Israel denies work visa to German taz correspondent — Anadolu Agency
Israeli authorities have denied a work visa and barred from entering the country Serena Bilanceri, a correspondent for the Berlin-based newspaper taz, who had covered events in Israel and the Palestinian territories for many years. Since June 2026, she has been the outlet’s official correspondent. This was reported by Anadolu Agency.
taz editorial office’s reaction
taz called the decision a significant violation of press freedom. The outlet stated that the government of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is moving away from the principles of a democratic state governed by the rule of law, and the newspaper associates such actions with authoritarian regimes.
According to taz, Bilanceri had previously faced difficulties when entering and leaving Israel. Last year, her laptop was confiscated at Tel Aviv airport allegedly for an explosives check. The device was returned damaged, and the journalist was not given an explanation for the decision.
More current news is available on the UA.News Telegram channel Telegram.
Positions of the parties
As Israel National News writes, Israel’s Population and Immigration Authority accused Bilanceri of calling for sanctions against Israel in two articles published in September and November 2025. The articles concerned settlements in the West Bank and the humanitarian crisis in the Gaza Strip. According to these reports, Israeli authorities likely regarded the content of the texts as a call for a boycott.
Avi Cohen Skali, director general of the Ministry of Diaspora Affairs and Combating Antisemitism, said that calls to boycott Israel under the guise of professional journalism would not be tolerated. At the same time, the taz editorial office stressed that Bilanceri had never called for a boycott of the state. The journalist herself said on social media that she had advocated financial and military sanctions in response to the actions of the Israeli government, but not a boycott of the country.
taz also reported that since 2025, four other journalists have been denied entry to Israel: Frenchwoman Alice Froussard, Spaniard Queralt Castillo, French photojournalist Frédérique Le Brun, and Italian journalist and photographer Alessandro Stefanelli. The outlet called on Germany’s federal government to seek Israel’s observance of freedom of speech and the press and to allow Bilanceri to return to work without restrictions.
