Israel and Free Press Debated

http://www.nytimes.com/2016/08/08/opinion/israel-and-free-press-debated.html

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To the Editor:

Ruth Margalit’s Israel where the media is being “crushed” is simply one I don’t recognize (“Netanyahu crushed Israel’s free press,” Opinion, Aug. 1).

The day after her piece appeared, the left-wing daily Haaretz published a column by Gideon Levy entitled “Stop Living in Denial, Israel Is an Evil State.” Far from fearing a knock at the door in the middle of the night, Levy is one of the paper’s star columnists, and is translated into English for a global audience.

Margalit also dramatically overstates what she calls “the outsize influence” of the free newspaper Israel Hayom, owned by Sheldon Adelson. Circulation figures show that the paper has a 40 percent market share, but it’s very closely followed by Yediot Ahronot at 35 percent, which she admits has taken a “decidedly anti-Netanyahu line.” Left also unmentioned are the numerous other newspapers, radio stations and news websites, in Hebrew, Arabic and English, offering a multiplicity of views in Israel’s hotly contested public space.

Finally, Margalit undermines her own argument by quoting the popular host of a “60 Minutes”-style investigative program, who says that despite any pressure or attacks from the government: “Israeli media remains very critical, very aggressive ... It’s a kind of basic instinct that’s part of our DNA.”

That’s the true picture of Israel’s press.

GAVIN GROSS

Jerusalem