The free press is under attack in Israel, and has been for some time. Last May, Israeli law enforcement officials seized equipment and shut down live footage by the Associated Press as they were reporting from Gaza. In September,  the IDF raided the Al Jazeera bureau in Ramallah and ordered its closure. In November, legislation that would shut down Israel’s public broadcasting network, Kan, passed its initial reading. And now, the Israeli government has cut its advertising and subscription ties to Haaretz, Israel’s longest-running independent newspaper. 

While cancelling ads and subscriptions may sound small, this government’s moves are quite significant. The losses in revenue to Haaretz from the government pull-out—banning subscriptions for all government officials or anyone working for a government-funded body and halting all government advertising in its pages or website—amount to millions of shekels. What’s more, Shlomo Khari, Israel’s communications minister also recommended the government boycott any corporation connected to Haaretz. This is not the first time Khari has tried to sanction Haaretz—he has gone after the paper before for its coverage of the war in Gaza. He and his ministry are attempting to make Haaretz, Israel’s newspaper of record, completely inaccessible. 

Haaretz’s attorneys filed a petition with the Supreme Court contesting the government decision to boycott the publication. They argued that the government is “abusing the power of authority and violating the rules of natural justice, with the aim of silencing and weakening a press and media body that dares to criticize the conduct of the government and its members.” 

At NIF, we know that Haaretz’s reporting is deeper and more critical than most other mainstream papers in the country. And we know that if the government doesn’t like what you write, it means you’re probably doing something right in journalism—holding power to account. So, in response to the Israeli government divesting, NIF invested. NIF purchased 1,500 subscriptions for Israeli university students who wouldn’t otherwise have access to the paper. 

In an advertisement in the Hebrew language edition of Haaretz announcing the buy, we wrote:  “The New Israel Fund has joined forces with Haaretz and TheMarker to strengthen democracy in Israel and support free, critical journalism. We are pleased to grant online subscriptions to hundreds of university students to Haaretz and TheMarker, giving them access to free and independent journalism in Israel that is critical and freethinking.” TheMarker is Haaretz’s business paper published daily in Hebrew.

NIF is proud to continue our longstanding support and continued collaboration with this outstanding publication.