Annual weekday readership figures for Israel Hayom registered at 25.4% in 2024, reflecting a slight, statistically insignificant decrease from 26.8% in 2023. In contrast, Yedioth Ahronoth saw a statistically significant decline from 21.8% in 2023 to 17.9% in 2024. Statistical analysis confirms the statistically significant gap between the two publications.

Israel Hayom's strong performance extends to weekend editions as well. The newspaper's annual weekend readership remained steady at 26.6% between 2023 and 2024, while Yedioth Ahronoth experienced a marked decrease from 26.4% to 22.2%. The data demonstrates Israel Hayom's cemented top stop in the weekend market, with statistical analysis confirming a statistically significant gap between the two publications on weekends as well.

The TGI survey, a cornerstone of media research in Israel since 1998, draws from a representative sample of the Jewish population aged 18 and above, encompassing approximately 4.783 million individuals. It stands as the industry's most comprehensive tool for analyzing media consumption patterns in Israel.

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More than 250,000 digital subscribers have canceled their Washington Post subscriptions following the organization's announcement that it would discontinue its longstanding practice of presidential endorsements, according to internal documents obtained by The Washington Post.

The cancellations, representing approximately 10% of the outlet's digital subscriber base, began surging on Friday after CEO and Publisher William Lewis made the announcement, according to documents and two sources familiar with the data who spoke to The Washington Post on condition of anonymity because they weren't authorized to comment publicly. By Tuesday, the exodus had reached 250,000 subscribers.

A spokesperson for The Post declined to discuss the numbers, noting that as a privately owned company, the organization typically keeps such business data confidential.

Executive Editor Matt Murray, who oversees news coverage separately from the opinions department, addressed the situation during a staff meeting on Tuesday, acknowledging the potential for "substantial" cancellations while emphasizing that the full business impact remains unclear.

"There's a view that the numbers are going to be bumpy and rough for a couple weeks, and we'll see how they settle down," Murray told staff members.

The figure, first reported by NPR, doesn't account for new subscriptions during the same period or subscribers who may have reconsidered their cancellation. Many cancellations won't take immediate effect due to annual subscription commitments, with only a few thousand accounts completely terminated, according to a source close to the situation who wasn't authorized to discuss details.

Jeff Bezos, The Post's owner, and Amazon's founder, defended the decision in a Monday op-ed, calling it "a principled decision" aimed at strengthening the paper's independence and rebuilding media trust. He addressed criticism about the announcement's timing – just 11 days before the election – and denied allegations of seeking favor with a potential second Trump administration.

The decision has sparked significant internal discord. More than 20 Post opinion columnists expressed their dissent in a published piece, and three editorial board members stepped down from their positions while remaining on staff. According to Post reporting, a draft endorsement of Vice President Kamala Harris had been prepared before the policy change.

Readers have responded strongly, with tens of thousands commenting on Post stories about the development. Many longtime subscribers expressed dismay at what they perceived as a capitulation to Donald Trump.

During Tuesday's staff meeting, Murray noted several days of strong new subscription growth, though specific numbers weren't provided. A person familiar with Post subscriptions confirmed higher-than-normal new subscriptions in recent days.

The digital subscription landscape has become increasingly competitive for media companies. The Post's digital subscribers peaked at 3 million in January 2021 before declining to about 2.5 million currently. The company lost $77 million last year, less than the projected $100 million, after reducing staff through a buyout program.

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Israel Hayom has cemented its status as Israel's most-read newspaper, according to the latest TGI survey of adult readers. The comprehensive report, covering July 2023 to June 2024, shows Israel Hayom not only maintaining its top position but also widening the gap with its closest competitor.

Israel Hayom's dominance in the market remains unchallenged, with the newspaper consistently topping the readership charts. During the surveyed period, Israel Hayom maintained its strong weekday readership, with an average exposure rate of 27.0% – holding steady compared to the previous year's figures from July 2022 to June 2023.

The newspaper's weekend editions also showed robust performance. On an annual basis, from July 2023 to June 2024, Israel Hayom led with an exposure rate of 27.1%, a slight increase from 26.7% in the previous period, though statisticians note this uptick is not statistically significant.

