Covering a health crisis as a military crisis? The Israeli media coverage of the first COVID-19 wave crisis

Abstract

This article analyzes the media coverage of the first wave of the COVID-19 crisis. The analysis of 213 items from leading TV channels and newspapers revealed four main themes characterising the: coverage of the establishment’s preparations, coverage of morbidity, criticism of the establishment, and information provision. By and large, the media acted as a ‘mobilized press’, encouraging the public to follow guidelines, but criticism of certain sectors of the public and individuals was almost absent. The article demonstrates that the phenomenon of ‘rallying around the flag’ is common in both security and health crises.

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Israel Affairs
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Covering a health crisis as a military crisis? The
Israeli media coverage of the first COVID-19 wave
crisis
Azi Lev-On & Judith Yehezkelly
To cite this article: Azi Lev-On & Judith Yehezkelly (25 Apr 2024): Covering a health crisis as a
military crisis? The Israeli media coverage of the first COVID-19 wave crisis, Israel Affairs, DOI:
10.1080/13537121.2024.2342140
To link to this article: https://doi.org/10.1080/13537121.2024.2342140
© 2024 The Author(s). Published by Informa
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Group.
Published online: 25 Apr 2024.
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Covering a health crisis as a military crisis? The Israeli
media coverage of the rst COVID-19 wave crisis
Azi Lev-On and Judith Yehezkelly
School of Communication, Ariel University, Ariel, Israel
ABSTRACT
This article analyzes the media coverage of the rst wave of the COVID-19 crisis.
The analysis of 213 items from leading TV channels and newspapers revealed
four main themes characterising the: coverage of the establishment’s prepara-
tions, coverage of morbidity, criticism of the establishment, and information
provision. By and large, the media acted as a ‘mobilized press’, encouraging the
public to follow guidelines, but criticism of certain sectors of the public and
individuals was almost absent. The article demonstrates that the phenomenon
of ‘rallying around the ag’ is common in both security and health crises.
KEYWORDS Israel; health; COVID-19 virus; crisis; media; press; TV; COVID-19
Extensive research literature suggests that during emergencies, the media in
Israel, as well as other countries, tends to become mobilised. Typically, the
media refrains from criticising the government’s handling of the crisis and
journalists tend to adopt a more forgiving position towards the authorities’
actions. Scholars have referred to this phenomenon as patriotic or mobilised
journalism. This phenomenon has been observed inter alia in the British
media during WWII, the US media after 9/11, and in the Israeli media during
every war and crisis.
1
The COVID-19 pandemic rapidly spread and turned into a persistent
crisis. Israel’s endemic security reality has made it a convenient and fre-
quently utilised testing ground for media coverage during times of war,
terrorist attacks, and emergency situations.
2
The COVID-19 crisis has now
been added to this list of events, presenting an ongoing health crisis with
significant impacts on economic, social, political, and other areas.
This article focuses on the media coverage of the initial wave of COVID-
19 morbidity in Israel. It seeks to contribute to the theoretical literature by
exploring whether, in the era of online and multi-channel communication,
CONTACT Azi Lev-On azilevon@gmail.com School of Communication, Ariel University, Ariel
40700, Israel
ISRAEL AFFAIRS
https://doi.org/10.1080/13537121.2024.2342140
© 2024 The Author(s). Published by Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group.
This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-
NoDerivatives License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/), which permits non-commercial re-use,
distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited, and is not altered,
transformed, or built upon in any way. The terms on which this article has been published allow the posting of the
Accepted Manuscript in a repository by the author(s) or with their consent.

and in a crisis that primarily concerns health rather than security or military
aspects, the media still exhibits a ‘rally around the flag’ phenomenon, and if
so, in what ways and to what extent.
3
Media coverage of crises
The media’s role in times of crisis is particularly intricate. As the ‘messenger
of disaster’, the media is frequently blamed for extreme events. In these
complex situations, the media plays an even more critical role in maintaining
freedom of expression and providing coverage of events as they unfold.
4
Journalists play a critical role in interpreting and explaining events to the
public, and, as such, can bolster or undermine citizens’ resilience in coping
with a crisis. During these times, the primary professional dilemma for
journalists is whether to maintain their role as providers of reliable informa-
tion to the public without compromising on the need to safeguard its right to
know, or to prioritise social responsibility.
5
The security situation in Israel creates a sense of insecurity in society that
mobilises journalists. During times of war, the significant ideological divides
in Israeli society are often minimised, and public discourse tends to revolve
around the shared struggle against a common enemy. This sense of national
unity extends to members of the media, who feel a responsibility to identify
with the task of defending the country. However, this support for social
solidarity is typically temporary, and journalists eventually return to their
role of covering the government and its institutions in a professional, critical,
and balanced manner.
6
Research suggests that the media in democratic societies operates differ-
ently in ordinary times compared to times of crisis. During a crisis, the media
often aligns with the government for patriotic reasons, a phenomenon
known as ‘rallying around the flag’. The sense of threat and uncertainty
during a crisis strengthens the media’s role in society, including meeting
cognitive needs for information and interpretation of events, mobilising
solidarity, responding to emotional needs, and reinforcing social unity. The
rallying around the flag represents the position of the media and the public,
which are often more forgiving towards political leaders during times of
crisis.
7
Lavie-Dinor and Karniel’s research investigated how the press covers
national crises originating in the health and medicine field, using the case
study of Prime Minister Ariel Sharon’s sudden incapacitation due to
illness. The study found that the lack of criticality during a medical-
political crisis is similar to the media approach during times of war and
security crises. In this case, the press focused on transmitting information
received from the government, and at the beginning of the medical crisis
attending Sharon’s incapacitation did not critically examine its potential
2A. LEV-ON AND J. YEHEZKELLY

