 airstrikes in Gaza and Palestinian militants fired approximately 1,100 rockets towards Israel. The operation, ordered by Prime Minister Yair Lapid and Defense Minister Benny Gantz without prior Cabinet discussion or approval, followed a raid in Jenin in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, in which Israeli forces arrested Bassam al-Saadi, a leader of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) in that area. On 6 August, Israel arrested 20 people in the West Bank of whom 19 were members of PIJ and a further 20 on 7 August according to an unnamed Israeli official.
Events in the year 2022 in the Palestinian territories.
The following is a list of events during the Israeli–Palestinian conflict in 2023.
Events in 2023 in the Palestinian territories.
Israeli war crimes are the violations of international criminal law, including war crimes, crimes against humanity and the crime of genocide, which the Israel Defense Forces, the military branch of the state of Israel, has been accused of committing since the founding of Israel in 1948. These have included murder, intentional targeting of civilians, killing prisoners of war and surrendered combatants, indiscriminate attacks, collective punishment, starvation, the use of human shields, sexual violence and rape, torture, pillage, forced transfer, breach of medical neutrality, targeting journalists, attacking civilian and protected objects, wanton destruction, incitement to genocide, and genocide.
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF), the military forces of the State of Israel, has on several occasions been involved in incidents that resulted in accusations of misconduct or potential breaches of international law. In some instances, initial official statements or denials were later revised following internal investigations, which subsequently acknowledged wrongdoing or provided more clarity on events. This article documents such instances, emphasizing the timeline from initial denial to subsequent acknowledgment.
According to the Committee to Protect Journalists as of 5 April 2024 the Israel–Hamas conflict has claimed the lives of at least 2 Israeli and 3 Lebanese journalists, as well as, according to the government media office in Gaza on 26 March, 136 Palestinian journalists. This toll, along with other acts of violence targeting journalists, marks the deadliest period for journalists in the Israeli–Palestinian conflict since 1992 and the deadliest commencement of a war for journalists in the 21st century. On 30 January 2024, the head of the Committee to Protect Journalists stated, "Israel's war on Gaza is more deadly to journalists than any previous war". Israeli airstrikes additionally damaged or destroyed an estimated 48 media facilities in Gaza. Reporters Without Borders has reported that the Israeli army intentionally targeted Palestinian and Lebanese journalists. In 2023, nearly 75% of journalists killed worldwide were Palestinians who had died in Israel’s war in Gaza.
Since the outbreak of the Israel–Hamas war on October 7, 2023, Israel has carried out mass arrests and detentions of Palestinians. Thousands have been arrested in the Israeli-occupied Palestinian territories and in Israel, based on alleged militant activity, offensive social media postings, or arbitrarily.
NGOs and human rights groups have alleged violence against Palestinian journalists for decades. Hamas, Islamic Jihad, Palestinian Authority (PA), the IDF, and others have all been accused of utilizing violence against Palestinian journalists, which has resulted in Palestine being ranked 156th out of 180 countries in the 2023 Reporters Without Borders' Press Freedom Index. Freedom House has stated that in both the West Bank and Gaza Strip, journalists are surveilled and threatened by both Palestinian and Israeli authorities. In 2022, the Palestinian Center for Development and Media Freedom found 605 violations against media freedom, with 69% attributed to Israel.