In contrast, Yedioth Ahronoth, a major competitor, experienced a notable decline in readership. Its average weekday exposure dropped to 20.0% during the July 2023 – June 2024 period, down from 22.3% in the previous year – a decrease that analysts deem statistically significant. The downturn for Yedioth Ahronoth is even more pronounced in semi-annual terms, with exposure falling to 17.6% from 22.4% in the preceding six-month period.

Experts point out that the widening gap between the two newspapers, both in weekday and semi-annual metrics, is statistically significant, underscoring the shifting dynamics in Israel's print media landscape.

The survey also shed light on broader trends in newspaper consumption. Overall readership of daily newspapers showed a slight dip, with the total exposure rate for weekday editions averaging 40.4%, compared to 41.0% in the previous year – a change not considered statistically significant. Weekend newspaper readership also saw a minor decline, falling to 45.5% in the July 2023 – June 2024 period from 47.0% in the preceding year, though this change too lacks statistical significance.

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Raz Israeli, who previously worked at Israel Hayom, died early Thursday morning in Tel Aviv in tragic circumstances. He was 42.

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No funeral arrangements were announced as of Friday morning. Born and raised in Nazareth Illit (Nof Hagalil), Israeli entered the media world some 15 years ago as a music critic and a feature writer for the entertainment weekly Rating. 

He went on to work in a variety of media outlets, writing primarily on culture and entertainment. Among his positions was deputy managing editor of the Maariv LaNoar youth magazine, a reporter for the NRG portal, and a music and culture reporter for Israel Hayom. 

He was the editor of the lifestyle and culture sections on the Israel Hayom website and later became the site's feature editor. His last position at Israel Hayom was managing editor of the Shishabat weekly magazine supplement. 

Israel Hayom Editor-in-Chief Omer Lachmanovitch eulogized Israeli, saying, "Raz was a creative spirit imbued with passion and delicate touch. He loved and lived culture with every fiber of his being and contributed heavily to that world through his significant journalistic work. He will be greatly missed by his former colleagues at Israel Hayom. We all share the pain of the family and convey our sorrow to them." 

May his memory be a blessing.

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As reports circulated Thursday of Russian troops on the outskirts of Ukraine's capital Kyiv, a Moscow-based journalist denied that a military invasion was taking place in a shocking interview with i24NEWS that seemed to contradict the facts on the ground.

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"There has not been any proof of troops going into Ukraine," journalist Tatiana Kukhareva said to anchor Jeff Smith.

She said that the "operation cannot be classified as an invasion because there are no troops on the ground," toeing the Russian's government line that only military infrastructure was being targeted in precision strikes.

Smith pressed Kukhareva on why she said it is not an invasion, saying that she "can't be serious."

She fired back by asking Smith if he knew the definition of an invasion, with Smith saying that he wasn't playing games.

Smith continued to press the journalist to explain her stance.

Kukhareva again repeated that no proof has been provided of Russian troops in Ukraine.

This article was first published by i24NEWS.

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A special Customs and Border Protection unit used sensitive government databases intended to track terrorists to investigate as many as 20 US.-based journalists, including a Pulitzer Prize-winning Associated Press reporter, according to a federal watchdog.

Yahoo News, which published an extensive report on the investigation, also found that the unit, the Counter Network Division, queried records of congressional staffers and perhaps members of Congress.

Jeffrey Rambo, an agent who acknowledged running checks on journalists in 2017, told federal investigators the practice is routine. "When a name comes across your desk you run it through every system you have access too, that's just status quo, that's what everyone does," Rambo was quoted by Yahoo News as saying.

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The AP obtained a redacted copy of a more than 500-page report by the Homeland Security Department's inspector general that included the same statement, but with the speaker's name blacked out. The border protection agency is part of Homeland Security.

"We are deeply concerned about this apparent abuse of power," Lauren Easton, AP's director of media relations, said in a statement. "This appears to be an example of journalists being targeted for simply doing their jobs, which is a violation of the First Amendment."

