Gag Order

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The Israeli government this week unanimously approved sanctions against Haaretz, the country’s oldest newspaper, citing its critical coverage of the ongoing Israel-Hamas war and recent remarks by its publisher calling for international sanctions against Israeli leaders, Axios reported.

The decision will require all government bodies and state-funded entities to sever ties with the publication, including ceasing advertising and subscriptions.

Communications Minister Shlomo Karhi, who proposed the sanctions with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s approval, accused the newspaper’s publisher, Amos Schocken, of undermining Israel’s legitimacy and supporting its enemies.

Karhi highlighted Schocken’s late-October speech at a conference in the United Kingdom, where he criticized Israel’s settlement policies, described Palestinian militants as “freedom fighters” and advocated for sanctions against Netanyahu and other leaders, according to the Jerusalem Post.

Haaretz condemned the decision as an attack on press freedom, accusing Netanyahu of dismantling Israeli democracy and of “trying to silence a critical, independent newspaper.”

The sanctions on Haaretz follow a broader pattern of government measures targeting critical media. In May, Israeli police shut down Al Jazeera’s Jerusalem bureau, citing national security concerns under a new law empowering the communications minister to close foreign media offices.

Schocken’s speech had labeled Israeli settlement expansion as “ethnic cleansing” and described ongoing actions in Gaza as a “second Nakba” – referring to the “Nakba” (Arabic for “catastrophe”) which was the mass displacement of hundreds of thousands of Palestinians during and after the 1948 Arab-Israeli War, which followed the creation of the State of Israel.

Press freedom advocates, including the Committee to Protect Journalists, condemned the government’s actions, warning that silencing dissenting voices could erode democratic norms.

The decision intensifies scrutiny of Israel’s domestic policies amid the ongoing conflict that has already displaced millions and killed thousands in Gaza, drawing sharp criticism from international organizations.