Originally based in Jerusalem (now in Tel Aviv), the Israeli newspaper, Ha’aretz (meaning “the land” or “the country”), is the oldest and longest-running daily newspaper in the country of Israel. Founded before Israel was a sovereign nation, it is the 3rd largest paper by circulation, and a major news source in the country. Like any publication with a clear editorial stance, Ha’aretz‘s perspective should be understood as one voice in a complex media landscape.2
Compared to the center-right stances of papers, such as The Jerusalem Post and Israel Hayom, Ha’aretz newspaper provides a countervailing perspective for Israeli readers that has put it at odds with the Israeli government, even leading to a boycott of Ha’aretz by the Netanyahu government in 2024.
For international readers, Ha’aretz provides English-language coverage of topics and perspectives that are given short shrift overseas. Ha’aretz provides a valuable perspective that helps international readers broaden their knowledge about Israel, Palestine, and the greater region.
What Is Ha’aretz News?
Ha’aretz is the longest-running daily newspaper in Israel. Founded in 1919 under the name Hadshot Ha’aretz (Hebrew for “the News of the Land”), Ha’aretz was originally staffed primarily by Russian Jews who had recently immigrated to Mandatory Palestine from Russia.
In 1935, German businessman Salman Schocken acquired the paper, promoting his son, Gerson Schocken, to editor in 1939. Under the younger Mr. Schocken’s leadership, the paper championed personal freedom, mixed-market economics, a free press, and civil rights for Jewish and Arab peoples.
Ha’aretz: A Reputation for Political Confrontation
Throughout its 100-year history, Ha’aretz has gathered a reputation for being unafraid of direct confrontation with the Israeli government, no matter the political party or administration. Prime Minister Golda Meir once famously stated, “The only government that Ha’aretz ever supported was the British Mandate.”
The Dollar Account Affair
In 1977, Ha’aretz reporter Dan Margalit broke the story of an illicit bank account owned by Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin. Later dubbed “the dollar account affair,” this scandal forced Rabin to resign from government.
The Anat Kamm – Uri Blau Affair
In 2008, Ha’aretz journalist Uri Blau published a bombshell exposé based on 2,000 classified IDF documents provided to him by Anat Kamm. Critically, the expose accused the IDF of targeted killings in direct violation of the Israeli Supreme Court.
While the exposé passed initial review by the Israeli Military Censor, the ensuing political uproar led to Anat Kamm being indicted with espionage and ultimately sentenced to prison for three-and-a-half years. While much of the Israeli public condemned Kamm’s actions, Ha’aretz came under fire for failing to protect the identity of its source.
Underreported in America: Stories from Ha’aretz
Ha’aretz’s English-language coverage means that it gives international readers access to Israel-specific stories from a unique perspective that is often overlooked outside of the country.
In 2019, it was Ha’aretz that published a damning report uncovering a vast government effort to conceal evidence of the 1948 expulsion of Palestinian people from their homes. This report included a 1948 document from the Jewish paramilitary organization Shai (meaning “gift or “present”), the precursor to Shin Bet, that stated 70% of Palestinian expulsions were due to Jewish military operations.
This was a contemporary source, from a Jewish intelligence organization, that explicitly stated the overwhelming responsibility for the expulsion of Palestinian families came from the Jewish military.
“52 men were caught, tied them to one another, dug a pit and shot them. 10 were still twitching. Women came, begged for mercy. Found bodies of 6 elderly men. There were 61 bodies. 3 cases of rape, one east of from Safed, girl of 14, 4 men shot and killed. From one they cut off his fingers with a knife to take the ring.”
– 1948 document, suppressed by the Israeli government in 2015
The 1948 war was marked by violence on multiple sides — Jewish communities also faced attacks, massacres, and displacement during the conflict — making the suppression of any part of the historical record a distortion of a complicated reality.
This information, along with scores of other official Israeli reports, was suppressed by the Malmab (Israeli Ministry Defense Security) for decades, to the point that the Malmab was restricting and censoring previously non-classified information and interviews.
Asked directly by Ha’aretz for the reasons behind such censorship, former Malmab director Yehiel Horev stated that he started the suppression both to prevent unrest amongst Arab and Palestinian population and to undermine the credibility of Nakba scholarship.
As of 2019, this government-sanctioned suppression was still ongoing.
Sde Teiman Abuses
Since the start of the October 7th Hamas War, the state of Israel has been holding Palestinian men and women in captivity at the Sde Teiman detention center. Ha’aretz stood as the first to make this news public, reporting in December 2023 that “hundreds of Palestinians…have been held for weeks at a detention facility in Israel’s south, where several of them have died.”
Since that report has been revealed, Ha’aretz has continued to expose major human-rights abuses at the camp, including publishing a field doctor’s report to Israel’s attorney general. In the letter, the doctor reported, “inmates are fed through straws, [and] defecate in diapers.” He stressed, “Just this week, two prisoners had their legs amputated due to handcuff injuries…this makes all of us – the medical teams and you — … complicit in the violation of Israeli law.”
These reports drew substantial international outrage, leading the UN to accuse the Israeli government of torture and abuse extensive enough to be classified as war crimes.
Boycott by the Netanyahu Government
It is no secret that Ha’aretz is not universally beloved in Israel. Its viewpoint has won the publication few allies in the current administration. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, in 2024, launched a government boycott of the storied newspaper, banning all government advertisement and official ministerial contact with the newspaper.
The reason? Publisher Amos Schocken stated that the Netanyahu government was “imposing a cruel apartheid regime on the Palestinian population” against “Palestinian freedom fighters whom we call terrorists.” Ha’aretz immediately published an editorial denouncing their publisher’s comments, but the Israeli government rode a wave of domestic, conservative anger to push through a boycott of Ha’aretz.
This wasn’t a surprise to the Ha’aretz staff. Writing in the Columbia Journalism Review, journalist Aluf Benn noted that Netanyahu listed Ha’aretz as one of “the main enemies of Israel” back in 2012.
Ha’aretz: An Important Institution in Israel
While Ha’aretz immediately published an editorial denouncing their publisher’s comments as overreach, Netanyahu’s government used the remarks to push through a formal boycott.
Writing for Columbia Journalism Review, journalist Aluf Benn provided a passionate defense of the importance of Ha’aretz.
“Described by The New Yorker’s David Remnick as ‘arguably the most important liberal institution in a country that has moved inexorably to the right,’ Ha’aretz has held a firm stance against Israel’s occupation and the oppression of Palestinians in the occupied territories. We stand for human and civil rights and, increasingly alone among Israeli mass media, constantly report on the abuses and atrocities of the occupation. Only Ha’aretz would question the morality of the Israel Defense Forces’ (IDF) counterterrorism operations and tactics. And only Ha’aretz would publish anti-Zionist opinions.”
Even as the Israeli government increasingly suppresses the media and freedom of speech, Ha’aretz is not backing down. “In a battered democracy like today’s Israel, facing the simultaneous strain of an aspiring autocrat and an unending war,” wrote Aluf Benn, “speaking truth to power could not be more crucial.”
Ha’aretz‘s significance lies not in being the definitive voice on Israel and Palestine, but in being a persistent one — asking questions that other Israeli outlets often won’t. Readers outside Israel would do well to read it critically, as they would any publication with a defined editorial worldview.
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