According to the statement, signed by Israeli government secretary Yossi Fuchs, the decision to instruct ministries to cease all forms of communication with Haaretz came because the newspaper "works against the state," and therefore the government has no legal or public obligation to support it financially.
The government claimed that Haaretz expressed support for the enemy during wartime, harmed Israeli occupation army soldiers and the war effort, called for abstention from military service, and accused the occupation army of committing genocide.
The government also accused the newspaper of "defaming the state and the Zionist project as a whole," calling for international sanctions against Israel and its elected officials, supporting the International Criminal Court in The Hague, and damaging Israel's image and standing globally.
The statement added that the articles published by the newspaper, including the English versions, "are used daily by opponents of Israel and anti-Semites," as it put it.
The government cited a large number of articles published in Haaretz, arguing that the founders of the state are "turning in their graves" over what it described as the newspaper's "continuous distortion of Israel" in a land it considers the cradle of the Jewish people and their national life.
Haaretz had earlier this month filed a petition with the Supreme Court against a government decision made last November to halt all forms of government communication with the Haaretz group, including official announcements and statements.
The newspaper deemed the decision "illegal," arbitrarily taken and aimed at "silencing the press and weakening a media outlet that criticizes government policies."
In a related context, the Israeli government's legal advisor, Gali Behrav-Meara, announced last week that Defense Minister Yisrael Katz does not have the authority to prevent meetings between senior officers of the occupation army and journalists and analysts of "Haaretz," stressing that stopping subscriptions to the newspaper for the benefit of officers and the army spokesman is an "illegal procedure."
Deputy Attorney General Gil Limon explained that these decisions "do not conform to the existing legal situation," noting that the ban on officers meeting with the newspaper violates a 1996 Supreme Court ruling that requires the military to treat the media equally.
Limon added that he informed the directors of the ministries in April and June 2025 that the decision to halt government advertising and cancel subscriptions to "Haaretz" was illegal, demanding that the Ministry of Defense provide its response urgently.