impact on the political situation in Israel.
8
Despite the obligation to
provide reliable information, situations may arise where journalists who
do not typically cover health-related topics report on them, despite their
unfamiliarity with the subject matter.
9
This may result in an inaccurate
portrayal of the situation.
10
There is a difficulty in journalistic coverage of health issues, which mainly
stems from the fundamental difference between the media and medicine
worlds. Journalistic reporting depends on pressures and competitiveness,
and the extent of its commitment to scientific accuracy is not always at the
top of the priority scale.
11
Despite the media’s role in meeting the public’s
right to know, on complex and professional issues such as health journalists
cannot provide medical interpretation without the help of professionals.
Therefore, their reports on these issues are usually general. Media research-
ers claim that in health coverage, journalists become conduits that transmit
partial and perhaps even trending reports.
12
The case study: the COVID-19 crisis in Israel
Like many other countries, the Israeli government has implemented a series
of restrictions aimed at combating the spread of COVID-19. Emergency
regulations were introduced, which initially led to the cancellation of public
events related to leisure and culture, as well as the closure of universities,
schools, and kindergartens. Restrictions were also placed on gatherings,
limiting them to no more than ten people in the same space. Later, the public
sector was put into emergency mode and private sector activity was reduced
by 70%. Finally, leaving home was prohibited except for essential reasons. By
September 2021, the number of confirmed cases in Israel had surpassed
one million.
Israel has faced numerous crisis situations in various fields since its
establishment. The legal basis for the Ministry of Health’s powers of isolation
and quarantine during the COVID-19 crisis can be traced back to regulations
from the mandate era (1920–48). However, due to the pandemic’s magnitude
and the state of emergency that was declared, unprecedented emergency
measures were taken that had a profound impact on the daily lives of Israelis
and the country’s economy. The widespread fear and high number of deaths
caused by the virus led to extensive media coverage of the crisis in all its
aspects.
In March 2020, extensive coverage began in all media networks on the
actions taken by the government to combat the newly arrived pandemic.
These actions included the development of economic assistance pro-
grammes, the preparation of the health system to treat the population,
assistance of the elderly population, the closure of the formal education
ISRAEL AFFAIRS 3

system and the activation of distance learning, breaking the chain of infec-
tion, and vaccination of the population.
13
However, there is a notable difference between the coverage of the
COVID-19 pandemic and previous epidemics. This stems from the
unknown and dangerous character of the pandemic, which affected the
entire world and numerous media outlets simultaneously. As was the case
with previous epidemic outbreaks, during the early stage of the COVID-
19 outbreak (the first wave), three challenges had to be encountered:
identifying the crisis, understanding it, and making decisions for
action.
14
Journalists played a role in facilitating the management of the
crisis by cooperating with the authorities, as well as serving as explainers
to the public.
15
Studies in other countries found that reports on the pandemic were fear
inducing and had a negative impact on citizens, to the extent that some of
them avoided watching the news altogether.
16
Emotions played a significant
role in the way journalists described the COVID-19 crisis. However, at times
the alarming descriptions had unintended consequences and undermined
their professional duty of providing accurate and timely information to the
public during a crisis.
17
This article analyzes the coverage of the COVID-19 crisis by the Israeli
media during the first wave, focusing on the health and medical aspects, in an
attempt to determine whether the media coverage of the health crisis exhib-
ited similarities to that of a security crisis.
Method
To study the media coverage of the COVID-19 crisis during its first wave in
Israel, we used textual content analysis. The research population comprised
thousands of articles from leading media platforms, including written media
(print and internet) and broadcast media (TV), covering the first wave of the
COVID-19 pandemic and the fight against it. These articles were collected by
‘Ifat’, a company that monitors the Israeli media. The media outlets surveyed
include Israel Hayom, Haaretz, and Yediot Ahronot for the printed press;
ynet, a leading digital news site; and the news releases of TV channels Kan 11,
Keshet 12, and Reshet 13 for broadcast media. The selection of these means
of communication was based on their status as central media outlets in Israel,
each in its respective field. Additionally, the combination of diverse media
outlets helps create a heterogeneous sample that accurately represents all the
articles on the COVID-19 pandemic that appeared in the Israeli media.
After an initial review of the article database, they were filtered to include
the most relevant articles for the research purposes. The selection was made
on the basis of the following criteria:
4A. LEV-ON AND J. YEHEZKELLY

