Breaking new records, Israel sees unprecedented spike in media censorship
The front pages of newspapers in Israel at a shop in Jerusalem during the judicial overhaul, 25 July 2023
Haggai Matar writes in +972 on 2 May 2025:
In 2024, military censorship in Israel reached the most extreme levels since +972 Magazine began collecting data in 2011. Over the course of the year, the censor completely banned the publication of 1,635 articles and partially censored another 6,265. On average, the censor intervened in about 21 news reports per day last year — more than double the previous peak of about 10 daily interventions recorded during the last war in Gaza in 2014 (Operation Protective Edge), and over three times the non-war-time average of 6.2 per day.
These figures were provided by the military censor in response to a joint request from +972 Magazine and the Movement for the Freedom of Information in Israel, ahead of World Press Freedom Day.
While the military censor does not disclose the reasons behind each intervention, Israel’s ongoing war of destruction in Gaza, as well as its conflicts in Lebanon, Syria, Yemen, and Iran, is likely the main reason behind this record surge in censorship.
The escalation is reflected not only in the sheer volume of activity by the censor, but also in higher rejection rate of submitted materials, and in the increased frequency of outright bans (as opposed to partial redactions).
Under Israeli law, any article dealing with the broadly-defined category of “security issues” must undergo military censorship review, and editorial teams are responsible for deciding which piece to submit based on their own judgement.
When the censor intervenes, media outlets are forbidden from indicating that censorship has taken place, meaning most of its activity remains hidden from the public. No other self-described “Western democracy” has a comparable institution.