Defense Minister Binyamin Ben-Eliezer has strongly protested a report issued by the international press organization \"Reporters Sans [Without] Frontiers\" that includes IDF Chief of Staff Lt.-Gen. Sha’ul Mofaz on a list of “39 Predators of Freedom of the Press.\" The list includes persons and organizations that have imprisoned, threatened or harmed journalists, have banned freedom of the press, or imposed severe restrictions on journalists. \"None of this is true of the IDF or the State of Israel,\" writes Ben-Eliezer in a letter to the organization, and listing Mofaz there \"reflects an amateurish and populist attitude.\"
The report bases itself on the fact that 30 journalists were wounded by Israeli fire while covering the conflict with the Palestinians. Ben-Eliezer writes, \"An in-depth report by your own organization in July 2001 on the subject clearly determined that the cases of injured journalists were isolated incidents and in no way reflect an IDF policy or intent to harm journalists. Your report states: \'There is no doubt that the press in Israel enjoys freedom unlike anywhere else in the region. The foreign press works in very favorable conditions…\' As your report states, the IDF and the Chief of Staff have repeatedly condemned incidents in which journalists were injured. So to present the firing at journalist as somehow a policy sponsored or endorsed by the IDF or the Chief of Staff is false even according to findings of your organization.\" Ben-Eliezer concluded that he expects a public amendment of the organization\'s declaration.
The report bases itself on the fact that 30 journalists were wounded by Israeli fire while covering the conflict with the Palestinians. Ben-Eliezer writes, \"An in-depth report by your own organization in July 2001 on the subject clearly determined that the cases of injured journalists were isolated incidents and in no way reflect an IDF policy or intent to harm journalists. Your report states: \'There is no doubt that the press in Israel enjoys freedom unlike anywhere else in the region. The foreign press works in very favorable conditions…\' As your report states, the IDF and the Chief of Staff have repeatedly condemned incidents in which journalists were injured. So to present the firing at journalist as somehow a policy sponsored or endorsed by the IDF or the Chief of Staff is false even according to findings of your organization.\" Ben-Eliezer concluded that he expects a public amendment of the organization\'s declaration.