""We cannot remain silent": Interior Ministry announces severance of ties with Haaretz"

October 31, 2024   

Interior Ministry Director General Ronen Peretz today (Thursday) ordered the cessation of all contact and cooperation between the ministry and Haaretz - following the words of publisher Amos Schocken, who said that "Palestinian terrorists are freedom fighters." In a letter that Peretz sent to Kobi Alter, director of the Public Relations and Information Department at the Interior Ministry, he detailed the meaning of the decision: "During a conference held in London, the publisher of Haaretz newspaper, Mr. Amos Schocken, made serious statements in English, in which he called Palestinian terrorists 'freedom fighters.' In addition, he called for sanctions to be imposed on the State of Israel and its leaders and claimed that the IDF is carrying out a 'second Nakba' and is imposing an apartheid regime in Judea, Samaria and Gaza." Peretz explained: "These things arouse disgust and indicate a serious disconnection from fundamental values, especially at a time when the State of Israel is waging an unjust war, which began following the murderous terrorist attack by the Hamas organization on October 7. "In light of the seriousness of the situation, and until further notice," Peretz wrote, ordering: "I am ordering the cessation of all publications and collaborations with the Haaretz newspaper, directly and through the government advertising office, to the extent that they exist. We cannot and do not intend to remain silent in the face of harm to IDF soldiers and the state's efforts to protect its citizens." Mayor Nesher Roi Levy also announced today on his Twitter account that the municipality is severing all ties with Haaretz, and he also ordered the cessation of publications in Haaretz. Levy wrote: "I have informed the municipality's spokesman and treasurer to halt all advertising in Haaretz and any newspaper related to this newspaper. Only a consumer boycott and with public funds will be effective." Yesterday, Yishai Friedman revealed on Channel 14 that at a conference held earlier this week in London under the auspices of Haaretz and several other left-wing organizations, the newspaper's publisher Amos Schocken said: "Palestinian terrorists are freedom fighters." In addition, Schocken claimed that Israel is carrying out a Nakba on the Palestinians in Gaza and that sanctions should be imposed on the Prime Minister and ministers Bezalel Smotrich and Itamar Ben-Gvir. Schocken said at the conference: "The Netanyahu government does not care about imposing a brutal apartheid regime on the Palestinian population. It ignores the cost to both sides of defending the settlements while it fights the Palestinian freedom fighters that Israel calls terrorists. "To a certain extent, what is happening now in the occupied territories and in part of Gaza is a second Nakba. A Palestinian state must be established." According to him, "The only way to achieve this, in my opinion, is through sanctions against Israeli leaders who oppose it and against the settlers.".