●The centrality of the articles. To ensure the study’s accuracy, only
articles that received prominent coverage and appeared in the headlines
were selected. In the case of the printed press, only articles that appeared
on the paper’s front page were included. Similarly, the ‘principle of
centrality’ was applied to the broadcast media, with all sampled articles
being broadcast between 19:55 and 20:15, a time when the main and
most urgent articles are typically aired. Articles that were published in
the digital media featured on the main page or at the top of the site.
●Date of articles’ publication. As noted earlier, the initial filtering of
articles focused on those published during the first wave of the COVID-
19 pandemic in Israel. The pandemic’s outbreak was accompanied by
a great deal of uncertainty and confusion regarding how to handle the
situation, making this period particularly dramatic from a media per-
spective. Thus, we included articles published on 15–21 March 2020.
This timeframe coincides with the implementation of the first lockdown
in Israel, which marked the peak of the first wave. During this period,
increasingly strict measures were put in place, ultimately leading to
a complete lockdown.
●Coverage of the crisis in Israel. While the media provided extensive
coverage of the COVID-19 pandemic worldwide, the study focused
specifically on articles covering the situation in Israel. Therefore, only
articles relating to the impact of the pandemic within Israel were
included in the sample.
Once the articles were filtered according to the stated criteria, all relevant
articles were compiled to create a representative sample comprising hun-
dreds of articles. These articles were subjected to a thorough analysis in order
to identify recurring themes that were present in a significant portion of the
articles. During the initial mapping process, seven themes emerged from the
articles. However, it was ultimately decided to focus the current study on the
four most frequently occurring themes.
The coding scheme
To analyse the texts we utilised coding process where we searched for
categories that represented the topics discussed in the articles. The next
step involved mapping analysis, where we examined the connections
between the categories. The coding system used scores of 1 and 0 to identify
the selected themes from the articles. After creating the coding table, a joint
and individual review was conducted by the coders until full agreement was
reached.
After analysing the data and coding 310 instances from 213 articles, four
main themes emerged:
ISRAEL AFFAIRS 5

●Organizational Preparedness – found in 127 articles
●Morbidity – found in 80 articles
●Criticism of the Establishment – found in 60 articles
●Advocacy and Information Provision – found in 43 articles.
Three marginal themes were excluded from the study, namely: criticism of
citizens, criticism of sectors, and the voices of citizens.
Findings
Table 1 includes the themes in the analysis below in order of frequency.
Theme 1: preparation of the respective establishments
The predominant theme that emerged was the preparation of establishments
to handle the COVID-19 crisis, comprising 127 articles (making up 59.6% of
all analysed articles). In anticipation of an unprecedented and unfamiliar
emergency situation, the media provided in-depth coverage of the measures
taken by the government, especially the Ministry of Health, as well as health
funds and other medical entities to tackle the crisis from a medical
perspective.
The media extensively reported on the various modifications and
adaptations made by these establishments, emphasising their efforts to
combat the spread of the pandemic and minimise its impact on the
general population. As a result, the media supported the establishment’s
response to the COVID-19 outbreak, portraying it as an urgent crisis that
demanded immediate attention. The establishment’s preparation efforts
were covered across three key areas: regulatory measures, public guide-
lines and restrictions, and operational readiness, all aimed at effectively
tackling the virus:
●Regulation: Some of the articles focused on the government’s regula-
tory efforts to curb the morbidity and infection rate of COVID-19. For
Table 1. Distribution of themes by media.
Preparation of
the
establishment Morbidity
Criticism of the
establishment
Advocacy and
providing
information Total
Internet 69 41 30 29 169
Printed Press 26 15 15 5 61
TV 32 24 15 9 80
Total 127, 59.6% of
all sampled
articles
80, 37.5% of all
sampled
articles
60, 28.1% of all
sampled
articles
43, 20.1% of all
sampled articles
310 codings
out of 213
articles
6A. LEV-ON AND J. YEHEZKELLY

