Haaretz boycott in Israel is another attack on liberal norms

According to a new directive introduced by Communications Minister Shlomo Karhi on Sunday, the Israeli government will now boycott the liberal newspaper Haaretz. From now on, all government agencies and those funded by the state are under strict instruction not to contact Haaretznor to publish announcements or advertisements in the newspaper.

The new policy was not supported by a law passed in the Knesset; rather, it took the form of a government resolution, whereby each minister was ordered to boycott the newspaper and ensure that everyone in their department did the same.

Unusually, Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara was not informed of the proposal in advance, and did not review or provide an opinion on the resolution. Since the policy is technically advisory and does not legally prohibit government departments from posting in or contacting Haaretzit is unlikely that the courts will be able to sustain legal challenges to this decision.