LIBEL IN ISRAEL Sus,—The draft Bill proposes neither to muzzle
Israelis nor to gag their press. It was designed with- out doing either of these things, to remedy what is generally admitted, by those acquainted with the present state of the law of libel in Israel, to be an unsatisfactory situation and to give added protec- tion to its citizens.
Your main criticism of the draft appears to relate to that provision under which the courts may order a newspaper to be closed if, within a period of two years, it or its corresppndents have been twice convicted of libel. It may be of interest to your readers to know that this represents a liberalising modification of the existing law inherited from the British Mandatory regime (Press Ordinance 1933, Section 23), which was more or less automatically taken over in 1948 with the bulk of the existing British legislation when the State of Israel was established. The 1933 Ordinance enabled the court to prohibit publication of a newspaper independ- ently of any convictions for libel; the new draft Bill proposes to replace this by requiring two convic- tions before the publication can by order of a court be halted—hardly a ferocious change for the worse.
For the record it should be added that in the fourteen years since the establishment of the State no journal in Israel has ever had to stop publica- tion under the provision of this law.
Most papers in the United Kingdom reported on Monday, March 26, that in view of the large measure of misunderstanding which has arisen over this draft Bill, the Cabinet has decided to return it to the relevant ministerial committee for redrafting. It is to be regretted that no reference is made to this fact in your editorial. Your concern for the right of the people of Israel to express themselves freely is of course appreciated but there are surely a great number of othef countries in the Middle East and elsewhere to which it could with far greater validity be directed.
1. D. UNNA
First Secretary (Press)
Embassy of Israel, 2 Palace Green, W8
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