An employee at Storymakers Coffee Roasters, a small storefront shop Rambo owns in San Diego's Barrio Logan neighborhood, said Saturday that Rambo was not immediately available to comment. He lives in San Diego.

The new disclosures are just the latest examples of federal agencies using their power to examine the contacts of journalists and others.

Earlier this year Attorney General Merrick Garland formally prohibited prosecutors from seizing the records of journalists in leak investigations, with limited exceptions, reversing years of department policy. That action came after an outcry over revelations that the Trump Justice Department had obtained records belonging to journalists, as well as Democratic members of Congress and their aides and a former White House counsel, Don McGahn.

During the Obama administration, federal investigators secretly seized phone records for some reporters and editors at the AP. Those seizures involved office and home lines as well as cellphones.

Rambo complained to Yahoo News that Customs and Border Protection has not stood by him and that he has been unfairly portrayed in news reports.

"What none of these articles identify me as, is a law enforcement officer who was cleared of wrongdoing, who actually had a true purpose to be doing what I was doing," he said, "and CBP refuses to acknowledge that, refuses to admit that, refuses to make that wrong right."

Rambo had previously been identified as the agent who accessed the travel records of reporter Ali Watkins, then working for Politico, and questioned her about confidential sources. Watkins now writes for The New York Times.

Rambo was assigned to the border agency unit, part of the National Targeting Center in Sterling, Virginia, in 2017. He told investigators he initially approached Watkins as part of a broader effort to get reporters to write about forced labor around the world as a national security issue.

He also described similar efforts with AP reporter Martha Mendoza, according to an unredacted summary obtained by Yahoo News. Rambo's unit "was able to vet MENDOZA as a reputable reporter," the summary said, before trying to establish a relationship with her because of her expertise in writing about forced labor. Mendoza won her second Pulitzer Prize in 2016 as part of a team that reported on slave labor in the fishing industry in Southeast Asia.

Dan White, Rambo's supervisor in Washington, told investigators that his unit ran Mendoza through multiple databases, and "CBP discovered that one of the phone numbers on Mendoza's phone was connected with a terrorist," Yahoo News reported. White's case also was referred for prosecution and declined.

In response, AP's Easton said, "The Associated Press demands an immediate explanation from US. Customs and Border Protection as to why journalists including AP investigative reporter Martha Mendoza were run through databases used to track terrorists and identified as potential confidential informant recruits."

It was Rambo's outreach to Watkins that led to the inspector general's investigation. While he ostensibly sought her out to further his work on forced labor, Rambo quickly turned the focus to a leak investigation. Rambo even gave it a name, "Operation Whistle Pig," for the brand of whiskey he drank when he met Watkins at a Washington, DC, bar in June 2017.

The only person charged and convicted stemming from Rambo's efforts is James Wolfe, a former security director for the Senate Intelligence Committee who had a personal relationship with Watkins. Wolfe pleaded guilty to lying to the FBI about his contacts with reporters.

In the course of conversations with FBI agents, Rambo was questioned extensively about his interest in Watkins. He used the travel records to confront her about her relationship with Wolfe, asserting that Wolfe was her source for stories. Watkins acknowledged the relationship but insisted Wolfe did not provide information for her stories.

Rambo said Watkins was not the only reporter whose records he researched through government databases, though he maintained in his interviews with the FBI that he was looking only at whether Wolfe was providing classified information. Rambo said he "conducted CBP record checks" on "15 to 20 national security reporters," according to an FBI summary of the questioning that was contained in the inspector general's report.

New York Times spokeswoman Danielle Rhoades-Ha said new details about the investigation of Watkins raised fresh concerns.

"We are deeply troubled to learn how US. Customs and Border Protection ran this investigation into a journalist's sources. As the attorney general has said clearly, the government needs to stop using leak investigations as an excuse to interfere with journalism. It is time for Customs and Border Protection to make public a full record of what happened in this investigation so this sort of improper conduct is not repeated."

Watkins said she, too, was "deeply troubled at the lengths CBP and DHS personnel apparently went to try and identify journalistic sources and dig into my personal life. It was chilling then, and it remains chilling now."

