Israeli press review: Police raid major labour union in corruption probe

Police arrest senior members of labour union

Israeli police have raided the offices of the Histadrut, Israel's oldest and most prominent labour union, in what the police described as "one of the largest public corruption scandals investigated in Israel".

During the raid on Monday morning, police forces arrested senior members of the Histadrut, including its chairman, Arnon Bar-David.

According to the police, the detained union members are suspected of bribery, fraud and breach of trust. 

At the centre of the affair is an insurance agent, Ezra Gabay, who, thanks to his government connections, appointed the heads of Histadrut committees to positions in government companies in exchange for personal favours.

The police also suspect that senior Histadrut officials planned to sell some of the organisation's assets, worth millions of shekels, in exchange for a share of the profits.

The affair, according to Israeli media reports, is expected to include the interrogation of more than 300 senior Histadrut officials, heads of workers' unions – including at the Israeli airline El Al and the Jewish National Fund – senior officials in public institutions and even several mayors.

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Culture Minister Miki Zohar, of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's Likud party, is also expected to be questioned by the police in the coming days due to his close ties to some of the suspects.

In the past, the Histadrut, which was established during the British Mandate rule in Palestine, was the stronghold of the left-wing Labor Party, but in recent decades Likud's power in the organisation has grown.

According to Haaretz, many of those involved in the affair have direct ties to Israel's ruling party.

The left-wing Hadash party's newspaper criticised Bar-David for having "direct ties with the capital and the government, especially with the extreme right-wing Likud".

Bar-David, according to the Hadash newspaper, is "an enthusiastic supporter of the war of annihilation in Gaza, he gave Netanyahu's government a free hand to sacrifice the workers on the altar of revenge and occupation".

Parliament approves bill curtailing free press

The Israeli parliament has this week given its preliminary approval to a bill that has been described as an attempt to limit the free press in the country.

The bill, which is sponsored by Shlomo Karhi, the communications minister from the Likud party, was approved by a vote of 54 MPs to 47.

According to the main points of the proposal, broadcasting supervisory authorities will be subject to political control, restrictions between commercial interests and news broadcasts will be lifted, and media outlets will be obligated to publish their viewership data.

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According to the law, the supervisory authorities, which will be under the control of the government, will be able to impose fines on Israeli broadcasters.

The bill did not receive the approval of the Knesset's legal advice and is therefore expected to face challenges in the future.

"Real freedom of expression, not of a handful of disgruntled people with microphones," Karhi said when he presented the law to the Knesset.

After the vote, Karhi added that "this is a historic revolution of freedom of opinion and consumer choice".

Karhi, who has been promoting the law for the past two years, concluded: "This is a victory for the consumer, more channels, more opinions, less money."

Shelly Tal Meron, an MP of the centrist Yesh Atid party, told Channel 12 News that the law is the first step in "the elimination of Israeli democracy".

Channel 12 News correspondent Daphne Liel wrote that the bill "was exactly Viktor Orban's method of eliminating the media in Hungary – to put pressure on the channel owners through their other businesses".

Journalist behind controversial Gaza remarks wins media award

Israeli journalist Almog Boker, who previously said there are no innocent people in Gaza, has received an award for excellence in media coverage from an Israeli journalists’ association.

The prize was awarded on Monday during the association's conference in Eilat, which was attended by various Israeli journalists.

The prize committee wrote that Boker "stands out for his professional, courageous and consistent coverage both from the ground and in his in-depth commentary".

Boker, who repeatedly denied the presence of innocent Palestinians in Gaza, joined Channel 12, the most influential news channel in Israel, during the genocide in Gaza.

In July 2024, Boker wrote, alongside a video showing the abduction of an Israeli captive, that the footage "serves as a reminder for all of us: There are no uninvolved people in Gaza. None."

In January 2025, the journalist responded to a video showing children in Gaza queueing for food, "Let us not forget that on October 7th, it was the same 'uninvolved civilians' who raided our homes and kidnapped our citizens."

At the award ceremony, Boker said: "This award that I am receiving here tonight is proof that shortcuts are really not the only key to success.

"For me, journalism is not a profession, it's a mission," he added. "It's a mission to shed spotlight on the stories of those who are left behind. A mission to make a voice that is heard a little or not at all be heard."

On Wednesday, the Israeli parliament rejected a bill that would have barred individuals from voting in elections if they did not enlist in the army or national service.

Sixty-nine MPs from the coalition and the opposition voted against the bill, which was initiated by right-wing opposition party Yisrael Beiteinu.

Twenty-seven Knesset members from Yisrael Beiteinu and the centrist Yesh Atid party supported the bill.

MP Avigdor Liberman, the leader of Yisrael Beiteinu, wrote on his X account, "The IDF needs fighters, the State of Israel needs security. This is the most democratic and liberal law."

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Opposition leader Yair Lapid of Yesh Atid said last week that "whoever doesn't enlist should not vote. Equality is important, and so is the right not to be killed."

"The State of Israel is in the midst of a very serious political, economic and security crisis the likes of which have not been seen since its establishment and constitutes a real danger to its continued existence," the bill states.

"This bill proposes to deny the right to vote in general elections to the Knesset from anyone who does not carry the burden through military or national service."

"If you don't enlist, you won't be able to vote. It's very simple," said MK Oded Forer of Yisrael Beiteinu, one of the law's initiators, referring to ultra-Orthodox and Palestinian citizens of Israel.