“B’Ivrit: A Hebrew Language Media Roundup” is a monthly look at the news through the eyes of Israeli media consumers.
1. Lebanon Cease-Fire Reached, but Israeli Press Remains Skeptical
Last week’s news of a United States-brokered cease-fire deal reached between Israel and Lebanon was not received in Israel with an outburst of joy. The Israeli media set the tone for what became an unusually matter-of-fact approach to this rare glimpse of good news after a year of war, grief and sorrow.
Press coverage was peppered with skepticism and suspicion. “A high risk deal,” read the Wednesday morning headline of Israel Hayom. The accompanying story gave voice to local residents of Israel’s north who had been evacuated from their homes for more than a year and now feel the war is ending before Hezbollah’s threat to their towns has been fully removed. Maariv led with this headline: “The Deal and the Preparedness,” describing the agreement reached alongside a detailed account of how Israel’s military remains alert and prepared for a possible—even an expected—breach of the deal.
The next day, after the cease-fire had already taken effect and with families beginning to go back to their homes to survey the damage, the Israeli press stressed their anguish. “From the Ruins,” was the headline chosen by editors of the mainstream daily Yediot Aharonot. The coverage focused on the heavy destruction caused to homes and the mixed feelings of residents still afraid to return. “The cease-fire is put to a test,” a Maariv article said, focusing on several reports of minor sporadic breaches. Israel Hayom, which leans to the right, made clear in its headline that “Now is time to reinforce the deal.”
But in order to understand why the Israeli press, and the Israeli public, did not break out in celebration as the northern front war became a cease-fire, it is best to look at the Haaretz headline. “And now—the hostages,” read the unusual headline on the liberal broadsheet’s front page. By choosing this editorial statement, Haaretz, which usually prefers substance to drama, conveyed the true feeling of many Israelis. A truce on the Lebanese front is good news, but not the good news Israelis had been waiting for. It is the Gaza front that matters most and specifically the plight of 101 hostages still held by Hamas. Even the best outcome in the north cannot overcome the heavy feelings still burdening Israelis when they look south and see a seemingly endless war in Gaza with no solution in sight and with no shred of hope for the return of hostages languishing there.
2. How the Right-Wing Media Flipped for Bibi
The Lebanon deal put Israel’s right-wing pundits in an awkward position. On the one hand, they’ve been calling for months for a decisive victory that would fully uproot Hezbollah, and they had claimed that Israel should never bow to international pressure to end the war prematurely. On the other hand, this is a deal reached by Netanyahu and endorsed by his right-wing cabinet.
Fear not. Channel 14, Israel’s popular TV network strongly aligned with Netanyahu and the political right wing, overcame its anti-cease-fire instincts and did a full 180-degree turn to become the strongest defenders of the temporary peace deal. In the network’s studio, reporters and experts enthusiastically explained how Netanyahu’s decision to go ahead with the cease-fire was the right move, since most of the military goals had been achieved, and ending the war in the north would allow the IDF to focus its efforts on Gaza. They also highlighted the claim made by Netanyahu that basically blamed U.S. President Joe Biden for this outcome, arguing that only ending military operations in Lebanon would convince Biden to renew full arms shipments to Israel.
Yinon Magal, the firebrand hawkish moderator of Channel 14’s daily news show The Patriots, praised the deal, posting on X a list of benefits a cease-fire would bring. Similar statements came from the channel’s top political commentator Jacob Bardugo and from reporter Moti Kastel, who wrote that the deal represents a victory over Hezbollah and a blow to Hamas.
It took some rhetorical acrobatics to get the message through, but the conservative end of Israel’s media spectrum managed to have it both ways: advocate for a cease-fire deal in Lebanon despite the fact that Hezbollah has not been decimated, while at the same time arguing against a similar deal in Gaza because Hamas hasn’t yet been fully defeated.
3. Bibi’s Own Version of Fox News
Channel 14 has become the go-to media outlet for members of the Netanyahu coalition whenever they wish to convey their messages to the Israeli public.
Since the beginning of the war last October, Netanyahu gave 28 interviews to the international media but only one to the Israeli press. It was, of course, to Channel 14, on the day after the Lebanon cease-fire was signed.
For the Israeli leader, it was an easy choice. The 23-minute-long interview with Channel 14’s Bardugu, whose relationship with Netanyahu bears similarities to Fox News host Sean Hannity’s friendship with Donald Trump, was full of softball questions and uninterrupted responses. “The meeting between Netanyahu and Bardugo was not an interview,” lamented The Seventh Eye media watchdog website. “It was a propaganda ad meant to help Netanyahu’s political base swallow the news of the cease-fire deal he signed with Hezbollah just two and a half months after he himself explained why it is wrong to sign deals of this kind.”
The choice of giving his only Israeli media interview thus far to the supportive home crowd at Channel 14 saved Netanyahu from tough questions on his responsibility for the October 7 attacks, his upcoming testimony in his criminal trial and the judicial overhaul efforts that his coalition is now renewing. None of these issues ever came up in the lengthy interview.
And while this strategy has angered Israeli journalists and media critics, the public doesn’t seem to mind. Channel 14 has been rapidly gaining viewership, with its prime-time news show now ranking second in popularity on most weekdays.
4. Israel’s Next War? Against the Free Press
Judicial reforms aren’t the only legislative effort being advanced now by Netanyahu’s government. Communications Minister Shlomo Karhi, with the backing of the entire coalition, is now moving to advance legislation that will effectively shut down KAN, Israel’s only public broadcaster. The proposed legislation would require privatizing the network, which like most European public broadcasters is funded by taxpayer money, and ultimately shutting it down if, as expected, no buyer is found.
At the same time, members of the coalition are also trying to shut down—here too, by privatization—Galei Zahal, the IDF radio which is run by the military but airs independent news and current affairs shows that are widely popular among many Israelis.
If passed, these two moves would not only eliminate all public broadcasting in Israel, but would also significantly shrink Israel’s already dwindling media market, leaving very little room for news reporting and commentary that is critical of the government.
And it’s not only the public media that is being targeted. The Netanyahu government has recently approved a measure denying any government ad buys from the liberal-leaning Haaretz newspaper, following comments made by the paper’s publisher Amos Schocken, in which he called Hamas terrorists “freedom fighters.” (Schocken later retracted his comments.) According to the decision, which was approved unanimously, government agencies will also not be allowed to pay for subscriptions to Haaretz.
As is the case with most attempts across the world to go after the press, some of these measures will pass and some won’t. But regardless of their outcome, they will have a chilling effect on journalists trying to do their job.
5. But Are They Pro-Israel?
President-elect Trump’s picks for his top cabinet and White House positions are stirring a lively discussion at home. But in Israel, at least judging by the coverage in the Israeli press, there’s no question: Trump is surrounding himself with pro-Israel nominees.
“Trump’s new appointees: Bad news for Iran, good news for Israel,” the business daily Globes exclaimed when reporting on Trump’s pick of Marco Rubio for secretary of state and Mike Waltz for national security adviser. “Enthusiastic supporters of Israel,” i24, a news network that recently began broadcasting in Hebrew, celebrated the nominations.
Even Pete Hegseth, a more controversial pick for defense secretary that drew criticism across the board in the United States, was celebrated in the Israeli media. “He holds pro-Israel views and visited Israel in the past,” was the way Channel 12 News, Israel’s most popular TV network, chose to lead their coverage of the appointment. Pam Bondi, Trump’s pick for attorney general, was hailed in Maariv for her views on Israel. “Deporting pro-Palestinian protesters? Trump’s nominee for attorney general won’t disappoint,” was how the daily introduced Bondi to its readers in Israel.