Israeli Minister Threatens Crackdown on Haaretz For ‘Defeatist’ Coverage of War
AP Photo/Maya Alleruzzo
Israeli communications minister Shlomo Karhi called for a crackdown on Haaretz on Thursday, accusing the Israeli newspaper of “defeatist and false propaganda” and taking “a harmful line that undermines the goals of the war.”
“Since the beginning of the war, my office has received numerous complaints that the Haaretz newspaper has taken a harmful line that undermines the goals of the war and weakens the military effort and societal resilience,” Karhi wrote in a letter to Israeli Cabinet Secretary Yossi Fuchs, according to the Times of Israel.
Karhi further claimed Haaretz’s reporting may have “crossed the criminal threshold” and requested the paper be “examined by the relevant authorities.”
The minister proposed a resolution that would “halt any state advertising, subscriptions or other commercial connection” with the paper, per the Times of Israel.
In a statement posted to Twitter, Haaretz wrote: “As the Netanyahu government attempts to stifle the free press in Israel, Haaretz remains committed to reporting without fear or favor.”
Karhi’s attempts to regulate the media have been controversial. In July, opposition leader Yair Lapid condemned Karhi’s proposed media reforms which sought to crack down on the media and promote the pro-Netanyahu network Channel 14.
“This is a bribe offer to the owner of Channel 14,” Lapid said. “It is a complete crushing of the freedom of the press and an attempt to eliminate the television channels that do not bow to the government. Only in totalitarian states does the government control the mass media as Karhi suggests.”
Journalists likewise slammed the proposal as an effort to “crush” independent media in the country.
Since the Oct. 7 terror attack by Hamas and subsequent declaration of war by Israel, Karhi has promoted other regulations that would allow police to imprison civilians accused of harming “national morale.”
Haaretz, which has been fiercely critical of the Netanyahu government, has decried Karhi’s attempts to shut down media organizations through the use of emergency regulations. In an editorial published last month, Haaretz accused the communications minister of seeking to “to return to the law books the brutal authority to silence and darken.”
