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How to Apply for an Israeli Press Pass

Joshua Pex
Joshua Pex

Are you a foreign journalist aiming to work in Israel or a media outlet seeking information regarding journalist visas to Israel? In this article Advocate Michael Decker, a lawyer from our law firm, will explain how to apply for a press pass and receive a journalist visa to Israel through the recommendation of the government press office. This article will also list the relevant criteria and documentation.

Applying for an Israeli Press Pass from the Government Press Office

The Israeli Government Press Office (לשכת העיתונות הממשלתית‎‎, abbreviated לע”ם) is responsible for issuing press passes to foreign correspondents, reporters, and media workers. It also issues work visa recommendations and work permits. The office facilitates favorable or impartial press coverage of Israeli news, and a media outlet applying for a pass for the first time is required to pass a security review and demonstrate its credentials.

What Does the Security Review Entail?

Israeli press pass

This is actually fairly simple. The Israeli press pass request must check out as truthful in general, as any blatantly misleading information will cause the request to be rejected. The person being issued the pass must be deemed as not endangering the security of the state of Israel. In other words, someone who was never convicted of an offense against state security, was never deported from Israel, did not commit a serious crime in Israel, and is not a resident or employed by a propagandist or hostile nation to Israel. With that in mind, the office is provided with discretion in its deliberations. The office may accept an applicant who violates one of the items above or reject an applicant who does not.

What Are the Qualifications for a Media Outlet Applying for a Press Pass in Israel?

Distribution, legitimacy, and time of operation. The media outlet must have been active for at least two years, must reach a certain audience (10,000 copies sold for newspapers, 100,000 daily hits for websites), must be primarily concerned with news articles (as opposed to special interest articles, opinion pieces, etc.), and be aimed at the general public (as opposed to a publication for consumption within a company or organization). The qualifications are similar, though somewhat less stringent, with regard to audience size for Israeli media outlets looking to hire a reporter from abroad. Furthermore, no more than 40% of the total media space (pages or web pages) can be devoted to advertising, and at least half the articles published must have been written by the outlet employees.

How to Appeal a Rejected Request for an Israeli Press Pass

Please note that the appeal is not simply a re-submission of the first request to another representative of the government press office. Media outlets have the right to resubmit their request after six months of the previous request having been rejected. However, such a re-submission is likely to be rejected as well unless the information submitted is substantially and truthfully different from the first application.

A thorough appeal must be sent to the legal department of the prime minister’s office. The appeal is reconsidered by a special committee made up of a representative of the CEO of the prime minister’s office, a representative of the CEO of the Interior Ministry, a representative of the attorney general’s office, and a representative of the Israeli media committee.

During the course of the appeal, the media outlet must demonstrate that the reasons given for refusing the press pass were factually incorrect. If no particular reasons were specified at the time, the media outlet must provide more detailed and legally certified documents proving that it meets the necessary criteria above. In other words, the appeal must establish the identity of the press pass employee(s) as free of security risks and the media outlet as legitimate, well established, and widely distributed.

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Please contact our law firm for more information about press passes and work visas in Israel.

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