Entering election year, Netanyahu’s government targets Israel’s free press
By Tal Shalev, CNN
(CNN) — What began as Israel’s leader cold-shouldering the mainstream media is becoming a more widespread assault on the country’s freedom of the press.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has not granted an interview to Israel’s three main broadcasters in over four years. He’s accused them of “brainwashing,” claimed they assist Israel’s enemies and personally gone after journalists who criticize him.
Now, that longstanding tension is evolving into something more aggressive.: On Monday, Netanyahu’s coalition will establish a special parliamentary committee to advance legislation that would replace Israel’s independent media regulators with political appointees. The change will give the government sweeping authority to fine and sanction news outlets – a move critics warn could permanently reshape the country’s media environment.
The bill, sponsored by Communications Minister Shlomo Karhi, a Netanyahu loyalist, passed its first reading last month after it was introduced in May. The government says its goal is to open the market, promote competition, remove outdated regulatory barriers and modernize Israel’s media laws for the digital era.
Israeli networks, however, have warned the proposed reform will expand political influence and erode editorial independence. In an unprecedented move, the rival networks created a joint emergency forum in August 2023 to oppose the government’s plans, which they dub a “hostile takeover” of the media market.
An official in the forum told CNN, “What we’re seeing is an attempted power grab on the eve on an election. The clear objective is to subdue the free press and silence criticism before Israelis go to the polls.”
‘True freedom of expression’
The media regulation bill is part of a broader set of restrictions and measures taken against freedom of the press in Israel. Earlier this year, Reporters Without Borders (RSF) dropped Israel’s ranking to 112 out of 180 countries in the World Press Freedom Index. “Disinformation campaigns and repressive laws have multiplied in Israel and pressure on Israeli journalists has intensified,” RSF said.
A bill originally aimed at banning Qatar-based Al-Jazeera is currently being expanded to empower the government to shutter certain foreign outlets without court oversight in the name of “national security.” Another bill would privatize Israel’s public broadcaster, Kan 11.
Defence Minister Israel Katz recently announced he will close Galei Tzahal (Army Radio) next year. While some have questioned the existence of a military-run broadcaster in a democracy, the timing aligns with the government’s wider moves to consolidate control over the media sphere.
And all of this is unfolding as Israel has barred foreign journalists from independently entering Gaza since the start of the war more than two years ago. Reporters Without Borders said the ban constitutes “an unprecedented violation of press freedom and the public’s right to reliable, independent, and pluralistic media reporting.”
The media regulation bill has already faced criticism from the national regulatory agency, the Finance and Justice ministries, the Knesset’s own legal advisers and the attorney general. “The proposal creates increased risks to Israel’s free media,” Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara wrote in a legal opinion submitted to the government in September, raising “a real concern about commercial and political influence and involvement in the work of media organizations in general and in news broadcasts in particular.”
Despite legal objections from both the government’s legal adviser and the Knesset’s legal counsel, Karhi is pressing ahead. The communications minister, who accused the press of “weakening Israel internally” in a Knesset speech in November and claimed it enabled the Hamas-led October 7 attacks, argued in that the reform will create “true freedom of expression – not that of disgruntled people with microphones.”
As Netanyahu’s government pushes to constrain and boycott critical reporting, it has simultaneously promoted pro-Netanyahu Channel 14 – often called Israel’s Fox News – with regulatory benefits, including reduced distribution fees, and various reliefs allowing it to operate with fewer restrictions than other commercial channels.
Tehilla Shwartz Altshuler, a senior fellow at the Israel Democracy Institute, said, “In the past two years, the Israeli government has launched a coordinated political, regulatory and rhetorical campaign to weaken the media.”
“Coalition ministers and senior politicians routinely wage public assaults on journalists, blaming the media for national failures such as the events of October 7, while violent harassment of reporters has escalated”.
‘They want us to be afraid’
The pressure isn’t only institutional. Individual journalists known for critical coverage of Netanyahu and his government endure escalating threats and intimidation, much of it with tacit or explicit backing from members of Netanyahu’s party and far-right coalition partners like National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir.
Guy Peleg, Channel 12’s senior legal affairs correspondent, has faced protests outside his home, threatening messages and billboard campaigns calling for his imprisonment.
The campaign against Peleg, who regularly covers Netanyahu’s ongoing corruption trial, isn’t new. During the 2019 election, his face appeared on Likud billboard adds alongside three other critical journalists under the slogan “They won’t decide”.
The attacks intensified after Peleg exposed the alleged abuse of a Palestinian detainee at the Sde Teiman detention facility – an affair which recently led to the resignation of the IDF’s top military lawyer.
“They want us to be afraid,” Peleg said on Channel 12’s flagship program, Ulpan Shishi. “They want us to go with security guards. What we have to say is that we will not give up and we will not be afraid and will continue doing our jobs.”
Right-wing activist Mordechai David, known for confronting journalists and opposition figures, repeatedly harassed Peleg, who eventually obtained a court-issued restraining order requiring David to stay at least two meters away.
Yet David has been welcomed by key coalition figures. Ben-Gvir hosted him in his Knesset office, praising his protests as “excellent” and a “democratic mission.” Tzvika Foghel, of Ben Gvir’s far-right wing Otzma Yehudit party, invited him to a Knesset committee hearing on journalist harassment, despite another restraining order – from opposition lawmaker Gilad Kariv.
“The government embraces these people,” Peleg told CNN. “They are honored guests at the Knesset committees. We’re not talking about a few crazies who wrote a comment or sent a hateful message. We’re talking about a group that the government embraces, strengthens in many ways, thanks, and tells them to keep going.”
Peleg said the war against the media has several arms.
“One is through legislation in the parliament, another is through the defense minister and the army radio and a third arm sends various fringe figures to run a campaign – both online and through harassment – which is essentially kind of terror,” he said. “It’s all part of one unified system”.
Netanyahu’s current political standing is already intertwined with the media. His media maneuvering eventually led to criminal investigations and indictments, as prosecutors allege he traded regulatory benefits for positive news coverage. The Israeli prime minister is now formally seeking a pardon from Israeli President Isaac Herzog in his long-running corruption trial while refusing to acknowledge any wrongdoing.
The new mechanism Netanyahu’s government now seeks to legalize would formalize similar arrangements, which critics say would allow government ministers to reward friendly outlets and penalize critical ones.
The timing of the legislative push is significant. The next elections in Israel are scheduled for October 2026, unless Netanyahu’s coalition collapses before then. In either scenario, Israel is in an election year, where independent journalism is crucial for democratic accountability.
“As Israel enters an election year, its news organizations face unprecedented political pressure, regulatory threats, and physical intimidation,” Altshuler told CNN, “Leaving the public sphere more vulnerable than ever to influence, capture, and the erosion of democratic oversight.”
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