Mass media in Israel

Israeli newspapers in 1949

There are over ten different languages in the Israeli media,[1] 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.[2]

Censorship in Israel is exercised when it is certain that publication of the item in question would harm public safety. When an item is censored, the newspaper may appeal the censor's ruling to a "committee of three," composed of a member of the public (who serves as the chairman), a representative of the army and a representative of the press. The decisions of the committee are binding, and over the years it has in many cases overruled the decision of the censor.[2]

## History

[edit]

Ha-Levanon, the first Hebrew-language newspaper in pre-state Israel, was published on February 20, 1863.[3] It was founded by Yoel Moshe Salomon (later a founder of Petah Tikva) and Michal HaCohen (later a founder of Nahalat Shiv'a). About six months later, another Jerusalem weekly, HaHavatzelet, was founded by Yisrael Bak, who established the first Hebrew printing press in Jerusalem.[4]

An analysis of the press of Palestine under the British Mandate in 1949 states: "Palestine was a special case in journalism. No other area with a population of two million, of whom at least 30 percent are illiterate, could boast of 18 morning dailies, three evening papers, and a host of weeklies, bi-weeklies and monthlies."[5]

In 1952, the International Publishing Company J-M Ltd was established as the state's first book publisher.[6] Censorship was regularly enforced in years after independence, throughout the Yom Kippur War and the 1970s.[6] In 1986, the government allowed for the establishment of private and commercial media outlets to run in competition with state media.[6]

In 2015, Reuters correspondent Tova Cohen described Israeli society in 2012 as "news-obsessed."[7] Israel has a high newspaper readership rate, due to a combination of high literacy rate and a cultural interest in politics and current affairs. Average weekday readership of newspapers in Israel is around 21 papers per 100 people, although many Israelis end up reading more than one paper.

## Newspapers

[edit]

Newspapers in Israel are mostly in Hebrew, but there are also newspapers catering to Arabic speakers, and newspapers catering to immigrants speaking a variety of languages, such as Russian, English and French. In 2022, a TGI survey indicated that Israel Hayom, distributed for free, is Israel's most read newspaper, with a 31% weekday readership exposure, followed by Yedioth Ahronoth, with 23.9%, Haaretz with 4.7%, and Maariv with 3.5%.[8]

## Freedom of the press

[edit]

See also: Censorship in Israel

Entrance of Beit Sokolov, house of the Israeli Journalists Association Part of a series on the

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The Israeli government generally respects freedom of the press, which is protected by the Basic Laws of Israel and independent judiciary.[9] Hate speech, and publishing praise of violence or issues of national security is prohibited.[9] While Israeli journalists operate with little restriction, the government has placed more restrictions on Palestinian journalists working in the region, as Reporters Without Borders alleges that the authorities entered Palestinian offices and homes looking for "illegal material".[full citation needed][10] Some have argued that freedom of press is restricted for Palestinians.[11] The media does carry criticism of government policy.[9]

Publication of a newspaper in Israel is illegal without a permit from the government, which continues to implement the Press Ordinance enacted by the Mandatory Government in 1933.[12] Permits can be refused for a variety of reasons, including that the proprietor is less than 25 years old or has a criminal record or insufficient education.[12][13] An investigation by Haaretz early in 2016 revealed that in the preceding decade at least 62 out of more than 500 permit applications had been rejected.[12] Other regulations, including the 1945 Defence (Emergency) Regulations, can also be used to regulate newspaper publication.[12]

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.[14]

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.[15]

Under Israeli law, it is forbidden to proselytize to a person under 18 without the consent of a parent. It is also forbidden to offer material benefits in the process of proselytizing.[16][17]

On 24 November 2024, Israel's government ordered a boycott of the newspaper Haaretz by government officials and anyone working for a government-funded body, and banned government advertising with the newspaper.[18] According to The Guardian, Haaretz "had published a series of investigations of wrongdoing or abuses by senior officials and the armed forces, and has long been in the crosshairs of the current government."[18]

### Freedom House

[edit]

Freedom House publishes an annual Freedom of the Press report. The 2013 report described Israel as having "the freest press in the region" but downgraded its status from "Free" to "Partly Free" in response to "the indictment of journalist Uri Blau for possession of state secrets, the first time this law had been used against the press in several decades, as well as instances of politicized interference with the content of the Israel Broadcasting Authority radio programs and concerns surrounding the license renewal of television's Channel 10."[19] The 2023 Freedom in the World report gave Israel a 3 out of 4 report for Freedom of Expression.[20] The report stated that though the media is generally free to criticize the government, print articles remain subject to censorship by the military, and that right-ward leaning trends under the Netanyahu administration further threatened public faith in the press.[20]

