Facing a Hostile Government, the Media Needs Public Support

By Asif Efrat  

The Israeli media is under attack. In a democracy, a critical press serves as a vital oversight mechanism on the government and as a platform for open public discourse. But Israel's current government seeks to evade oversight and stifle public discourse –and to do so, it seeks to control and restrain the media. Against this backdrop, we can understand the decision to close Galei Tzahal (IDF Radio), the restriction on interviews that senior IDF commanders grant to journalists, as well as the reform being promoted by Communications Minister Shlomo Karhi – a reform that could expose news organizations to political pressure and enable control of the media through heavy fines.

As the Israeli media fights for its independence, we at the Institute for Liberty and Responsibility sought to understand through a survey what the public thinks about press freedom: Do Israelis recognize the importance of a free and critical press, or do they hold a narrower conception of a press friendly to the government or one operating within the bounds of consensus? The survey was conducted December 8-10 among a representative sample of 1,513 respondents.

The survey points to two points of agreement that cross political camps. First, both government supporters and opposition supporters attribute low credibility to the media. Only 26% of opposition voters believe that media reports are reliable and accurately reflect reality; among government voters, a tiny 8% view the media as reliable. These findings are consistent with the periodic data on trust in the media that we have been collecting since 2023 – data reflecting low trust in the media among opposition supporters and zero trust among government supporters.

A second point of agreement between the political camps concerns the IDF: for most of the public, from right and left, the IDF after October 7 remains a sacred cow, and the media should treat it gently. Only 25% of opposition voters believe the media should be more critical of the IDF; among coalition voters, only 13% think so. This view, which places the IDF outside public debate and prefers not to identify problems in its operations, was also reflected in previous data: we pointed out that according to most Israelis, the IDF acts morally in the Gaza war – a view in complete contrast to international criticism.

But beyond these points of agreement, government supporters and opposition supporters differ in their views regarding the legitimacy of media criticism and the scope of press freedom.
First, a large majority of government supporters – 77% – believe the media is too critical of the government, compared to 13% of opposition supporters who think so.

Second, government supporters demonstrate intolerance for sharp journalistic criticism of Israel. 69% of them believe that a journalist should not be allowed to defame the country, compared to 21% of opposition voters who think so.

Third, government voters believe that the media plays a role in creating division in Israeli society. The overwhelming majority of government supporters – 89% – think so, compared to 34% among opposition supporters.

Fourth, government supporters and opposition supporters are divided regarding the scope of press freedom. A majority of 69% of government supporters believe that the press in Israel enjoys too much freedom; only 18% of opposition supporters think so.
The principled disagreements between the camps translate concretely into opposing positions regarding the future of Galei Tzahal. 61% of government supporters believe the station should be closed, compared to 10% of opposition supporters who want it closed.

The implication emerging from our findings is grim. In order to fulfill its role in a democracy, the media needs public backing. Disseminating vital information, encouraging informed public discourse, and criticizing the government – all of these require investment and protection by the state, with public support. But the current government does not see the media as an institution worthy of protection, but rather as a nuisance and threat that must be restricted and curtailed. Indeed, in the 2025 World Press Freedom Index, Israel dropped 11 places to 112th out of 180 countries. 

Most government supporters, we find, are comfortable with this reality of eroding press freedom. Like the Prime Minister, who sees the media as a source of brainwashing, most of his supporters believe the media is too critical of the government and sows division in society. This means that the Israeli media does not enjoy the broad public support it needs in facing a government hostile to it; public support comes from one camp, which does not currently hold political power. The other camp agrees with measures whose purpose is to intimidate the media or silence it – agreement that encourages the politicians advancing these measures.

A free press is one of the foundations of democracy; silencing the media is a central goal of any government interested in weakening and eroding democracy. In order to protect press freedom in Israel, we must fight the government that seeks to undermine independent media; but at the same time, it is vital to raise public awareness of the value of a free and critical press in a democratic state. A broad public that understands the importance of the media will serve as a brake on a government for which this understanding is foreign.