The Government of Benjamin Netanyahu approved this Sunday a proposal aimed at economically suffocating Haaretzthe only major Israeli newspaper critical of the wars in Gaza and Lebanon and the military occupation of the Palestinian territories. The measure, proposed in October by Communications Minister Shlomo Karhi, forces any entity that receives state funding to stop advertising in the newspaper (which has an edition in Hebrew and another in English, both in digital and print versions). , cancel subscriptions paid by the State and cut off all communication. According to the newspaper, the Executive justifies it in the “many editorials that have damaged the legitimacy of the State of Israel and its right to self-defense, and in particular the statements made in London by the editor of HaaretzAmos Schocken, who support terrorism and call for the imposition of sanctions on the Government.”
He refers to a speech Schocken made last month in London. In it, he called for sanctions against Israel, against its leaders who oppose the creation of a Palestinian State and against Jewish settlers in Palestinian territory; assured that “the Netanyahu Government does not mind imposing a cruel regime of apartheidto the Palestinian population” and described “what is happening in the occupied territories and in parts of Gaza as, in a way, a second Nakba”, as the flight or expulsion from their homes of 750,000 Palestinians (two-thirds of the population) is known. Arab population in the current State of Israel) between 1947 and 1949, before the advance of, first, the Jewish militias and, later, the newly created army of the Jewish State.
The editor of HaaretzHe also used the expression “Palestinian freedom fighters whom Israel calls terrorists.” It was the phrase that caused the most controversy in Israel and which he regretted. In a statement, he assured that he had “reconsidered” because “there are many freedom fighters in the world and throughout history, perhaps also on the path to the creation of the State of Israel, who carried out horrific terrorist activities and They harmed innocent people to achieve their goals. He should have said: ‘Freedom fighters who also use terrorist methods and need to be fought against.’ The use of terrorism is not legitimate,” he added.
The deputy chief director, Noa Landau, has announced the decision on her social network account the foreseeable future losses. In October, when he announced the initiative, the Minister of Communications assured that it would “reduce the harsh impact felt by Israeli citizens” from “the newspaper’s publications,” adding that they financed it indirectly through their taxes.
Minority in Israel, Haaretzrepresents its most liberal, secular version committed to human rights. He frequently denounces the situation of the Palestinians and unequivocally defends in his editorials a negotiated solution to the Middle East conflict, through the creation of a Palestinian State. Some of its columnists assume very marginal positions in an increasingly nationalist and right-wing country in which the rest of the media tend to limit themselves to a partial and militaristic discourse. The most radical, like Israeli television channel 14, directly embrace a genocidal discourse.
Already in October, after Schocken’s speech, the Ministries of the Interior, Education and Diaspora Affairs cut their ties with Haaretz. In a letter to the newspaper’s spokesperson, the director general of the Ministry of the Interior, Ronen Peretz, assured that the statements in London “cause repulsion and show disconnection with respect to basic values” at a time when Israel is waging a war in Gaza. “which could not be more justified”, after the Hamas attack on October 7, 2023.
The director general of the Ministry of Education, Meir Shimoni, assured that Schocken’s words “contradict the values of the educational system” and the director of Diaspora Affairs, Avi Cohen-Scali, framed his decision in the “campaign against the delegitimization of Israel.” ”. ”It is astonishing to specifically see a supposedly ‘Israeli’ organization acting against Israel from within,” he added.
