Censorship in Israel

Censorship in Israel is officially carried out by the Israeli Military Censor, a unit in the Israeli government officially tasked with carrying out preventive censorship regarding the publication of information that might affect the security of Israel. The body is headed by the Israeli Chief Censor, a military official appointed by Israel's Minister of Defense, who bestows upon the Chief Censor the authority to suppress information he deems compromising from being made public in the media,^[1]^[2] such as Israel's nuclear weapons program and Israel's military operations outside its borders. On average, 2240 press articles in Israel are censored by the Israeli Military Censor each year, approximately 240 of which in full, and around 2000 partially.^[3]

Articles concerning potentially controversial topics must be submitted to the Israeli Military Censor in advance; failing to do so may cause the reporter to lose his right to work as a journalist in Israel^[4] and, in the case of foreign reporters, to be barred from the country.^[5]^[6]^[7]

^ Aluf Benn (July–August 2001). "Israel: Censoring the past". Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, College of Behavioral and Social Sciences. University of Maryland. Archived from the original on June 19, 2009. Retrieved 31 December 2009.
^ P.R. Kumaraswamy (September 1998). "India and Israel: Evolving Strategic Partnership". Mideast Security and Policy Studies. Begin-Sadat Center for Strategic Studies. Retrieved 31 December 2009.
^ "נתונים חדשים חושפים טפח מאחורי הקלעים של יחסי הצנזורה הצבאית והעיתונות הישראלית". העין השביעית (in Hebrew). 16 June 2021. Retrieved 2022-11-11.
^ Times, Special to the New York (June 29, 1982). "Censorship by Israel: How It's Carried Out" – via NYTimes.com.
^ "BBC says sorry to Israel". the Guardian. March 12, 2005.
^ Matar, Haggai (2020-03-09). "IDF censor redacted two thousand news items in 2019". +972 Magazine. Retrieved 2021-03-04.
^ "IDF Military Censor banned nearly 300 articles last year". The Jerusalem Post. 12 July 2018. Retrieved 2021-03-04.

[1] Aluf Benn (July–August 2001). "Israel: Censoring the past". Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, College of Behavioral and Social Sciences. University of Maryland. Archived from the original on June 19, 2009. Retrieved 31 December 2009.

[2] P.R. Kumaraswamy (September 1998). "India and Israel: Evolving Strategic Partnership". Mideast Security and Policy Studies. Begin-Sadat Center for Strategic Studies. Retrieved 31 December 2009.

[3] "נתונים חדשים חושפים טפח מאחורי הקלעים של יחסי הצנזורה הצבאית והעיתונות הישראלית". העין השביעית (in Hebrew). 16 June 2021. Retrieved 2022-11-11.

[NYTimes-4] Times, Special to the New York (June 29, 1982). "Censorship by Israel: How It's Carried Out" – via NYTimes.com.

[BBCsorry-5] "BBC says sorry to Israel". the Guardian. March 12, 2005.

[6] Matar, Haggai (2020-03-09). "IDF censor redacted two thousand news items in 2019". +972 Magazine. Retrieved 2021-03-04.

[7] "IDF Military Censor banned nearly 300 articles last year". The Jerusalem Post. 12 July 2018. Retrieved 2021-03-04.

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