How Oct. 7 Marked the Collapse of Media Independence in Israel

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Altaf Moti
Pakistan

The events of October 7, 2023, prompted a significant and troubling transformation within the Israeli media landscape. In the aftermath of the Hamas attacks, a wave of hyper-nationalism swept through newsrooms, effectively silencing dissenting voices and marginalizing Palestinian narratives. This shift has led to a media environment characterized by censorship, self-censorship, and the widespread dehumanization of Palestinians, ultimately serving to manufacture consent for the devastating military response in Gaza.
A Unified Front at the Expense of Truth
In the days and weeks following October 7th, the Israeli media presented a remarkably unified front. Stunned by the events, the public turned to its news outlets for information and reassurance. However, this unity came at a steep cost to journalistic integrity. Mainstream media outlets largely abandoned critical reporting in favor of a narrative that bolstered national morale and unequivocally supported the government’s war aims. This “rally around the flag” effect meant that topics that did not contribute to a sense of national strength and victimhood were systematically ignored.
The suffering of civilians in Gaza, a direct consequence of Israel’s relentless bombing campaign, was conspicuously absent from mainstream Israeli television broadcasts and news reports. Instead, programming was saturated with stories of Israeli heroism and loss, creating a hermetically sealed information bubble. A poll by the aChord Center at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem found that 64% of Israelis believed the domestic media coverage of Gaza was balanced and did not need to include more on the suffering of Palestinians. This highlights a profound and deliberately cultivated disconnect between the reality of the carnage in Gaza and the sanitized version of events consumed by the Israeli public.
The Erasure and Dehumanization of Palestinians
Perhaps the most alarming change in the Israeli media has been the near-total erasure of Palestinian perspectives. The narrative has been exclusively dominated by Israeli voices, leaving no room for the Palestinian experience of dispossession, occupation, and war. This one-sided picture has been instrumental in justifying the scale of violence unleashed upon Gaza.
This erasure was not merely passive. The dehumanization of Palestinians became commonplace, with inflammatory rhetoric once confined to the far-right fringes finding a home on mainstream channels. The language employed by commentators and even some officials became increasingly genocidal. Palestinians were frequently referred to not as a civilian population under siege, but as a monolithic entity with calls for Gaza to be “flattened” or “turned into a parking lot” aired with little pushback. This narrative was reinforced by the relentless portrayal of Gaza as a place devoid of innocence, a “terrorist nest” where every man, woman, and child was a potential threat.
This process extended beyond rhetoric to the physical elimination of Palestinian voices. Since October 7, an unprecedented number of Palestinian journalists have been killed by Israeli strikes in Gaza, often with their families. These journalists were not simply collateral damage; they were the eyes and ears of the world inside a besieged territory. Their systematic targeting served a dual purpose: it silenced crucial reporting on the ground and sent a chilling message to anyone attempting to document the realities of the war. Meanwhile, international journalists were largely barred from entering Gaza independently, forced to rely on carefully managed tours with the Israeli military, ensuring the official state narrative remained dominant. This has created an information vacuum, which has been filled with state-sanctioned narratives and propaganda. The head of the UN agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA), Philippe Lazzarini, has stated that this media ban “fuels propaganda, disinformation, and the spread of dehumanization.”
Suppression of Dissent and a Climate of Fear
The post-October 7th media environment in Israel has become intensely hostile to internal dissent. Journalists and media outlets that deviate from the nationalist consensus are publicly vilified as “traitors” or “Hamas sympathizers.” The government of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has actively encouraged this climate of intolerance, boycotting critical outlets like the left-leaning newspaper Haaretz and attacking others for their reporting.
This campaign was spearheaded by figures within the government itself. The Communications Ministry, for example, pursued regulations to shut down foreign news channels like Al Jazeera and targeted domestic outlets deemed insufficiently patriotic. Beyond official measures, a powerful ecosystem of right-wing groups and social media influencers was mobilized to orchestrate harassment campaigns against any journalist who dared to step out of line. This digital mobbing created a chilling effect far more pervasive than any formal censorship law could achieve.
This pressure has led to a pervasive culture of self-censorship among journalists. Many are afraid to report on the human cost of the war in Gaza, question the government’s military strategy, or provide context about the occupation for fear of professional repercussions and public backlash. Even Arab journalists within Israel have reported facing intense intimidation, forcing them to censor their own work to protect their safety and livelihoods.
The changes in the Israeli media since October 7th represent a dangerous turn away from the principles of objective journalism. By prioritizing nationalism over truth and actively erasing Palestinian voices, the Israeli media has become a willing participant in the conflict, not a dispassionate observer. This has not only deepened the divisions between Israelis and Palestinians but has also done a grave disservice to the Israeli public, who are being denied the information needed to comprehend the profound moral and ethical implications of the war being waged in their name.
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