Door to Haaretz offices smashed in second attack on media this week

A masked vandal smashed the glass front door to the Haaretz newspaper offices in Tel Aviv early Wednesday, in the second such attack on a media outlet this week.

Haaretz published security camera video of the incident and vowed that it would not be intimidated. Journalist organizations warned that the acts of vandalism against outlets could make way to bloodshed, and blamed the government, citing its hostile rhetoric toward the media.

In the video, an assailant can be seen reaching through a grill to throw a brick at the door. When that fails to smash the glass, the assailant throws another, which leaves a gaping hole in the door.

The person is then seen running off down the street. A timestamp on the video showed that it occurred at 3:47 a.m.

It came after a similar assault on Monday that smashed the front door of the Channel 12 offices, also in Tel Aviv.

Get The Times of Israel's Daily Edition

by email and never miss our top stories

By signing up, you agree to the terms

Haaretz said it filed a complaint with the police.

רעול פנים מנפץ את דלת הכניסה למערכת "הארץ" pic.twitter.com/NkSIAkN9kQ

— הארץ חדשות (@haaretznewsvid) July 8, 2026

“Alongside the immediate actions the newspaper took to protect the personal safety of its employees, including increasing security at the entrance to the building, Haaretz will continue to fulfil its professional and public mission to create free and independent journalism, and will not surrender to these attempts to intimidate and silence,” it said in a statement.

The Union of Journalists in Israel accused the government under Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of fueling violence.

“There is a direct link between the messages of Netanyahu and his proxies and the series of violent incidents,” it said in a statement. “Journalists are marked as the enemy, the media is labeled as a hostile entity, and the coalition is running a violent campaign that is intended to smash the free press in Israel and to give ‘carrots’ to media outlets that have chosen to betray their role and toe the line with the regime.”

The union said it was “certain that law enforcement authorities will continue to act to locate the attackers and bring them to justice. If blood is shed, and we are closer to that point than ever before, no one can say they weren’t alerted.”

The Israel Press Council called it a “worrying step up and apparently a clear campaign of intimidation against media outlets in Israel.”

It likewise called on police to “wake up and take clear and unequivocal proactive action, to stop the wave of violence.”

“The repeated attempts to terrorize journalists and the news apparatus with violence and property vandalism are a direct blow to Israeli democracy, freedom of expression, and the right of the public to be informed,” it said.

After its own front door was vandalized on Monday, Channel 12 said in a statement it was “shocked but not surprised” and demanded that the Israel Police act to stop the rising threat of violence against journalists and media outlets.

“The Israeli government and the communications minister must stop their inflammatory and unbridled attacks against the free press,” the statement from the news outlet added.

The incidents came a month after graffiti inciting violence against Israel’s three main broadcast media networks — Channels 12 and 13 and the Kan public broadcaster, also known as Channel 11 — as well as several journalists was daubed near the Channel 12 office.

Threatening graffiti calling for “the blood of the traitors” was also found outside the Channel 13 offices in Tel Aviv in November.

In addition to incitement campaigns orchestrated by right-wing activists, Israel’s mainstream news outlets have been repeatedly targeted by Netanyahu and his government.

Communications Minister Shlomo Karhi has been waging a years-long crusade to dismantle and weaken the free press.

The coalition is hoping to pass a series of bills before the current Knesset session ends later this month. The bills, if passed, would place Kan’s budget under government control and give the government significant control over broadcast media, news sites, and other media through a new regulatory council.

Netanyahu rarely sits for interviews with any channel other than the hawkish and pro-government Channel 14, and has launched vitriolic attacks against journalists, accusing them of publishing “fake news” and “spreading lies.”