Censorship in Israel
Encyclopedia
Laws on censorship in Israel are based on British emergency regulations from 1945
that apply to domestic media, foreign newspapers and wire service transmissions from or through Israel
.
The Israeli Film Ratings board rates, limits or bans films deemed obscene, racist, or containing incitement to violence. Only a handful of films or plays have been banned outright (plays are no longer censored as of 1989). News censorship is the responsibility of the Israeli Military Censor
. Regulations do not require all articles to be submitted for censorship prior to publication, but only those on a known list of sensitive subjects, such as nuclear weapons in Israel (for example, articles on the subjects of politics or economics may be published un-submitted). Failing to do so may cause the reporter to be cut off or, in the case of foreign reporters, be barred from the country.
The list of sensitive subjects, articles on which have to be submitted to censorship prior to publication, is determined within the framework of a censorship agreement between Israeli authorities and the 'Editor's Committee', which is a body of representatives from the Israeli media. "There will be no censorship on political issues, on expressions of opinion or assessments, unless they hint on classified information."
Reporters Without Borders
2007 report on Israel states: "The country's journalists enjoy a freedom not found elsewhere in the region, but though 2006 was one of the safest years for them since the start of the second Intifada in 2000, many problems remain", mainly referring to the physical risks endured by reporters covering the conflict areas between Israel, the Palestinians and the Hizbullah in Lebanon
.
The Israeli Military Censor
has the power to prevent publication of certain news items. The censorship rules largely concern military issues such as not reporting if a missile hit or missed its target, troop movements, etc. but it is also empowered to control information about the oil industry and water supply. Journalists who bypass the military censor or publish items that were censored may be subject to criminal prosecution and jail time; the censor also has the authority to close newspapers. However, these extreme measures have been rarely used. One notable instance where a newspaper was closed temporarily was in the case of the Kav 300 affair
where it was eventually discovered that the censor was used by the Shin Bet to cover up internal wrongdoings in the agency and led to one of the biggest public scandals in Israel during the 1980s. Following the incident the two main papers, HaAretz
and Yediot Ahronot stopped participating in the "Editor's committee".
In 1996 a new agreement was reached and the editor's committee resumed operation. The new agreement allowed military censorship only of articles clearly harmful to national security and allowed the supreme court to override military decisions.
Israeli laws also outlaw hate speech
and "expressing support for illegal or terrorist organizations".
Mordechai Vanunu
who served 18 years in prison for treason and espionage was released in 2004, but is still under restrictions on speech and movement. A BBC reporter was barred from the country after publishing an interview with him without handing it over to the censors first.
Every journalist working within Israel is required to be accredited by the Israeli Government Press Office. Most applications are just formal, but the office is allowed to deny applications based on political or security considerations.
One very commonly used way for Israeli media to circumvent censorship rules is to leak items to foreign news sources, which by virtue of being located outside of Israel are not subject to Israeli censorship. Once published, the Israeli media can simply quote the story.
In 1960 two science fiction stories were published that circumvented censorship. The first was about Rudolf Teichmann and told the story of Eichmann's kidnapping. Uri Avnery
's HaOlam Hazeh
magazine published a story about the Lavon Affair
.
In addition to media censorship, Israeli cinemas are subject to regulation regarding the exhibition of pornography and television stations face restrictions on early broadcasting of programs that are unsuitable for children.
Israel has banned the use of the word Nakba in Israeli Arab schools and textbooks. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu
justified the ban by saying that the term was "propaganda against Israel".
Defence (Emergency) Regulations
The Defence Regulations are an expansive set of regulations that were first enacted by the Mandatory authorities in British Mandate Palestine on 27 September 1945...
that apply to domestic media, foreign newspapers and wire service transmissions from or through Israel
Israel
The State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...
.
The Israeli Film Ratings board rates, limits or bans films deemed obscene, racist, or containing incitement to violence. Only a handful of films or plays have been banned outright (plays are no longer censored as of 1989). News censorship is the responsibility of the Israeli Military Censor
Israeli Military Censor
The Israeli Military Censor is a unit in the IDF Directorate of Military Intelligence which watches over the publication of information regarding the military network, and generally, the security of Israel. The Military Censor, as part of its duty, has authority to suppress information it deems...
. Regulations do not require all articles to be submitted for censorship prior to publication, but only those on a known list of sensitive subjects, such as nuclear weapons in Israel (for example, articles on the subjects of politics or economics may be published un-submitted). Failing to do so may cause the reporter to be cut off or, in the case of foreign reporters, be barred from the country.
