Israeli Military Censor

Israeli military unit

The Israeli Military Censor is a unit in the IDF Directorate of Military Intelligence tasked with carrying out preventive censorship inside the State of Israel regarding the publication of information that might affect the security of Israel. The body is headed by the Israeli Chief Censor, a military official is appointed by Israel's Minister of Defense, who bestows upon the Chief Censor the authority to suppress information he deems compromising from being made public in the media. On average, 2240 press articles in Israel are censored by the Israeli Military Censor each year, approximately 240 of which in full, and around 2000 partially.

In 1966, the Censorship Agreement was signed between media representatives and the IDF. The media agreed to abide by the orders of the Military Censor, while the IDF agreed not to misuse its role:

The purpose of the censorship is to prevent the publication of security information which could benefit the enemy or harm the State. There will be no censorship on political issues, on expressions of opinion or assessments unless they hint on classified information. The Military Censor will inform the media the issues that demand its approval. The list is subject to change but always includes two overarching issues: the security of the state and the immigration of Jews from nations hostile to Israel.

The unit is commanded by the Chief Censor, an officer directly appointed by the Defense Minister. It is an entirely independent position in the IDF, which is neither subordinate to the Defense Minister, nor the Chief of Staff, Aman Director, or any one else on the chain of command or from the political echelon, and is only subject to parliamentary and judicial oversight. As of August 2005, the Chief Censor is Colonel Sima Vaknin.