Israel Denies Work Visa to German Journalist Over Anti-Israel Stance

Israel's Population and Immigration Authority on Sunday denied a work visa to German journalist Serena Bilanceri, preventing her from taking up her post as permanent correspondent in Israel for the daily Die Tageszeitung, known as taz. The decision followed a recommendation from Avi Cohen Scali, Director General of the Israeli Ministry of Diaspora and the Fight against Antisemitism. Scali stated that several articles published by Bilanceri constituted a political campaign hostile to Israel rather than purely journalistic work. The refusal is based on an amendment to the Law on Entry into Israel, which allows authorities to deny visas to individuals deemed to be acting against the state. An agreement also permits relevant ministries to exchange information and make recommendations in such cases. Bilanceri, 43, an Italian-born German journalist, has been covering the region from Jordan, Syria, and Israel. Over the past year, she has published opinion pieces highly critical of Israeli policy. In a November 2025 article titled "Sanctions against Israel," she described violence by Jewish residents of Judea and Samaria as part of a "radical expulsion strategy" and called for the United States, Germany, and several European countries to impose economic and military sanctions on Israel, echoing Amnesty International's description of Israel as an "apartheid state." Two months prior, she criticized Berlin's opposition to a European sanctions initiative related to the Gaza war, urging EU member states to coordinate and strengthen measures against Israel. "Anti-Israel actors and those who slander Israel should not set foot in the country," Avi Cohen Scali stated after the decision. "We will not tolerate calls for boycotting Israel under the guise of professional journalism." Israeli authorities frame this measure as part of a broader crackdown on foreign activists and professionals calling for boycotts or sanctions against the country.