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The trial in Case 4,000 against former Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu continued in the Jerusalem District Court on Monday, with state witness Nir Hefetz, Netanyahu's former media consultant, testifying.

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Case 4,000 entails the most serious charges against Netanyahu, including one of bribery. The former PM is accused of allegedly offering Shaul Elovitch, the controlling shareholder in the Bezeq telecom giant, legislative benefits potentially worth millions in exchange for positive coverage for himself and his family on the then-Bezeq-owned Walla news site.

Hefetz was asked about one instance from 2016 in which Walla ran an item about Netanyahu and his wife, Sara, visiting an IDF unit. After the item was published, the Netanyahu's allegedly asked that the images included be edited, a request that was reportedly handed on through Elovitch and his wife.

When asked by the prosecution to characterize the alleged incident, Hefetz called it "unusual."

The prosecutor also asked Hefetz about another instance in which he submitted a press release titled "An event with Sara [Netanyahu] today at Tel Aviv University." Walla CEO Ilan Yeshua reportedly responded "I'm putting it up right away on the homepage and adding a nice video."

The prosecutor asked Hefetz to what extent concern about personal information concerning himself being made public played a role in his decision to turn state's witness.

"There were physical and other pressures that increased to monstrous proportions," Hefetz described.

"There's no doubt that the collected conditions I was living under in the first few weeks [of the case] had an influence. It's like an operation and general anesthetic. You exercise your judgment and do what your lawyer tells you to. I felt weak in the head and in my body. Toward the end of the 15^th day I felt able to think for myself and I started to consider it," Hefetz said.

After returning from recess, Hefetz began testifying in Case 2,000, at the center of which are alleged negotiations between Netanyahu and Yedioth Ahronoth owner Arnon (Noni) Mozes for more flattering coverage of Netanyahu in that newspaper in exchange for him promoting a law that would limit the distribution of Israel Hayom as a free daily.

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Attorneys Amit Hadad and Noa Milstein, who are representing Opposition leader Benjamin Netanyahu in three cases of alleged graft, filed a request on Tuesday with Attorney General Avichai Mendelblit to open a probe to identify the source of leaks about the investigation into the former prime minister.

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"The flood of leaks from the case under discussion is unprecedented and destructive to the management of a fair trial," Netanyahu's attorneys wrote.

"The timing of the leaks creates the strong suspicion that it aimed to influence testimony in an unacceptable manner, and even lead to [witnesses] coordinating their stories," they said.

Hadad and Milstein went on to detail a series of leaks published in various media outlets prior to being presented to the defense team.

Earlier Tuesday, the court voiced criticism of the leaks, with one judge saying, "This is very serious. What will happen later if this is the situation now?"

"We cannot ignore the leaks. We expect the investigative authorities to clarify them and do everything necessary to prevent future leaks," the judges wrote.

The petition to Mendelblit came after Netanyahu made his first appearance in court in over six months as former aide Nir Hefetz prepared to take the stand against him.

Hefetz is a star prosecution witness in the case against Netanyahu, with his close proximity to the Netanyahu during several years in office a key part of the evidence. Hefetz left a long career in journalism in 2009 to work as a spokesman for Netanyahu's government, then in 2014 became the Netanyahu family's spokesman and adviser.

Netanyahu entered the courtroom Tuesday accompanied by a lawyer, his younger son, Avner, and a pair of supporters from his Likud party. The security presence around the building was much smaller than past sessions, when Netanyahu was the prime minister.

His lawyers immediately asked that Tuesday's session be delayed following reports that another witness had come forward with new evidence alleging that Netanyahu's wife, Sara, had accepted an expensive bracelet as a gift from two billionaire friends, Hollywood producer Arnon Milchan and Australian billionaire James Packer.

Netanyahu's lawyers argued that the former prime minister and his wife were caught off-guard by the allegations and had the right to study the evidence before Hefetz took the stand.

After a short recess, the court accepted the request and postponed Hefetz's testimony until next Monday.

