Netanyahu government financially 'sanctions' Haaretz

Haaretz vice-president Noa Landau announced on the X network that Benjamin Netanyahu's government had decided to “sanction” the famous Israeli daily “by ending all state advertising, state-funded subscriptions or any other links.” “We will not be deterred,” she responded.

Haaretz's editorial board points out on its website that “the resolution approved on Sunday was not on the government's agenda, which is usually published before the weekly cabinet meeting, and that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu approved it without the usual scrutiny.” The measure was proposed by Communications Minister Shlomo Karhi, a member of Netanyahu's Likud party. It applies to all Israeli organizations “financed by the government.”

The government's explanation, according to the verbatim report by Haaretz, is based on “numerous articles that have undermined the legitimacy of the State of Israel and its right to self-defense.” In particular, the Israeli executive did not appreciate the “remarks made in London by editorialist [and head of the press group that owns the newspaper] Amos Schocken, whose remarks support terrorism and call for sanctions to be imposed on the government.”

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Amos Schocken's remarks

In early November, the left-leaning Haaretz newspaper, founded in 1919, disassociated itself from Schocken's comments. At a press conference in London, Schocken said, “Benjamin Netanyahu's government is not concerned about imposing a cruel apartheid regime on the Palestinian population. It dismisses out of hand the price paid for defending West Bank settlements, fighting freedom fighters who are branded terrorists by Israel.”

Since the start of the Gaza war on Oct. 7, 2023, Haaretz has set itself apart from other Israeli media by taking a more critical line on the way Netanyahu's government has conducted the war against the enclave. More recently, the daily has not failed to report on the judicial proceedings that have so far led to the indictment of at least one of Netanyahu's government aides. He is accused of passing on classified documents with the intention of harming the state. Reacting to the warrant issued by the International Criminal Court against Netanyahu and his former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, Haaretz published an editorial three days ago calling the proceedings an “unprecedented moral all-time-low” for the country.