The Jewish Left has been outraged in the last couple of days by an op-ed column by Shmuel Rosner that appeared in the print and digital editions of the New York Times on Saturday, May 13, launching a remarkably vicious attack on the venerable Israeli daily newspaper Ha’aretz, often described as Israel’s New York Times. Rosner, who spent more than ten years at Haaretz, including a stint as its US correspondent, accuses it of being captured by the Israeli ‘far left,’ and being hated by most Israelis, and having rendered itself irrelevant to current Israeli discourse.
Rosner’s hyperbolic vilification could have better been couched as a more reasoned discussion of Haaretz’s important role in Israeli society, a role far more significant than its admittedly anemic circulation figures might indicate. (According to Wikipedia its circulation is 3.9% on weekdays and 4.3% on the Friday weekend edition. By comparison, Israel’s largest newspapers, the tabloids Yisrael Hayom (distributed for free) and Yediot Achronot have around 40 and 35% respectively). However, its importance is such that it is generally considered the single most important institution on the Israeli Left (it is more than “just a newspaper”). In fact the expression ‘Haaretzland” is sometimes wryly employed to emphasize the bubble that its readership (disproportionately composed of intellectuals and academics) allegedly lives in, as opposed to the rest of the population. Its English internet and print editions are also the favorite source of Israeli news for foreigners in and outside of Israel.
Rosner’s article attempts to dispute the “tempting” narrative that Haaretz is the victim of a growing intolerance for dissent in Israel, claiming that, rather, it is the newspaper itself that is “losing its ability to communicate with rest of society.” However, it is precisely the growing intolerance for dissent, expressed in numerous official statements, legislative bills, proposed and passed, and more than occasional acts of violence, that is marginalizing the Israeli Left, including its most visible institution, Haaretz. Not unlike American society today, Israeli society is deeply polarized, with the Right currently ascendant. Haaretz’s reporting, rarely attacked as bad journalism, is disparaged for its unwillingness to accept the direction the country is moving, and its reporting on stories often neglected by other media. The hue and cry against it is precisely what is meant by “intolerance.”
Rosner mentions, but doesn’t contextualize, the fact that Haaretz is particularly known for its opinion columns, which comprise a greater proportion of Israeli newspapers than they do of American media. Gideon Levy and Amira Hass, for example, veteran journalists with decades of experience, usually focus on abuses of Palestinians; otherwise often invisible in Israeli media. Haaretz has numerous other columnists, mostly from various points on the Left, but also including well-known figures like Israel Harel and Moshe Arens, from the religious and secular Right, respectively. Rosner mentions some provocative columns from individual columnists, who express the anger and frustration Israelis need to hear from the Left, as well as from the Right.
Rosner is essentially blaming Haaretz for bringing to Israeli attention both the news and perspectives that it desperately wants to wish away. One of his critiques is that “the country feels it is under an unjustified and hypocritical international siege and so is less forgiving when Israelis are perceived to be providing Israel’s critics with ammunition.” In other words, it is blaming the messenger. While there is no question that Israel’s sins are often magnified in parts of the foreign press, there is similarly no doubt that they are minimized, often to the point of non-existence, in much of the domestic press. Any Israeli who wants to understand why Israel is becoming an international pariah, an experience few want to engage in, need only read Haaretz. “A decent respect for the opinion of Mankind” is something that should be available in every democratic country. Haaretz properly rejects the growing, dangerous, but convenient belief that criticism of Israel is primarily motivated by anti-semitism.
Those interested in understanding more about the polarization and nature of the Israeli press may want to go to https://972mag.com/the-political-line-of-israeli-papers-a-readers-guide/4072/ Warning: 972 is an avowedly leftwing website, but the article is a fair and even-handed discussion of the Israeli press. It is slightly dated (Oct. 2010) but still very relevant.
The Times owes it to its readers to publish a fuller discussion of the Israeli press and of Haaretz’s unique role in it. Like the Times itself, it is an invaluable institution that should be appreciated even by those who disagree with its views.