instance, the article ‘Government approves electronic monitoring
mechanism to curb COVID-19 spread’ discussed the government’s
decision to implement electronic monitoring of patients and individuals
in isolation to ensure compliance and prevent transmission. Another
article discussed the government’s implementation of cellphone track-
ing regulations, highlighting their potential to identify infected patients
and disrupt chains of infection:
As per the plan, the Shin Bet will track confirmed COVID-19 cases and their
movements until they enter isolation or hospitalisation. The technology will
enable the Shin Bet to identify all individuals who were near the infected
person during their travels, thereby allowing for direct notification to their
mobile devices regarding potential exposure to the virus. The individuals will
be advised to undergo testing and isolate themselves accordingly.
●Public guidelines and restrictions: Apart from the legislative changes,
the establishment leaders also decided to impose restrictions on the
general public to curb the spread of the virus. The primary measure
taken was the implementation of the first-ever quarantine in Israel. This
decision was made with the aim of reducing morbidity. Thus, for
example one article covered the closure of entertainment venues and
preschools, which was ordered by the government. Another article,
published two days later, addressed the newly imposed restrictions on
public transportation in an effort to minimise citizen movement: ‘In an
attempt to curb the spread of COVID-19, public transportation services
in Israel are operating on a reduced schedule’.
As a result of these restrictions, it was decided to reduce train traffic by 50%.
The government started implementing restrictions even on the economy by
significantly reducing private sector activities and transitioning the public
sector to an emergency mode of operation. One article highlighted the
Ministry of Health’s instructions urging people to refrain from leaving
their homes for public places and instead stay with their immediate family:
The Ministry of Health released new guidelines today (Tuesday), urging
individuals to stay at home unless necessary. The guidelines specifically pro-
hibit visits to parks, malls, and beaches. Public spaces may only be accessed for
essential purposes or with immediate family members and pets, as stated in the
detailed guidelines.
In addition, the media reported on the government’s decision to restrict the
number of individuals permitted in enclosed and open spaces. For instance,
one article stated that ‘the government authorized new regulations limiting
the number of employees in the workplace’. The media also covered mea-
sures taken to ensure compliance with these restrictions, such as the
ISRAEL AFFAIRS 7

installation of barriers on the Temple Mount in Jerusalem to reduce the
number of visitors and promote adherence to safety guidelines:
Today (Friday), the police set up roadblocks in Jerusalem’s Old City and
limited the number of Muslim worshipers permitted to attend the midday
prayers on the Temple Mount. Only a few hundred individuals were granted
entry.
●The operational preparation. Apart from the limitations imposed on
the public and changes in legislation, a significant portion of the articles
focused on the operational aspects of the response to the pandemic. For
instance, the article ‘Increasing the Scope of COVID-19 Testing:
Additional Labs and Round-the-Clock Work’ provides details about
expanding the number of laboratories and extending the working
hours of teams to enhance the testing capacity for COVID-19. The
article cites Dr. Ram Dolman, Director of the Laboratory Department
at Sheba, who said:
Over the past two weeks, Israel recognised the importance of widespread
testing in reducing mortality rates, and we are working to increase our testing
capabilities accordingly. That is why we were able to set up another laboratory
in just four days, which will operate at twice the capacity of the Ministry of
Health’s original lab.
The government went as far as creating dedicated departments to care for
COVID-19 patients, and the media reported on these efforts. For instance, an
article highlighted the government’s preparations to handle a surge in
COVID-19 cases, including the conversion of a hospital into a facility exclu-
sively for treating COVID-19 patients:
Hasharon Hospital in Petah Tikva is undergoing rapid transformation into
a specialised facility for the treatment of COVID-19 patients. The complex will
consist of five wards, with a total of 200 hospital beds, 40 ventilators, and
a team of 1000 medical professionals.
Another article documented the conversion of the parking lot at Sheba
Hospital into an intensive care complex dedicated to COVID-19 patients.
Additionally, the Ministry of Health altered the hospitalisation guidelines for
non-COVID-19 patients and transferred surgeries to private hospitals, with
the goal of allocating enough resources and equipment to treat COVID-19
patients:
After crossing the 500-patient mark, the Ministry of Health announced a plan
to allow for the massive admission of thousands of patients. This plan includes
closing internal wards, transferring surgeries to private hospitals, and convert-
ing maternity suites in hospitals into inpatient wards.
8A. LEV-ON AND J. YEHEZKELLY

The growing number of applicators was evident to the authorities, which
recognised the significance of their role in facilitating COVID-19 testing. The
media also highlighted this development and stressed its importance in
expanding the scope of testing. One article reads:
Today, Defence Minister Naftali Bennett reached an agreement with the
National Security Council (NSC) regarding the procurement of essential
medical equipment and its delivery to Israel. The Ministry of Health will
determine the specific needs, while the Ministry of Defence will be
responsible for the procurement process and international transporta-
tion. This will involve expedited procedures for purchasing medical
equipment both within Israel and from around the world, with the
aim of delivering it to the State of Israel as quickly as possible.
During the state of emergency caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, the
IDF played a significant role in preparing for and responding to the crisis.
Various articles highlighted the IDF’s efforts, such as ‘IDF battalions trained
for disinfection and quarantine enforcement’, which described the training
provided to soldiers for the purpose of maintaining hygiene and enforcing
directives in military bases and public spaces. Other articles, like ‘Bennett
approves recruitment of 2,000 reserve soldiers for Home Front Command’,
discussed decisions to increase manpower to address the pandemic.
Additionally, there were efforts to procure necessary equipment to deal
with the pandemic in the Arab sector.
Theme 2: morbidity
The second most common theme found in the sampled articles was morbid-
ity, comprising 37.5% of the total. These articles covered patients and their
medical conditions, as well as preparations made to contain the spread of the
disease. For example, ‘Institution purchases 100,000 COVID-19 tests: Senior
health official confirms availability’ discusses efforts to procure testing sup-
plies, while other articles reported on daily patient numbers such as ‘175 new
COVID-19 cases confirmed since midnight, with an increase in patients in
serious condition on special breathing equipment’.
In addition, various hypotheses were proposed regarding the potential
increase in morbidity rates and the potential deterioration of patients’ con-
ditions in the near future. Examples of such hypotheses can be seen in articles
such as ‘39 new COVID-19 cases confirmed today’; ‘Ministry of Health
predicts increase of at least 100 cases tomorrow’, and ‘Health system
warns: Without a change in policy, hundreds of patients could be in serious
condition within a month’.
The analysis of the 80 articles revealed that two sub-themes frequently
repeated in the database.
ISRAEL AFFAIRS 9

