Did the Israeli air force strike in Syria or was it just a rumor? Israeli media consumers can't know what really happened on the Lebanese-Syrian border or at the "scientific installation" on the outskirts of Damascus. Whatever they read in the press, watched on TV or heard on the radio was based on "foreign sources." Israel is the only democracy in the world whose journalists are forced to take part in this preposterous charade known by the term "according to foreign sources." That's why we — the reporters — will tell you what we know, but we can't tell you that the information was elicited from our own sources. So we wink, stifle a smile and use that turn of phrase: according to foreign sources.
All of this is happening because Israel of the 21st century is still the only democracy in the world where censorship compels local media outlets to have any security-related article or information approved. Israel enjoys freedom of press in all areas, except when it comes to military and security matters.
What is absurd about censorship in Israel is the fact that it is based on the 1945 emergency statutes that were passed by the British Mandate in order to prevent the Jewish press from publishing news and articles that were disagreeable to His Majesty's censors. Seventy years later, however, the authorities in the independent state of Israel still use censorship in order to prevent the press from publishing information that the censors believe citizens shouldn't be apprised of. Little does it matter that the information is published in media outlets across the world and disseminated through thousands of websites to which every Israeli has unlimited access. Notwithstanding, Israeli journalists are compelled to preface everything they publish about security and military topics with the phrases "according to foreign sources" or "according to foreign publications."
In 1948, when the decision to found the state of Israel was made, it was also decided that the emergency statutes would remain in effect, including those pertaining to censorship (clauses 86 to 101). But for the authorities to make use of these provisions, including the use of censorship, there has to be a state of emergency. Most Israeli citizens are unaware of this, but Israel has been — since 1948 to this day — in a formal state of emergency, which the Knesset extends automatically every year.
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