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A new streaming service, Screen iL, targeting Israeli expatriates and consumers worldwide with an appetite for native Israeli film and TV content, has launched globally online.

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The new streaming service, built for Screen iL by SeaChange International, is the only legal platform to broadcast a wide variety of Israeli TV channels, films and other content outside the country. While the bilingual Hebrew and English content will be actively marketed to consumers in the US, it will also be open to Israeli film and TV lovers globally.

Screen iL says it offers the most comprehensive collection of Israeli films, pre-taped and live Israeli TV in the world, outside Israel.

The movie library contains nearly every Israeli movie ever produced, especially those which won awards in Israel, such as The Cakemaker, Fill the Void, Wedding Doll and Synonyms, as well as Oscar-nominated films including Footnote, Beaufort, Sallah and The Policeman.

"We founded the Screen iL service based on our own experience traveling abroad and feeling an emotional need for a window into Israel," said CEO Ben Berner.

"Whether it's news, comedy, humor, shows, movies or Hebrew; living abroad creates an emotional need to stay connected – we've all experienced it and that notion was the idea and the foundation for Screen iL," Berner added.

"Bringing the Screen iL service to life and the chance to serve the Israeli diaspora and lovers of Israeli culture around the world has been a labor of love for our team," said Robert Pons, executive chairman of SeaChange International. "Both project teams are fully aligned and committed to the long-term success of the business."

Israelis abroad, or fans of Israeli film and television, can opt for either a $19.99 monthly or a $219.99 all-inclusive subscription.

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Major Israeli news outlets Tuesday called on Facebook and Twitter to halt what they said were social media posts inciting violence against journalists after a rash of attacks and death threats targeting reporters.

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In letters sent to the social media giants, over a dozen newspapers, websites, TV and radio stations said "journalists have become a target for incitement, which has put them in clear and present danger."

Israel has gone through a tumultuous month that included police crackdowns against rock-throwing Palestinian demonstrators at a flashpoint Jerusalem holy site, mob violence between Jews and Arabs in mixed cities, and an 11-day offensive against Hamas terrorist infrastructure in the Gaza Strip.

Bystanders attacked journalists covering the unrest in Israeli cities, and news anchors and reporters covering the fighting in Gaza faced intense verbal attacks and death threats online.

"There have been countless tweets calling for physical harm to Israeli journalists or labeling them as traitors or enemies of the state in a manner that encourages or justifies violent action against them," the letter sent on behalf of 14 Israeli news outlets said.

The posts and tweets highlighted include calls for sexual assault and murder and accusations of treason.

Since Operation Guardian of the Walls began on May 10, the Union of Journalists in Israel said it has documented at least 14 cases of verbal and physical attacks on journalists by police, officials and members of the public. At least two people have been charged for assaulting TV reporters in Tel Aviv.

Veteran Channel 12 News reporter Rina Matsliah said in a televised monologue this month that while press criticism is necessary, "what's happening now isn't criticism ... What's happening now is an assassination attempt."

The station hired bodyguards to protect Matsliah and several other journalists after they were threatened.

Last week, the journalists' union and Israel Democracy Institute issued a similar call to the country's attorney general and Facebook. They said violent calls that started on social networks have progressed to messaging apps like WhatsApp, Telegram and private Facebook groups, leading to physical attacks on journalists.

Earlier this month, a Telegram channel displaying the emblem of a Jewish ultranationalist group swelled from a few hundred members to more than 6,000 in just a few days. It was used to mobilize mobs of Israeli Jews to flashpoints, including Bat Yam, where a crowd pulled an Arab man from his car and beat him severely.

Facebook and Twitter said they were both committed to cracking down on incitement.

"While we allow criticism of public figures, such as journalists, we don't allow people to threaten or harass them, and we remove this content whenever we become aware of it," Facebook said.

Twitter said it has a "clear policy in place which prohibits people from issuing violent threats against others on the service."

"Where we identify clear violations, we will take robust enforcement action," it said. "This work is constantly evolving as new challenges emerge and we recognize we have to work hard to stay ahead of those who intend to undermine the public conversation."

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