### Reporters Without Borders

[edit]

In 2023 Reporters Without Borders ranked Israel 97th out of 180 in their Press Freedom Index.[21] Palestine was rated 156th out of 180 in 2023. The results for Israel and the Palestinian National Authority from 2002 to the present are shown below, with lower numbers indicating better treatment of reporters:

Year  | Israel (Israeli territory)  | Israel (extraterritorial)  | Palestine  | No. of national entities rated  | Report URL

|
|
|
|
|

2002  | 92  | Not Specified  | 82  | 139  | [22]
2003  | 44  | 146  | 130  | 166  | [23]
2004  | 36  | 115  | 127  | 167  | [24]
2005  | 47  | Not Specified  | 132  | 167  | [25]
2006  | 50  | 135  | 134  | 168  | [26]
2007  | 44  | 103  | 158  | 169  | [27]
2008  | 46  | 149  | 163  | 173  | [28]
2009  | 93  | 150  | 161  | 175  | [29]
2014  | 96  | Not Specified  | 138  | 180  | [30]
2018  | 87  | 134  | 180  | [31]
2019  | 88  | 137  | 180  | [32]
2020  | 88  | 137  | 180  | [32]
2021  | 86  | 132  | 180  | [32]
2022  | 86  | 170  | 180  | [32]
2023  | 97  | 156  | 180  | [32]

### Committee to Protect Journalists

[edit]

Since the beginning of the war in Gaza, Israel has detained Palestinian reporters without trial and least 83 media reporters were killed in Gaza. According to a report issued by the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) in January 2023, Israel became one of the “worst jailers of journalists,” putting it on par with Iran.[33]

As of March 2025, the number of Palestinian press workers killed by Israel since October 2023 is 208 individuals.[34] The very recent death of Palestinian journalist Hossam Shabat, who reported on the Gaza war for Al Jazeera, has caused uproar when he was targeted in his vehicle in Salah al-Din Street, north of the enclave. The Government Media in the Gaza strip said it condemned “in the strongest terms the targeting, killing and assassination of Palestinian journalists by the Israeli occupation”. It is important to note that in October 2024, Shabbat accused the Israeli army of falsifying claims against him and other journalists, as they accused him of being a terrorist. The Israeli military has since publicly admitted to killing Shabat, accusing him of being “a terrorist” who it now had “eliminated”. Shabat also spoke to the Committee to Protect Journalists, (CPJ) stating “We convey the truth on Al Jazeera Mubasher, and we move within the areas classified by Israel as safe…We are citizens, and we convey their voices. Our only crime is that we convey the image and the truth.” CPJ has since called upon Israel to stop making unsubstantiated allegations to justify its killing and mistreatment of members of the press.[35]

Many Palestinian press workers are being targeted and harassed while carrying out their work in Israel and the two Palestinian territories, Gaza and the West Bank. Many arrests have been made and there have been countless assaults including threats, and their work being censored. Since July of 2023 this hostile work environment has spread across the Middle East. Journalists are losing family members to the violence and ongoing war. A reporter, Quidh endured eight family members losing their lives due to him covering the war.[36] “On November 13, 2023, eight members of Qudih’s family were killed when their house in southern Gaza was struck by four missiles”. Along with their lives being endangered and their loved ones, there is no safe place for reporters to carry out their jobs. “ Many journalists have no safe place to do their jobs as they live in tents and work from makeshift offices, such as hospitals, where they can access power” Since October 2023, the Israeli assault on the Gaza Strip has “killed more journalists than the US Civil War, World Wars I and II, the Korean War, the Vietnam War (including the conflicts in Cambodia and Laos), the wars in Yugoslavia in the 1990s and 2000s, and the post-9/11 war in Afghanistan, combined”.[37]

## List of media outlets

[edit]

### Print

[edit]

For a more comprehensive list, see List of newspapers in Israel.

Israel Hayom readers in Jerusalem Yedioth Ahronoth stand

Israel has a large number of dailies, weeklies and periodicals, all privately owned.[38]

* B'Sheva: Hebrew-language weekly religious newspaper.
* Calcalist: Hebrew-language daily business newspaper.
* Globes: Hebrew-language daily business newspaper (with online English edition).
* Haaretz: Israel's oldest daily newspaper with Hebrew and English editions.
* Hamodia: daily Haredi newspaper with Hebrew, English and French editions.
* Israel Hayom: Hebrew-language free daily newspaper (with online English edition).
* Israel Post: Hebrew-language free daily newspaper.
* Al-Ittihad: Arabic-language daily communist newspaper.
* The Jerusalem Post: Israel's oldest English-language newspaper.
* Kul al-Arab: Arabic-language weekly newspaper.
* Maariv: Hebrew-language daily newspaper.
* Makor Rishon: Hebrew-language weekly newspaper.
* TheMarker: Hebrew-language business media.
* Vesti: Russian-language daily newspaper.
* Yated Ne'eman: daily Haredi newspaper with Hebrew and English editions.
* Yedioth Ahronoth: Hebrew-language daily newspaper.