●Dramatic framing. Most of the reports focused on the high number of
individuals who were infected and employed sensational language to
convey the severity of the situation: ‘The number of individuals diag-
nosed with COVID-19 has increased to 7,428, of whom 96 currently
require respiratory support’.
Upon analysing the articles, it became apparent that a common trend was the
frequent use of words and phrases that conveyed a constant and alarming
escalation of the COVID-19 situation. Such language can create a sense of
hopelessness and pessimism among readers. Additionally, phrases such as
‘prepare for the worst’ can further exacerbate this feeling. The persistent
emphasis on the rising number of cases was a recurring feature in many of
the articles. It appears that most articles focused solely on the situation of
severely ill COVID-19 patients, despite the existence of more positive and
encouraging data. For instance, an article that presented tables with an
overview of hospitalised patients showed that the position of 284 individuals
who tested positive for the virus was mild. However, the text of the article
and headlines only mentioned severe and moderate cases.
●Pessimistic forecast. Despite the low number of seriously ill patients,
the reports were accompanied by negative and foreboding speculations
about the future. One such example was an article broadcast on Channel
12, which presented a horror scenario based on the remarks of the head
of the geriatrics division at the Ministry of Health: ‘Preparing for
a scenario where thousands require breathing assistance’.
At times, forecasts were mentioned as an introduction to explain the pre-
parations made by hospitals and medical teams to accommodate an expected
surge in patients. An example of this can be seen in an article that was aired
on Keshet 12, which discussed the next stage of the pandemic: ‘Sheba
Medical Center established a dedicated field hospital for treating COVID-
19 patients, in anticipation of the virus’s arrival’. The ‘Kan 11’ channel also
aired a similar report about the spread of COVID-19, which discussed the
expansion of testing and the decision to require mandatory isolation for all
those returning from abroad, with the assessment that this was a drastic
measure.
Negative forecasts were at times presented in conjunction with updates on
the Shin Bet’s tracking measures, which were presented as a potential solu-
tion to the rising number of infections. However, some government officials
believed that using the Shin Bet for tracking purposes could be illegal, as
these units were designed for hostile and criminal activity, not civilian use.
There were calls to ‘halt the use of Shin Bet units and not to train them in
legislation’.
10 A. LEV-ON AND J. YEHEZKELLY

In addition to reporting on the number of confirmed infections, there
were also claims that the actual number of patients was much higher. One
example of this can be seen in the Ministry of Health’s response to the
situation: ‘We are certain that there are thousands of unreported cases. The
disease is highly contagious, and we are on the brink of losing control’. There
were very few voices offering a counterbalance to the alarming predictions.
During an interview with the media, ‘COVID-19 Tsar’ Professor Gabi
Barbash made a grim forecast about the spread of the pandemic and its
potential consequences. In response, Professor Doron Lantz challenged
Barbash, saying ‘This is another doomsday forecast. How did you arrive at
the figure of 2,000 patients on respiratory support?’
Theme 3: criticism of the establishment
The third most common theme was criticism of the establishment, which
was the focus of 60 articles (or 28.1% of all sampled articles). While the media
extensively covered the government’s efforts to prepare for the COVID-19
outbreak, it also highlighted instances of failures and omissions by the
authorities, resulting in criticism. Within this theme, three sub-themes
emerged that characterised the media’s critique of the government.
●Criticism of conduct inefficiency/malfunction: Criticism mainly
focused on the authorities’ organisational and operational failures in
managing the crisis. This ranged from a lack of necessary equipment to
incorrect decision-making and a lack of coordination between different
agencies, resulting in various failures. One article highlighted deficien-
cies in the flow of samples to laboratories at the beginning of the
pandemic. According to the State Comptroller’s report, there were
issues with the scope of testing during those early days and the blame
was placed on the Ministry of Health for not adequately monitoring the
pandemic’s results and not offering practical solutions. The audit found
deficiencies in coordination between various agencies and a lack of
automatic mechanisms to monitor the transfer of information from
the sampling phase to the testing phase. This effectively limited the
number of tests that could be conducted each day.
Another article highlighted a significant issue that surfaced following
a procurement campaign for COVID-19 tests conducted by the Mossad. It
depicted the incident as a failure of the tests and disclosed that: ‘The Mossad
was tasked with acquiring 100,000 test kits but failed to procure markers that
are essential for conducting mass tests’.
Criticism was also directed at the lengthy process of carrying out and
verifying tests, which allowed for more people to become infected during this
ISRAEL AFFAIRS 11

