Over 16,000 articles censored by the Israeli military in five years

The Israeli military has censored over 16,000 articles since 2011, according to a report published by +972 Magazine.

Over the last five years, based on data provided by the Israeli army itself, the Israeli Military Censor outright banned the publication of 1,936 articles and redacted some information from a further 14,196 articles.

In other words, the censor edited at least some information from one in five articles submitted to it for review since 2011.

+972 Magazine notes that in the last year, “there has been a dramatic rise in the number of instances in which the censor contacts publishers with demands to alter or remove items that have already been published.”

The data shows that, since 2011, “the years that saw the most censorship were those in which Israel was engaged in warfare in the Gaza Strip.” with “the highest rates and frequency of censorship took place in 2014, the year of ‘Operation Protective Edge’.”

+972 Magazine explains that the Israeli military censor “draws its authority from emergency regulations put in place during the British Mandate period, many of which have remained on Israel’s law books for upwards of 70 years.”

According to the site, “Israel is all but alone among Western democratic states that have a legally binding state censor. Nowhere else must reported materials be submitted for prior review.”

Once an article has been censored, “the journalist is forbidden from revealing what information has been removed, or even to indicate that information has been censored.”