Israel Drops to 92nd on Press Freedom Index
In an annual ranking of press freedom, the advocacy group Reporters Without Borders has dropped Israel from 86th to 92nd place, above Lebanon, but below Benin.
In a report published online, the group cited two reasons for the fall: “Firstly, Haaretz reporter Uri Blau is facing a possible seven-year jail sentence for possessing classified documents and his source, Anat Kam, was sentenced to three years in prison on 31 October. Secondly, on 21 November, parliament approved a media bill on first reading that would drastically increase the amount of damages that can be awarded in defamation cases.”
The group also noted that while “Israel enjoys real media pluralism,” military censorship would prevent the country from being ranked in the top 50.
In 2009, Reporters Without Borders highlighted Israel’s “free fall” from 46th to 93rd after the military offensive, Operation Cast Lead, saying that Israel had “begun to use the same methods internally as it does outside its own territory,” adding that illegal arrests of journalists and military censorship also posed a threat.
This is a moment of great uncertainty. Here’s what you can do about it.
We hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, we’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s independent Jewish news this Passover.
This is a moment of great uncertainty for the news media, for the Jewish people, and for our sacred democracy. It is a time of confusion and declining trust in public institutions. An era in which we need humans to report facts, conduct investigations that hold power to account, tell stories that matter and share honest discourse on all that divides us.
With no paywall or subscriptions, the Forward is entirely supported by readers like you. Every dollar you give this Passover is invested in the future of the Forward — and telling the American Jewish story fully and fairly.
The Forward doesn’t rely on funding from institutions like governments or your local Jewish federation. There are thousands of readers like you who give us $18 or $36 or $100 each month or year.
Support our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.
