The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) recently included Israel in its list of worst jailers of journalists. The CPJ even said that the Middle Eastern country is on par with Iran.
On Thursday, Jan. 18, CPJ said that the Israeli military has imprisoned record numbers of Palestinian journalists ever since the war against Hamas terrorist officials began in October 2023.
The American non-profit organization said that Israel has joined other notorious authoritarian states with a history of imprisoning media personnel.
CPJ Includes Israel Among Worst Jailers of Journalists
According to The Guardian's latest report, CPJ said that Israel is in the sixth place in its list of worst jailers of journalists. The Middle Eastern nation now puts Iran in the seventh place.
This is the first time that Israel has been included in the worst journalist jailer list. It joins other countries, such as China and Myanmar (the top offenders), which are followed by Russia, Vietnam, and Belarus.
CPJ said that China and Myanmar have a long history of suppressing freedom of speech since each of them imprisoned over 40 journalists in 2023 alone.
Their records are still higher compared to Israel, which has 18 Palestinian journalists as their prisoners. However, this is still alarming since it is the first time that Israel is considered one of the worst media men jailers.
"This is the highest number of Palestinian journalists in detention since CPJ began documenting arrests in 1992 and the first time that Israel has ranked in sixth place on the census," said CPJ via its official report.
"The ranking comes as more than 80 journalists have been killed since the Israel-Gaza war began on October 7," added the media protection organization.
Press Freedom in Israel is Fraying
Committee to Protect Journalists CEO Jodie Ginsberg said that press freedom in Israel has been fraying ever since the Israel-Hamas war began in the Gaza Strip.
She said that their latest research reveals how "entrenched authoritarianism is globally. Ginsberg added that governments across the world are emboldened to prevent critical reporting and public accountability.
The CPJ CEO further stated that this is also happening in Israel as press freedom, a fundamental democratic norm, is fraying because of the exploitation of "draconian methods" just to silence Palestinian journalists.