time. Titled ‘Severe shortage of protective equipment and standards: the
health system tries to fill gaps of years’, the article intensified criticism of
the health system’s preparedness for the pandemic by highlighting its short-
comings and deficiencies in dealing with the disease. For instance, under the
subtitle ‘Protective equipment for doctors’, it highlights a report of
a significant shortage of masks.
●Inter-agency disagreements: Some of the criticisms featured state-
ments from individuals within the establishment itself. One article
highlighted the lack of consensus among various entities and focused
on Defence Minister Bennett’s dissatisfaction with the scale of COVID-
19 testing at that time:
While the debate regarding the extent of testing persists in the background . . .
merely 1,200 tests were conducted today . . . Bennett believes that this number
is insufficient, and the daily testing capacity must increase dramatically to
15,000 tests.
As medical personnel began contracting COVID-19, the media started to
cover the events and gave extensive coverage to physicians who criticised the
establishment’s handling of the situation, as demonstrated by the following
article:
The Chairman of the Medical Association, Prof. Zion Hagai, expressed con-
cern that the current situation cannot persist and immediate measures must be
taken to prevent future infections. He called upon the health system to
urgently reorganise hospital work practices and adopt an approach of working
in small groups to reduce exposure and ensure adequate protection for all
medical teams across all departments.
Another article warned of overcrowding on public transportation, which
would increase the risk of contracting COVID-19 and adversely affect
vulnerable populations and the elderly who depended on these bus routes.
●Commentaries: Numerous media outlets featured commentaries and
opinion columns that were highly critical of the government’s handling
of the crisis. Commentary pieces were particularly pointed, with colum-
nists and commentators expressing their opinions, many of which were
highly critical of the government’s response to the pandemic. One of the
commentaries, titled ‘Delay the End’, criticised the failure of the testing
system:
In addition to these problems, there was a significant shortage of COVID-19
testing kits and an acute shortage of protective equipment for medical per-
sonnel. The Israeli system had nearly two months to prepare for these issues,
12 A. LEV-ON AND J. YEHEZKELLY

but it appears that the response was inadequate . . . Had the State Comptroller’s
office been active, there would be ample opportunity to expect a thorough
examination of the situation once the dust settles. Unfortunately, this office
has been weakened in recent years under Netanyahu’s leadership.
Another commentary, titled ‘A Tragedy for Generations’, concluded that
the events of recent days signalled a complete loss of control. The article was
particularly scathing of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for allegedly
failing to demonstrate strong leadership and to keep the Israeli people at
home until the danger of infection passed. Instead, the article argued that
Netanyahu chose the easier path.
Another criticism of the Israeli establishment was the lack of
a comprehensive plan to deal with the COVID-19 pandemic. Unlike other
governments, Israel was accused of not having a clear long-term vision,
resulting in a disorganised approach to handling the crisis.
Theme 4: advocacy and providing information
The fourth common theme addressed the dissemination of information and
advocacy, and encompassed 43 articles (or 20.1% of all sampled articles). In
light of the necessary preparations required to manage the pandemic and the
uncertainties surrounding COVID-19 and its effects, journalists endea-
voured to provide information to the public and answer its questions.
Most of the time, details were provided based on information received
from the relevant parties, including the government, the Ministry of
Health, and medical organisations. Journalists also conducted research to
gather information on the situation, and expert service members, especially
doctors, were often interviewed to answer questions that worried the public.
The articles can be divided into three main recurring sub-themes:
●Conducting the quarantine and following the instructions. During
the period under discussion, the first guidelines were put into effect at
the beginning of the first closure. As a result, many articles focused on
answering questions about what was allowed and what was not, inter-
preting the instructions, detailing unusual cases, and so on. For
instance, an article titled ‘Up to 10 people: What is open and what
will be closed? Questions and answers’ provided information on the
new guidelines of the first closure, highlighting their impact on the daily
lives of citizens, and explaining which frameworks and services would
continue to operate and in what format.
Most articles provided specific instructions to the public so as to eliminate
any questions or doubts. For instance:
ISRAEL AFFAIRS 13

