State of Israel Sanctions Country’s Oldest Newspaper
To follow Israel is to follow the United States and everything Donald Trump purports to do.
On Sunday, the Israeli Cabinet agreed—in unanimous fashion no less— to sanction Haaretz, the country’s oldest newspaper, for its critical coverage of the Israel-Hamas war.
The specifics from Axios:
Israel’s Cabinet approved a proposal by Communications Minister Shlomo Karhi that calls for all government staffers and staffers of state-owned companies to end communications with Haaretz and stop advertising and subscription purchases with the paper.
- The proposal came in response to critical coverage of the war by Haaretz and an October speech by its publisher, Amos Schocken, who suggested sanctioning the Israeli government for violating international law.
- In a statement following the vote, Karhi said, “We will not allow a reality in which the publisher of an official newspaper in the state of Israel will call for the imposition of sanctions against it and will support the enemies of the state in the midst of a war.”
Clearly,this move is anathema to free press advocates, who argue that it is part of a totalitarian, universal charge by the Israeli government to silence anything and anyone critical of its war in Gaza, which of course has been drifting to other places as well.
Here are two thoughts from free press advocates:
- “We deplore the Israeli government’s attempt to silence a respected Israeli outlet like Haaretz by hurting their advertising and subscription revenue,” said Jodie Ginsberg, CEO of the Committee to Protect Journalists.
- “Israel’s increasing deployment of restrictions on critical media is further disturbing evidence of its efforts to prevent coverage of its actions in Gaza.”
And one from Haaretz itself:
Similarly, in May, “police officers raided Al Jazeera’s Jerusalem bureau and pulled the network off the air in Israel after the Israeli parliament passed a measure forcing the closure of the Qatari-owned news outlet’s local office.” The law “empowers Israel’s communications minister to take action against any foreign media network that it can prove poses a national security risk.”
The story runs parallel to news of “Morning Joe” hosts Joe Scarborough and Mika Brzezinski recently meeting with Donald Trump. There disclosure of said meeting came off to the discerning eye more like a hostage speech, but the tenor of their announcement doesn’t really matter. The ultimate point is that much of their audience went up in arms that they’d performed such heresy:
The social media blowback was instant and intense. “You do not need to talk to Hitler to cover him effectively,” was one of the nicer messages.
More telling is the people who have responded with action.
“Morning Joe” had 770,000 viewers last Monday, its audience — like many shows on MSNBC — down from its yearly average of 1.09 million because some of the network’s liberal-leaning viewers have tuned away after what they regard as depressing election results. That’s the day Scarborough and Brzezinski announced they had met with Trump the previous Friday.
By Tuesday, the “Morning Joe” audience had slipped to 680,000, according to the Nielsen company, and Wednesday’s viewership was 647,000. Thursday rebounded to 707,000. It’s only three days of data, but those are the kind of statistics about which television executives brood.
“The audience for the polarized news-industrial complex has become unforgiving,” says Kate O’Brian, outgoing head of news of the E.W. Scripps Co.
Joe and Mika’s defenders were forced to play the most banal hand. Here’s one, along with some commentary:
“It is insane for critics to NOT think all of us in the media need to know more so we can share/report more,” Jim VandeHei, co-founder of Axios and Politico, said on social media.
It would be journalistic malpractice for the hosts of a morning television news program not to take a meeting with a president-elect, right? But “Morning Joe” isn’t traditional journalism, and last week’s incident is a telling illustration of the broader trend of impartial fact-finding being crowded out in the marketplace by opinionated news and the expectations that creates.
Scarborough, a former congressman, and his wife, veteran newswoman Brzezinski, didn’t just talk about the presidential campaign from their four-hour weekday perch. They tirelessly and emotionally advocated for Democrat Kamala Harris, likening Trump to a fascist-in-waiting.
“They have portrayed themselves as bastions of integrity standing up to a would-be dictator,” says Frank Sesno, a former CNN Washington bureau chief now professor at George Washington University’s school of media and public affairs. “What the followers see is the daily procession of people on the show constantly talking about the evils of Donald Trump and then Joe and Mika show up and have high tea with the guy.”
Such Mockingbird drama is something awakened Americans have long recognized. It is a bit of an aside to this post and drama worth mentioning as potential context for the Israel/Haaretz development. Readers can take it upon themselves to either connect dots as they form perspectives or not connect them.
National security is important, obviously. And I personally, as a believer that Christ as King must dictate all of a nation’s activity, including its government-media apparatus, do not 100% subscribe to a wide open free press that can just as easily spread other atrocities of cultural Marxism in the name of “free speech.” But there are historical and Biblical contexts where such a move against a publication like Haaretz can stir up other concerns—concerns of eternal consequence—and certainly any time the name “Israel” is in the middle of it, for any American following this unfolding drama, it is worth at least a pause.
—
May everyone named directly or referenced indirectly ask forgiveness and do penance for their sins against America and God. I fight this information war in the spirit of justice and love for the innocent, but I have been reminded of the need for mercy and prayers for our enemies. I am a sinner in need of redemption as well after all, for my sins are many. In the words of Jesus Christ himself, Lord forgive us all, for we know not what we do.
Jeff LeJeune is the author of several books, writer for RVIVR and The Hayride, editor, master of English and avid historian, teacher and tutor, podcaster, and creator of LeJeune Said. Visit his website at jefflejeune.com, where you can find a conglomerate of content.