The list of sensitive subjects, articles on which have to be submitted to censorship prior to publication, is determined within the framework of a censorship agreement between Israeli authorities and the 'Editor's Committee', which is a body of representatives from the Israeli media. "There will be no censorship on political issues, on expressions of opinion or assessments, unless they hint on classified information."
Reporters Without Borders
Reporters Without Borders
Reporters Without Borders is a France-based international non-governmental organization that advocates freedom of the press. It was founded in 1985, by Robert Ménard, Rony Brauman and the journalist Jean-Claude Guillebaud. Jean-François Julliard has served as Secretary General since 2008...
2007 report on Israel states: "The country's journalists enjoy a freedom not found elsewhere in the region, but though 2006 was one of the safest years for them since the start of the second Intifada in 2000, many problems remain", mainly referring to the physical risks endured by reporters covering the conflict areas between Israel, the Palestinians and the Hizbullah in Lebanon
Lebanon
Lebanon , officially the Republic of LebanonRepublic of Lebanon is the most common term used by Lebanese government agencies. The term Lebanese Republic, a literal translation of the official Arabic and French names that is not used in today's world. Arabic is the most common language spoken among...
.
The Israeli Military Censor
Israeli Military Censor
The Israeli Military Censor is a unit in the IDF Directorate of Military Intelligence which watches over the publication of information regarding the military network, and generally, the security of Israel. The Military Censor, as part of its duty, has authority to suppress information it deems...
has the power to prevent publication of certain news items. The censorship rules largely concern military issues such as not reporting if a missile hit or missed its target, troop movements, etc. but it is also empowered to control information about the oil industry and water supply. Journalists who bypass the military censor or publish items that were censored may be subject to criminal prosecution and jail time; the censor also has the authority to close newspapers. However, these extreme measures have been rarely used. One notable instance where a newspaper was closed temporarily was in the case of the Kav 300 affair
Kav 300 affair
The Bus 300 affair , also known as Kav 300 affair, was an affair in which Shin Bet members executed two Palestinian bus hijackers, immediately after the hostage crises incident ended and the two militants were captured....
where it was eventually discovered that the censor was used by the Shin Bet to cover up internal wrongdoings in the agency and led to one of the biggest public scandals in Israel during the 1980s. Following the incident the two main papers, HaAretz
Haaretz
Haaretz is Israel's oldest daily newspaper. It was founded in 1918 and is now published in both Hebrew and English in Berliner format. The English edition is published and sold together with the International Herald Tribune. Both Hebrew and English editions can be read on the Internet...
and Yediot Ahronot stopped participating in the "Editor's committee".
In 1996 a new agreement was reached and the editor's committee resumed operation. The new agreement allowed military censorship only of articles clearly harmful to national security and allowed the supreme court to override military decisions.
Israeli laws also outlaw hate speech
Hate speech
Hate speech is, outside the law, any communication that disparages a person or a group on the basis of some characteristic such as race, color, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, nationality, religion, or other characteristic....
and "expressing support for illegal or terrorist organizations".
Mordechai Vanunu
Mordechai Vanunu
Mordechai Vanunu ; is a former Israeli nuclear technician who, citing his opposition to weapons of mass destruction, revealed details of Israel's nuclear weapons program to the British press in 1986. He was subsequently lured to Italy by a Mossad agent, where he was drugged and kidnapped by...
who served 18 years in prison for treason and espionage was released in 2004, but is still under restrictions on speech and movement. A BBC reporter was barred from the country after publishing an interview with him without handing it over to the censors first.
Every journalist working within Israel is required to be accredited by the Israeli Government Press Office. Most applications are just formal, but the office is allowed to deny applications based on political or security considerations.
One very commonly used way for Israeli media to circumvent censorship rules is to leak items to foreign news sources, which by virtue of being located outside of Israel are not subject to Israeli censorship. Once published, the Israeli media can simply quote the story.
In 1960 two science fiction stories were published that circumvented censorship. The first was about Rudolf Teichmann and told the story of Eichmann's kidnapping. Uri Avnery
Uri Avnery
Uri Avnery is an Israeli writer and founder of the Gush Shalom peace movement.A member of the Irgun as a teenager, Avnery sat in the Knesset from 1965–74 and 1979–81...
's HaOlam Hazeh
Haolam Hazeh
HaOlam HaZeh was a weekly news magazine published in Israel until 1993.The magazine was founded in 1937 under the name Tesha BaErev but was renamed HaOlam HaZeh in 1946...
magazine published a story about the Lavon Affair
Lavon Affair
The Lavon Affair refers to a failed Israeli covert operation, code named Operation Susannah, conducted in Egypt in the Summer of 1954. As part of the false flag operation, a group of Egyptian Jews were recruited by Israeli military intelligence for plans to plant bombs inside Egyptian, American and...