Under the new regulations, individuals are not permitted to leave their place of
residence except for the following actions or purposes: commuting to and from
work, purchasing food, medicine, and other essential products, and receiving
essential services . . . Private tutors are not allowed, and door-to-door food
deliveries should be left outside and picked up after the messenger has left. The
Seder night should only be celebrated with immediate family members, and
walking a dog is permitted.
Several articles urged the public to adhere to the guidelines set forth by the
Ministry of Health, emphasising their significance and impact on effectively
managing the pandemic. For example:
We are currently facing a great deal of uncertainty, with regard to both our
present circumstances and our future. However, what is certain is that each
and every one of us has the ability to contribute to the collective effort in
combating the spread of the disease through our daily actions and support of
our community, especially those who are most vulnerable. This has always
been a strength of our people, and it is being put to the test at this time.
A notable instance of this was an article broadcasted on Keshet 12,
featuring Bennett discussing the importance of following guidelines, patient
follow-up, and the number of COVID-19 tests conducted. Another article
mentioned that following the latest Ministry of Health guidelines, Rabbis
Eliezer Melamed and David Stav decided to hold private prayers and
intended to disperse their respective communities until the pandemic
subsided.
During an article broadcast on Kan 11, a discussion took place regarding
transportation, workplaces, and medical treatments. While it was acknowl-
edged that the instructions might be challenging for citizens to follow, people
were also urged ‘to minimize their outings and refrain from leaving their
homes unless absolutely necessary, such as for work purposes if working
from home is not possible’. This sentiment was reflected in an article titled
‘Stay at Home, Do Not Entertain Friends: A Guide to the New Guidelines’,
which provided information about the guidelines and urged the public to
adhere to them as closely as possible.
Certain articles made information more accessible to children by adapting
the content and speaker to a younger target audience. For instance, in the
article ‘Miki teaches children how to protect themselves from COVID-19’,
children’s star Miki participated in the Ynet studio and delivered a clear and
age-appropriate explanation of what COVID-19 was and how to stay pro-
tected from it. She used a calm tone and tailored her message to resonate
with children, even providing ‘tips’ for parents on how to discuss the issue
with their kids.
●Dealing with COVID-19 patients and locating them. Since the world-
wide outbreak of the pandemic, media outlets reported on the difficult
14 A. LEV-ON AND J. YEHEZKELLY

and humane conditions in which COVID-19 patients were treated
during the early stages of the disease. For instance, the article titled
‘Respiratory Therapy and Anesthesia: How Patients are Treated in
Critical and Difficult Situations’ provided expert insights into the
methods of treatment and their effectiveness. The article shed light on
the challenging circumstances that medical professionals faced when
treating COVID-19 patients and how they overcame them to provide
the best care possible.
As the number of patients increased, more articles began to emerge
that explained the testing procedures, hospitalisation of patients, treat-
ment of the disease, and management of COVID-19 hotels. For
instance:
A dedicated headquarter was established to coordinate between the medical
services and the medical follow-up teams at the hotel. Patients will only be
admitted with a written referral from the health funds, and entry without prior
coordination will not be permitted . . . This measure seeks to protect the public
from potential exposure to the virus . . . Additionally, the Ministry of Health
authorised the health funds to conduct COVID-19 tests for individuals who
were not in isolation.
Following the banning of anti-inflammatory drugs to reduce fever
by the health system in France, one article stated that the Ministry of
Health did not issue any recommendation to avoid drugs containing
Ibuprofen. Similar articles were published with the intention of clar-
ifying the public’s rights, providing a general understanding of treat-
ment methods, and easing the feelings of uncertainty and pressure that
were prevalent at the time.
●Information and instructions regarding the new virus. The media
played a key role in disseminating information obtained from prelimin-
ary medical studies on the COVID-19 virus. For instance, an article
titled ‘Contrary to Previous Assumptions: Children are Infected with
COVID-19 No Less Than Adults’ provided information on a new study
that claimed that children could easily contract the virus and be
infected, even if they were asymptomatic. One article presented research
findings about the underlying medical conditions that exacerbated the
condition of COVID-19 patients, while another highlighted research
attempts to understand why men were more susceptible to dying from
COVID-19 than women. Yet another article discussed the initial steps
in developing a vaccine for the virus and the chances of their success in
curbing the pandemic.
ISRAEL AFFAIRS 15

Discussion and conclusions
During crises, the media faces a crucial dilemma between the public’s right to
know and the sensitivity required when reporting complex situations.
Despite the media’s tendency to ‘rally around the flag’, many believe that
in democratic societies, like Israel, the media must uphold its role at all times,
particularly during crises, and despite the challenges, it must offer real-time
criticism.
This article discussed the Israeli media coverage of the health crisis
caused by the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic. It illustrated the
similarities between covering a health crisis and a wartime security
crisis. After collecting thousands of articles from the beginning of the
first COVID-19 wave, we sampled 213 articles that met our criteria for
the study. From the analysis of these articles, we identified four main
themes:
●Establishment preparation. The media extensively covered the various
preparations made by the establishment to deal with the COVID-19
pandemic.
●Morbidity: The media extensively covered the existing and expected
future scope of morbidity.
●Criticism of the Establishment: The media criticised the establish-
ment’s handling of the COVID-19 crisis.
●Advocacy and information provision: The media provided
a significant amount of information to the public about COVID-19
and how to deal with it.
Based on the findings, three main conclusions can be drawn about how the
Israeli media covered the COVID-19 crisis during the first wave of the
pandemic.
●Media mobilisation in favour of dealing with the COVID-19 virus.
One prominent aspect that emerged from the articles is the media’s
sense of mobilisation around the new pandemic that caused extreme
pressure among the public. The main theme dealt with the establish-
ment’s preparations for the emergency, stressing the extensive scope
of the pandemic and the fight against it. The media explained that
these actions were intended to reduce, as much as possible, the
negative effects of the pandemic. Another theme was the provision
and reporting of information received from various operating parties,
including the government, the Ministry of Health, and medical orga-
nisations. The media’s extensive coverage encouraged the public to
16 A. LEV-ON AND J. YEHEZKELLY