### Broadcast

[edit]

For a more comprehensive list, see List of television channels in Israel and List of radio stations in Israel.

Galei Tzahal broadcasting van Kan 11 reporting

* Channel 9: Russian-language television channel.
* Keshet 12 Hebrew-language television channel.
* Reshet 13: Hebrew-language television channel.
* Now 14: Hebrew-language television channel aimed at Jewish audience.
* Galei Tzahal: Hebrew-language general interest radio station.
* Galgalatz: Hebrew-language radio station broadcasting music, traffic reports and news.
* i24news: international news television channel in Hebrew, English, French and Arabic.
* Israeli Broadcasting Corporation: public broadcaster.
* Kan 11: Hebrew-language television channel.
* Kan Educational: Hebrew-language television channel for children.
* Kan 33 (Makan): Arabic-language television channel.
* Kol Yisrael: radio service.
* Knesset Channel: Hebrew-language political television channel.
* Kol Chai: Hebrew-language radio station aimed at Orthodox audience.

### Internet

[edit]

The Times of Israel offices in Jerusalem

* +972: A blog-based web magazine in English, with a Hebrew companion Mekomit [he] providing on-the-ground reporting and analysis of events in Israel and Palestine.
* Arutz Sheva: radio station and website identifying with religious Zionism in Hebrew, English and Russian.
* Bamahane: online magazine in Hebrew published by the Israel Defense Forces (shut down).
* Debkafile: private website based in Jerusalem for Zionist propaganda in Hebrew and English (inactive).
* Kikar HaShabbat: Hebrew-language Haredi website.
* Mida: online magazine in Hebrew and English.
* mako: online news and entertainment portal.
* The Times of Israel: news website in English, Arabic, French, Persian and Hebrew.
* Bokra, Israeli-Arab media website
* Davar, Histadrut-affiliated Labor Zionism news website.
* TLV1: English-language internet podcast network based in Tel Aviv founded by Silicon Valley entrepreneur Avner Shelem
* Walla!: web portal in Hebrew and English.
* Ynet: news website in Hebrew and English.
* Israel-Nachrichten: German-language online daily (paper discontinued in 2011)

## See also

[edit]

* Israel portal
* Journalism portal
* Telecommunication portal

* Beit Sokolov
* Cinema of Israel
* Culture of Israel
* Editors Committee (Israel)
* Government Press Office (Israel)
* HaAyin HaShevi'it
* Historical Jewish Press
* Internet in Israel
* Jewish Telegraphic Agency
* List of news media ownership in Israel
* Media coverage of the Arab–Israeli conflict
* Nakdi Report
* Politics of Israel
* Sokolov Award
* Telecommunications in Israel
* Television in Israel
* The Farsi section of Israel Radio

## References

[edit]

