BREAKING NEWS

Press Council concerned about police listening in on journalists

The Israel Press Council, headed by retired Supreme Court justice Dalia Dorner, is concerned about police and prosecutors listening in to the conversations of journalists, which the council believes inhibits a free press.
The council has called on the police and prosecutors to exercise special caution when listening in to conversations that journalists have with their sources, and to refrain from publicizing the content of such conversations beyond what is absolutely necessary under the laws of freedom of information.
In a statement released on Wednesday, the council said that information recently revealed in the regular media and on social media indicates that neither the prosecutors nor the police respect the immunity to which a journalist is entitled when clarifying details of a story.
That immunity is vital to a free society, and when violated shatters public confidence in the rule of law, the council said.