.
In addition to media censorship, Israeli cinemas are subject to regulation regarding the exhibition of pornography and television stations face restrictions on early broadcasting of programs that are unsuitable for children.
Israel has banned the use of the word Nakba in Israeli Arab schools and textbooks. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu
Benjamin Netanyahu
Benjamin "Bibi" Netanyahu is the current Prime Minister of Israel. He serves also as the Chairman of the Likud Party, as a Knesset member, as the Health Minister of Israel, as the Pensioner Affairs Minister of Israel and as the Economic Strategy Minister of Israel.Netanyahu is the first and, to...
justified the ban by saying that the term was "propaganda against Israel".
Banned films
Israel banned all films produced in Germany from 1956 until 1967.- 1957: The Girl in the KremlinThe Girl in the KremlinThe Girl in the Kremlin is a 1957 American thriller which puts forth the premise that Joseph Stalin faked his own death in 1953 and then moved to Greece with a fortune in Soviet currency. Zsa Zsa Gabor plays a dual role, Stalin’s nurse and lover as well as her twin sister who, unaware of...
was banned because it may have harmed Israel's diplomatic relations with Moscow. - 1957: China GateChina Gate (1957 film)China Gate is a 1957 Hollywood Cinemascope war film written, produced and directed by Samuel Fuller and released through 20th Century Fox.-Plot:...
was banned in Israel for indulging in excessive cruelty. The Israeli film censorship board indicated the film depicted Chinese and Russian soldiers as "monsters". - 1965: GoldfingerGoldfinger (film)Goldfinger is the third spy film in the James Bond series and the third to star Sean Connery as the fictional MI6 agent James Bond. Released in 1964, it is based on the novel of the same name by Ian Fleming. The film also stars Honor Blackman as Bond girl Pussy Galore and Gert Fröbe as the title...
played for six weeks before the Nazi past of Gert FröbeGert FröbeKarl Gerhart Fröbe, better known as Gert Fröbe was a German actor who starred in many films, including the James Bond film Goldfinger as Auric Goldfinger, The Threepenny Opera as Peachum, Chitty Chitty Bang Bang as Baron Bomburst, and in Der Räuber Hotzenplotz as Hotzenplotz.-Life:Born in...
, who played the title villain, was disclosed, despite him leaving the party in 1937. However the ban was lifted once a Jewish Family publicly thanked him for hiding two German Jews from the Gestapo in World War Two. - 1973: Hitler: The Last Ten DaysHitler: The Last Ten DaysHitler: The Last Ten Days is a 1973 film depicting the days leading up to Adolf Hitler's suicide. It stars Alec Guinness and Simon Ward. The original music score was composed by Mischa Spoliansky...
was banned in a unanimous decision by the censorship board that Alec GuinnessAlec GuinnessSir Alec Guinness, CH, CBE was an English actor. He was featured in several of the Ealing Comedies, including Kind Hearts and Coronets in which he played eight different characters. He later won the Academy Award for Best Actor for his role as Colonel Nicholson in The Bridge on the River Kwai...
's Hitler was represented in too human a light. - 1988: Martin Scorsese's The Last Temptation of ChristThe Last Temptation of Christ (film)The Last Temptation of Christ is a 1988 drama film directed by Martin Scorsese. It is a film adaptation of the controversial 1953 novel of the same name by Nikos Kazantzakis. It stars Willem Dafoe as Jesus Christ, Harvey Keitel as Judas Iscariot, Barbara Hershey as Mary Magdalene, David Bowie as...
was banned on the grounds that it could hurt the feelings of Christian believers in the Holy Land. - 2002: Jenin, JeninJenin, JeninJenin, Jenin is a film directed by Mohammed Bakri, a prominent Arab actor and Israeli citizen, in order to portray what Bakri calls "the Palestinian truth" about the "Battle of Jenin", a clash between the Israeli army and Palestinians in April 2002 which drew Palestinian accounts of a "Jenin...
was banned by the Israeli Film Ratings Board on the premise that it was libelous and might offend the public. The Supreme Court of IsraelSupreme Court of IsraelThe Supreme Court is at the head of the court system and highest judicial instance in Israel. The Supreme Court sits in Jerusalem.The area of its jurisdiction is all of Israel and the Israeli-occupied territories. A ruling of the Supreme Court is binding upon every court, other than the Supreme...
later overturned the decision.