Likud blocks Haaretz advertising campaign: 'Election propaganda'

Likud blocked an advertising campaign by the newspaper Haaretz on billboards under the title 'It's possible'. The party sent warning letters to billboard companies claiming it constitutes election propaganda. Haaretz insisted it was not a political call, but the campaign was removed from central locations.

The Likud party blocked an advertising campaign by the newspaper Haaretz on billboards under the title 'It's possible', as reported today (Wednesday) by Kan News. In recent days, the party sent warning letters to billboard companies, demanding the removal of the ads, which they said constitute 'election propaganda aimed at instilling in voters a spirit of hope that in the elections it will be possible to replace the outgoing coalition'. Haaretz insisted it was not a political call, but the campaign was removed from central advertising locations and halted. In response, the Haaretz group stated: 'The attempt to block a commercial campaign of a newspaper because it promotes the values of a free, independent, and critical press is not an isolated incident. It is a direct continuation of the ongoing campaign waged by the government against the free press since the beginning of its term—a campaign of delegitimization, incitement, pressure, and repeated attempts to intimidate and silence critical media outlets.' The group noted that in recent weeks, the news desks of Haaretz and Channel 12 have been attacked, and yesterday a letter threatening to murder journalists was placed at the entrance to the Channel 12 newsroom. 'This violence does not arise in a vacuum. It develops in a public climate where the government repeatedly marks the media as an enemy,' the statement said.