The Israeli government has ordered government officials and those working for government-funded organizations to boycott Haaretz, one of the country's leading left-wing newspapers, and suspended all government advertising in the paper and on its website. We plan to impose penalties.
In a statement on Sunday, Communications Minister Shlomo Karhi's office announced that his proposal for Haaretz was unanimously approved by other ministers.
“We will not tolerate the reality that the publishers of the official newspapers of the State of Israel call for the imposition of sanctions against Israel and support and receive funding from enemies of the state in the midst of war.” the statement said.
“We advocate freedom of the press and freedom of expression, but we also advocate freedom for governments to decide not to finance incitement against the state of Israel.”
Haaretz is Israel's oldest newspaper and widely respected internationally for its reporting and analysis, but it has been fiercely critical of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and the current coalition government, the most right-wing in the country's history.
The paper has published a series of investigations into misconduct and abuse by senior officials and the military, and has long been the focus of the current government. He is also a vocal supporter of the ceasefire movement to free hostages captured by Hamas in October last year and currently held in Gaza.
In a statement on Sunday, Haaretz accused Netanyahu of seeking to “dismantle Israel's democracy” and said the resolution to boycott the paper was “opportunistic” and passed by ministers without legal review. said.
“Like his friends Putin, Erdoğan and Orbán, Prime Minister Netanyahu is trying to silence critical independent newspapers. Haaretz does not hesitate to transform into a government pamphlet carrying messages approved by the government and its leaders. We have no intention of doing so,” the statement said.
To justify the boycott of Haaretz, Mr. Karhi's office highlighted comments made by publisher Amos Schocken at a recent conference hosted by the paper in London.
Schocken accused the Israeli government of “imposing a brutal apartheid regime on the Palestinian people,” and said, “Israel is fighting against Palestinian freedom fighters, whom it calls terrorists.” He later clarified his remarks and said he had not meant to refer to Hamas.
Also published by Haaretz editorial “Intentionally causing harm to civilians is illegal. Using violence against civilians and instilling fear in civilians to achieve political or ideological goals is terrorism. Women Any organization that advocates killing , children, or the elderly is a terrorist organization and its members are terrorists. They are not “freedom fighters”.
Mairav Zonszein, senior Israel analyst at the International Crisis Group, said the boycott shows Israel is being led by an increasingly authoritarian government dedicated to suppressing all types of opposition.
“The scope for criticism, not only from Palestinians but also from Jewish Israelis, has narrowed significantly,” she said.
Karuhi first proposed Last year, the government voted to suspend state advertising, subscriptions and other commercial relations with Haaretz, citing “wartime defeatism and false propaganda.”
movement Called the International Federation of Journalists He expressed concern about the Israeli government's efforts to restrict press freedom and the public's right to know.
In May, Israeli authorities closed Al Jazeera's local offices. It came hours after the government voted to adopt new laws to shut down satellite news network operations in the country.
Officials said the move was justified because Al Jazeera is a threat to national security. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu posted on social media: “The incitement channel Al Jazeera will be shut down in Israel.” Critics called the move “a dark day for the media.”
