Israeli elections: The toxic legacy of a prime minister who has attacked the foundations of journalism

When it comes to discrediting journalism, Benjamin Netanyahu takes his cue from Donald Trump - and makes no secret of it. In early July 2026, the Israeli prime minister, already campaigning for re-election ahead of the vote scheduled for 27 October, posted an AI-generated video on his X account, modelled on one shared by the US president just days earlier. In the clip, Benjamin Netanyahu wears a doctor's white coat, and prescribes a "treatment" for "fake news". His "patients" are two of Israel's most prominent journalists: Ben Caspit of Channel 12 and Raviv Drucker of Channel 13, both critics of government policy with large audiences.

These two privately owned general-interest channels are among the outlets the prime minister often refers to as "panic channels", accusing them of alarming the public through sensationalist news coverage. Like his US counterpart, Benjamin Netanyahu routinely launches verbal attacks on the press. Unidentified individuals have translated this verbal hostility into action, vandalising media premises, including those of Haaretz in June 2024, Channel 13 in November 2025, and Channel 12 and Haaretz again in July 2026.

Targeting media critical of the conflict

Israel's longest-serving prime minister, who first came to power in 1996, has a long history of seeking to discredit any criticism of his actions. Two of the three cases in which Netanyahu was indicted in 2019 on charges of corruption, fraud, and breach of trust involve alleged deals with media owners aimed at avoiding negative media coverage. His intolerance of dissent has intensified during his current term, which began in December 2022. This was notably seen in the January 2023 announcement of his plan to reform the judiciary, and has been flagrant since 7 October 2023 and the launch of the Israeli military's retaliatory wars.

In this context, the daily newspaper Haaretz, one of the few Israeli media outlets to investigate and challenge the official narrative on the conflict in the Gaza Strip, has repeatedly found itself in Netanyahu's crosshairs. His latest attack came in September, when he filed a defamation lawsuit against the newspaper, several of its journalists, and three other media outlets: Yedioth Aharonot, Ynet News, and Channel 12. The lawsuit followed a Haaretz report alleging that the United Arab Emirates' president, Mohammed bin Zayed, had warned Netanyahu in late September 2023 of the risk of an assault, ten days before the attack by the Al-Qassam Brigades on 7 October 2023.

A barrage of announcements designed to intimidate

Benjamin Netanyahu's government had begun putting pressure on the Tel Aviv-based newspaper from the very beginning of Israel's military offensive in the besieged Palestinian territory. In late November 2023, Communications Minister Shlomo Karhi posed a call on X for public funding for Haaretz to be withdrawn, including subscriptions held by government departments. These measures, approved a year later, also follow a "Trumpian" playbook, the real objective lies elsewhere. "It resembles some kind of intimidation, [as] part of a smear campaign," a source at Haaretz' editorial team told RSF.

More recently, journalists Rachel Szor and Yuval Abraham, from the investigative outlet +972 Magazine, incurred the prime minister's wrath over their reporting on the conflict in Gaza. Following the release of their documentary Naza, which features testimonies from Israeli soldiers, Benjamin Netanyahu even went so far as to consider stripping both filmmakers of their Israeli citizenship.

Unchallenged in interviews

One media outlet enjoys the prime minister's favour: Channel 14, owned by Russian-Israeli oligarch Yitzchak Mirilashvili, an outspoken supporter of the prime minister. The channel, which has repeatedly aired calls to violence, has become the Israeli equivalent of Fox News during Trump's first term in the White House, offering unwavering support to the country's right-wing and far-right government. For several years, Benjamin Netanyahu has granted the vast majority of his interviews to this outlet.

Early in its current term, Benjamin Netanyahu's government set in motion plans to reform the broadcasting sector. A bill introduced by Communications Minister Shlomo Karhi passed its first reading in the Knesset, Israel's parliament, in November 2025. As well as consolidating the government's control over the broadcasting regulator, the legislation would formalise certain privileges enjoyed by Channel 14, which already ranks second in terms of audience share, at the expense of privately owned broadcasters and the public broadcaster KAN, which faces plans for privatisation. In particular, the bill would exempt Channel 14 from one requirement it fails to meet: running commercial and news operations as separate entities.

The blood of Palestinian journalists

In these efforts to undermine the foundations of journalism - the pursuit of a shared truth through reporting facts - Benjamin Netanyahu's legacy is stained with blood. Under his leadership, Israeli-occupied Palestine has become the most dangerous place in the world for journalists. Over the past three years, more than 200 journalists have been killed by the Israeli military in the Gaza Strip, including 67 killed because of their work. Benjamin Netanyahu's policy of settlement expansion in the West Bank, which has intensified over the last three years, has led to an increase in attacks on reporters, culminating in the assault on Washington Post photojournalist Heidi Levine on 16 October.

In his bid to control the flow of information, Benjamin Netanyahu has also sought to tighten his grip on international media outlets. During his latest term, the international press has faced severe restrictions on its ability to report. The adoption of the so-called "Al Jazeera law" granted authorities the power to ban foreign broadcasters, citing the vague justification that they undermine national security. Meanwhile, foreign correspondents and reporters on assignment have been denied independent access to the Gaza Strip for more than three years. Is this systematic exclusion now being extended to the occupied West Bank, and perhaps even to Israel itself? Several international journalists covering the West Bank have already been denied access, and three international reporters were recently refused entry visas ahead of the parliamentary elections, fuelling fears that restrictions are being extended. The prime minister seeking re-election would leave another toxic legacy for journalism and the citizens it serves.