obey the instructions and join the common fight against the spread
of the disease.
This research suggests, for the first time, that similarities can be identified
between media coverage of a pandemic and the coverage of war. Despite the
fact that the fight is against an enemy that is less known, absolute, and
without clear culprits, the extensive mobilisation of the media and the
sense of common purpose in fighting the crisis bears resemblance to the
coverage of wartime situations.
●(Some) criticism of the establishment. Despite the media’s mobilisa-
tion in the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic and its support for
drastic measures to deal with it, it did not shy away at times from
criticising the establishment whenever it believed to have detected
improper conduct. As shown above, this criticism encompassed
a wide range of issues: from the nature of discussions within the
government regarding the crisis, to the healthcare system’s poor pre-
paredness, to ongoing crisis management. This theme emerged as the
third most common, with over 28% of sampled articles criticising the
way the establishment handled the crisis. While the media generally
supported the institutional actions taken with a strategic and broad
view, it was quick to point out and warn about any actions or decisions
it deemed wrong, and in some cases even framed them as failures. It is
reasonable to assume that the media’s coverage was driven by its
expectations for the crisis to be handled in a professional and effective
manner, given the seriousness and urgency of the situation.
●Negative forecasts. Many articles reported on the deteriorating situa-
tion and presented a pessimistic outlook for both the short- and long-
term future. Negative predictions were most frequently discussed in the
context of the scale of morbidity, but also in other areas such as the
establishment’s preparedness. The media covered the establishment’s
preparations while emphasising the magnitude of the danger, with most
forecasts predicting high numbers of infections and deaths. Dramatic
language and expressions were used to illustrate the continuous increase
in morbidity, creating a sense of a catastrophe with no end in sight.
These horror scenarios aligned with the Ministry of Health’s approach,
which supported the decision to impose a lockdown and repeatedly
emphasised strict adherence to guidelines. However, few voices offered
a more optimistic perspective, and little platform was given to less
alarming opinions.
As mentioned, this study examined the Israeli media coverage of the first
wave of the COVID-19 crisis in Israel, which coincided with the first
ISRAEL AFFAIRS 17

lockdown. It is reasonable to assume that selecting a different timeframe
during the crisis would result in different conclusions, as the character of
media coverage would have changed. Therefore, we recommend conducting
a follow-up study to investigate how the Israeli media covered the later stages
of the crisis, as the fog of uncertainty surrounding the new threat began to
dissipate, and the public, establishment, and media gained a clearer under-
standing of how to respond. The later stages of the crisis included additional
lockdowns, which may have contributed to a decrease in the public’s will-
ingness to comply with instructions. Additionally, it can be inferred that later
stages of the crisis may have revealed and clarified the establishment’s fail-
ures in handling the pandemic, and the character of media coverage may
have consequently changed as well.
Notes
1. Neiger and Zandberg, “Days of Awe”; Schudson, “What’s Unusual”; Zelizer
and Allan, “Introduction”; and Wolfsfeld, “Media and the Path to Peace.”
2. Barzilai, “State, Society and National Security”; Doron, “Cannons”; and Lebel,
“Conflict.”
3. Vaughan and Tinker, “Effective Health Risk Communication.”
4. Karniel and Wismonsky, “Freedom of Speech.”
5. Tal-Bloom, Zfati, and Weimann, “Strengthens or Weakens.”
6. Biano and Cohen-Almagor, “Israel’s Wars.”
7. Johansson, Hopmann, and Shehata, “When the Rally-Around-the-Flag Effect
Disappears.”
8. Lavie-Dinor and Karniel, “The Right to Know.”
9. Ibid.
10. Kitzinger, “Researching Risk.”
11. Weimann, “The Media.”
12. Lavie-Dinor and Karniel, “The Right to Know.”
13. The State Comptroller, https://www.mevaker.gov.il.
14. Boin et al., “The COVID-19 Virus.”
15. Wagner and Reifegerste, “From Black Death to COVID-19.”
16. Stolow et al., “How Fear Approaches in COVID-19 Health Communication.”
17. Ribbeiro and Schwarzenegger, “Introduction.”
Disclosure statement
No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).
Notes on contributors
Azi Lev-On is a faculty member at the School of Communication, Ariel University.
Judith Yehezkelly received her PhD from Ariel University.
18 A. LEV-ON AND J. YEHEZKELLY

ORCID
Azi Lev-On http://orcid.org/0000-0002-0248-9802
Judith Yehezkelly http://orcid.org/0009-0003-4588-2748
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