Gag Order From Israeli Court Raises Questions

[Commentary] The New York Times published an article about an Arab citizen of Israel -- a 23-year-old journalist and Palestinian rights advocate -- who was detained by Israeli authorities.

The man, Majd Kayyal, was initially not allowed a lawyer, and he was interrogated for five days on suspicion that he was being recruited by a “hostile organization” after he visited Lebanon. He was released but ordered to be kept under house arrest.

The Times article mentions a court-imposed gag order that was lifted. What it doesn’t mention is that The Times, too, is subject to such gag orders.

According to its bureau chief in Jerusalem, Jodi Rudoren, that is true. The Times is “indeed, bound by gag orders,” Rudoren said. She said that the situation is analogous to abiding by traffic rules or any other laws of the land, and that two of her predecessors in the bureau chief position affirmed to her that The Times has been subject to gag orders in the past.

In the case of article about Kayyal, Rudoren said, “We probably would have written a modest story or brief about this arrest earlier if there had not been a gag order.”

Waiting a day or two until the gag order was lifted may have done no great harm. Still, I find it troubling that The Times is in the position of waiting for government clearance before deciding to publish.

If the law makes that situation unavoidable, a little transparency would go a long way. Either in a sentence within an article or a short editor’s note, The Times can, and should, tell its readers what’s going on.

[Sullivan is the fifth public editor appointed by The New York Times.]