Karhi, Likud’s minister, believes that Haaretz is spreading “lying and losing propaganda,” “sabotage against Israel during the war,” and has become “the fervent spokesman for Israeli enemies.”

He has therefore asked the legal advisers of his ministry to examine the possibility that any government agency may suspend any payment to Haaretz.

According to Karhi, “the State of Israel is one of Haaretz’s clients, and may decide not to be a client of a newspaper that during the war erodes the sabotage against Israel and the spirit of soldiers and civilians against the enemy.” Israel has an exclusive penal code for wartime and the minister has stated that this newspaper could have violated this legislation on several occasions.

According to various associations of analysts and journalists, this route could be one of the first steps taken to close Haaretz. The newspaper that represents in some way the Israeli left has a very critical attitude towards the government, and, among other things, has published a report by the Israeli police which states that on 7 October the Israeli army murdered many Israeli civilians at the Nova music festival that was taking place that day.

According to this information, Israeli pilots recognize that they initially fired "without distinction" because they were unable to distinguish Sixteen members from civilians. As a result of these attacks, the dead bodies of militants and Israelis were completely destroyed. Furthermore, the report shows that Netanyahu wanted to keep this information secret.

Journalistic solidarity

The editor of Haaretz thus answers the threat: “If the government wants to close Haaretz, now is the time to read Haaretz.”

The Israeli journalists union also stands in solidarity with Haaritz and believes that “the Minister of Communication has lost his way. His populist proposal against this newspaper makes no sense” and his sole aim is to gain followers among the citizens, “that is, at the expense of journalists working day and night to continue the war.” The union has extended its support to the journalists in Haaretz and pointed out: “We are confident that the stupid and banal threats of Minister Karhi will not stop.”

Al Jazeera also on point

The letter written by Karhi also mentions the regulations that have just emerged to take action against foreign media. It does not mention exactly any means of communication, but as a threat to Haaretz, the Israeli Government has been playing the Al Jazeera television channel of Qatar for some time now and has repeatedly expressed its desire to close its headquarters in Tel Aviv.

With these measures, the Israeli Security Cabinet authorises Karhi to take action against the Al Mayades television channel in Lebanon, which also undermines Israeli security and is linked to the Hezbollah organisation.

The political context of all these threats is also significant. Likud Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has been declining since the Hamas attacks of 7 October. The demand for war has also failed to improve this situation. However, the allies of the extreme right of his government are increasingly better placed and Likud is taking numerous steps to reverse the situation, including the proposal now made by Minister Karhi.