Mass media in Israel

History

Ha-Levanon, the first Hebrew-language newspaper in pre-state Israel, was published on February 20, 1863. 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.

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."

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

In 2012, Reuters correspondent Tova Cohen described Israeli society as "news-obsessed." 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

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%.

Freedom of the press

The Israeli government generally respects freedom of the press, which is protected by the Basic Laws of Israel and independent judiciary. Hate speech, and publishing praise of violence or issues of national security is prohibited. While Israeli journalists operate with little restrictiction, Reporters Without Borders alleges that the authorities enter Palestinian offices and homes looking for "illegal material". Some argue that freedom of press is restricted for Palestinians.

Publication of a newspaper in Israel requires a permit from the government, which continues to implement the Press Ordinance enacted by the Mandatory Government in 1933. Permits can be refused if the proprietor is less than 25 years old or has a criminal record. 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. Other regulations, including the 1945 Defence (Emergency) Regulations, can also be used to regulate newspaper publication.

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.

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.

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.

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. 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."

Freedom House

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." The 2023 Freedom in the World report gave Israel a 3 out of 4 report for Freedom of Expression. 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.

Reporters Without Borders

In 2025, Reporters Without Borders ranked Israel 112th out of 180 in their Press Freedom Index. Palestine was rated 163th out of 180 in the same year. 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:

Committee to Protect Journalists

Since the beginning of the war in Gaza, Israel has detained Palestinian reporters without trial. 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.

According to a report in Middle East Eye in March 2025, 208 Palestinian journalists have been killed since October 2023. Palestinian journalist Hossam Shabat was reportedly targeted in his vehicle in Salah al-Din Street, north of the Gaza enclave. On October 2024, Shabat said the Israeli army had falsely accused him of terrorism. Shabat told the Committee to Protect Journalists: “We convey the truth and move within the areas classified by Israel as safe…We are citizens, and we convey their voices." CPJ called upon Israel to stop making unsubstantiated allegations.

Many Palestinian press workers claim they are targeted and harassed while carrying out their work in Israel. One reporter says eight of his family members were killed since he began covering the war. Many journalists complain that they have no safe place to do their jobs as they live in tents and work from makeshift offices in 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”.

List of media outlets

Print

Main article: List of newspapers in Israel

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

• 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

Main article: List of television channels in Israel, List of radio stations in Israel

• 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

• +972: A blog-based web magazine in English, with a Hebrew companion ** 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)
• All Israel News: Daily news website in English, French, German, Spanish, Russian, Portuguese, Korean, and Chinese, based in Jerusalem founded by Joel C. Rosenberg.

References

References

1. "Recorded Programs". [[Israel Broadcasting Authority]].
2. "The Printed Media: Israel's Newspapers". [[Israel Ministry of Foreign Affairs]].
3. Aderet, Ofer. (3 March 2013). "Israel's First Hebrew-language Newspaper, Reborn in Digital Form". [[Haaretz]].
4. [https://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/the-israeli-press The Israeli Press]
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7. Cohen, Tova. (4 October 2012). "Israeli newspapers struggle to survive in digital world". Reuters.
8. (31 January 2022). "ישראל היום או ידיעות? זה העיתון הנקרא בישראל {{!}} סקר TGI".
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11. Ratem, Noam. (2016-04-22). "Israel's covert war against Palestinian media".
12. (15 January 2016). "Interior Ministry Has a Stranglehold on the Publication of Newspapers in Israel". Haaretz.
13. (19 January 1933). "Press Ordinance". The Palestine Gazette.
14. (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.
16. Maltz, Judy. (5 May 2020). "Israeli Minister Threatens to Shut Down God TV Channel Preaching 'Gospel of Jesus'". Haaretz.
17. Holmes, Oliver. (10 May 2020). "Israel threatens to pull evangelical Christian TV station aimed at Jews". The Guardian.
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28. [http://www.rsf.org/en-classement794-2008.html Press Freedom Index], ''Reporters Without Borders'' {{webarchive. link. (6 October 2009)
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33. [[Chris McGreal]]: [https://www.theguardian.com/media/2024/jan/18/journalists-jailed-imprisoned-israel Israel added to list of ‘worst jailers of journalists’ for first time] [[The Guardian]], 18 January 2023; Liam Scott: [https://www.voanews.com/a/israel-ranks-among-world-s-worst-jailers-of-journalists-report-finds/7445268.html Israel Ranks Among World’s Worst Jailers of Journalists, Report Finds] [[Voice of America]], 18 January 2023; [https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2024/1/18/israeli-arrests-of-palestinian-journalists-soared-in-2023-cpj Israeli arrests of Palestinian journalists soared in 2023: CPJ] [[Al Jazeera Media Network. AlJazeera]], 18 January 2024; [https://www.timesofisrael.com/liveblog_entry/israel-tied-with-iran-for-country-with-6th-most-reporters-jailed-since-december-watchdog/ Israel tied with Iran for country with 6th-most reporters jailed since December — watchdog] [[The Times of Israel]], 18 January 2024; Arlene Getz: [https://cpj.org/reports/2024/01/2023-prison-census-jailed-journalist-numbers-near-record-high-israel-imprisonments-spike/ 2023 prison census: Jailed journalist numbers near record high; Israel imprisonments spike] CPJ, January 2024; [https://cpj.org/2024/01/journalist-casualties-in-the-israel-gaza-conflict/ Journalist casualties in the Israel-Gaza war] CPJ, 18 January 2024; Mohamed Mandour: [https://cpj.org/2024/01/attacks-arrests-threats-censorship-the-high-risks-of-reporting-the-israel-hamas-war/ Attacks, arrests, threats, censorship: The high risks of reporting the Israel-Gaza war] CPJ, 18 January 2024;
34. "Tributes pour in for Hossam Shabat and Mohammad Mansour".
35. (24 March 2025). "CPJ denounces Israel's killing of 2 more Gaza journalists in return to war". CPJ.
36. (24 March 2025). "CPJ denounces Israel's killing of 2 more Gaza journalists in return to war". Committee To protect Journalists.
37. "Tributes pour in for Hossam Shabat and Mohammad Mansour".
38. Prof. Sam Lehman-Wilzig. (1994). "Mass Media in the Middle East". Greenwood.