1. ^ "Recorded Programs". Israel Broadcasting Authority. Retrieved 24 January 2014.
2. ^ a b "The Printed Media: Israel's Newspapers". Israel Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Retrieved 24 January 2014.
3. ^ Aderet, Ofer (3 March 2013). "Israel's First Hebrew-language Newspaper, Reborn in Digital Form". Haaretz. Retrieved 20 June 2025.
4. ^ The Israeli Press
5. ^ Press and Radio in Palestine Under the British Mandate
6. ^ a b c "Israel". Press reference. Retrieved 9 October 2014.
7. ^ Cohen, Tova (4 October 2012). "Israeli newspapers struggle to survive in digital world". Reuters. Tel Aviv. Retrieved 30 November 2015.
8. ^ "ישראל היום או ידיעות? זה העיתון הנקרא בישראל | סקר TGI". Ice (in Hebrew). 31 January 2022. Retrieved 19 June 2022.
9. ^ a b c Israel Press Freedom, Freedom House. Archived 23 June 2011 at the Wayback Machine
10. ^ Israel 2007 report, Reporters Without Borders. Archived 26 May 2008 at the Wayback Machine
11. ^ Ratem, Noam (22 April 2016). "Israel's covert war against Palestinian media". +972 Magazine. Retrieved 1 January 2024.
12. ^ a b c d "Interior Ministry Has a Stranglehold on the Publication of Newspapers in Israel". Haaretz. 15 January 2016.
13. ^ "Press Ordinance". The Palestine Gazette. 340: 56–75\. 19 January 1933.
14. ^ Alyssa Fisher (4 July 2018). "Israel Censored a News Story every 4 Hours Last Year". The Forward.
15. ^ Chulov, Martin (6 August 2017). "Israeli government moves to impose ban on al-Jazeera news network". The Guardian. Retrieved 7 August 2017.
16. ^ Maltz, Judy (5 May 2020). "Israeli Minister Threatens to Shut Down God TV Channel Preaching 'Gospel of Jesus'". Haaretz. Retrieved 11 May 2020.
17. ^ Holmes, Oliver (10 May 2020). "Israel threatens to pull evangelical Christian TV station aimed at Jews". The Guardian. ISSN 0029-7712. Retrieved 11 May 2020.
18. ^ a b Burke, Jason (24 November 2024). "Israeli government orders officials to boycott left-leaning paper Haaretz". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 25 November 2024.
19. ^ "Israel – Freedom of the Press 2013". Freedom House. Retrieved 9 October 2014.
20. ^ a b "Israel: Freedom in the World 2023 Country Report". Freedom House. Retrieved 31 December 2023.
21. ^ "2020 World Press Freedom Index | RSF".
22. ^ 2002 Press Freedom Index, Reporters Without Borders Archived 19 February 2009 at the Wayback Machine
23. ^ 2003 Press Freedom Index, Reporters Without Borders Archived 19 February 2009 at the Wayback Machine
24. ^ 2004 Press Freedom Index, Reporters Without Borders Archived 20 December 2008 at the Wayback Machine
25. ^ 2005 Press Freedom Index, Reporters Without Borders Archived 29 April 2009 at the Wayback Machine
26. ^ 2006 Press Freedom Index, Reporters Without Borders Archived 4 June 2009 at the Wayback Machine
27. ^ 2007 Press Freedom Index, Reporters Without Borders Archived 21 April 2009 at the Wayback Machine
28. ^ Press Freedom Index, Reporters Without Borders Archived 6 October 2009 at the Wayback Machine
29. ^ 2009 Press Freedom Index, Reporters Without Borders. Archived 6 November 2009 at the Wayback Machine
30. ^ 2014 Press Freedom Index Archived 4 June 2011 at the Wayback Machine, Reporters Without Borders.
31. ^ "2018 World Press Freedom Index | Reporters Without Borders". RSF. Archived from the original on 16 August 2018. Retrieved 31 August 2018.
32. ^ a b c d e "Index | RSF". rsf.org. Retrieved 30 December 2023.
33. ^ Chris McGreal: Israel added to list of ‘worst jailers of journalists’ for first time The Guardian, 18 January 2023; Liam Scott: Israel Ranks Among World’s Worst Jailers of Journalists, Report Finds Voice of America, 18 January 2023; Israeli arrests of Palestinian journalists soared in 2023: CPJ AlJazeera, 18 January 2024; Israel tied with Iran for country with 6th-most reporters jailed since December — watchdog The Times of Israel, 18 January 2024; Arlene Getz: 2023 prison census: Jailed journalist numbers near record high; Israel imprisonments spike CPJ, January 2024; Journalist casualties in the Israel-Gaza war CPJ, 18 January 2024; Mohamed Mandour: Attacks, arrests, threats, censorship: The high risks of reporting the Israel-Gaza war CPJ, 18 January 2024;
34. ^ Uddin, Rayhan. "Tributes pour in for Hossam Shabat and Mohammad Mansour". Middle Eastern Eye. Retrieved 9 April 2025.
35. ^ "CPJ denounces Israel's killing of 2 more Gaza journalists in return to war". Committee to Protect Journalists. CPJ. Retrieved 9 April 2025.
36. ^ CPJ. "CPJ denounces Israel's killing of 2 more Gaza journalists in return to war". CJP. Committee To protect Journalists.
37. ^ Uddin, Rayhan. "Tributes pour in for Hossam Shabat and Mohammad Mansour". Middle East Eye.
38. ^ Prof. Sam Lehman-Wilzig; Amit Schejter (1994). "Israel". In Yahya Kamalipour; Hamid Mowlana (eds.). Mass Media in the Middle East (PDF). Greenwood. pp. 111–114\. ISBN 978-0-313-28535-6. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2 February 2014. Retrieved 24 January 2014.

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