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A sign reading 'Photographers and Journalists, Area Closed, DO NOT ENTER' is placed outside a barricade in Bethlehem. Applications for an Israeli press card will from now on have to be submitted to the Shin Beth internal security service, according to new forms received by media organisations here Monday.

Cards will not be delivered to people "convicted of an offence against state security and/or an offence which bears moral turpitude". The Foreign Press Association (FPA) in Israel said it was "concerned" by the new press credentials application procedure and urged its members not to fill in the new forms "pending clarification". The head of the GPO assured AFP that the new measure was not politically motivated.

The GPO and the Israeli government have repeatedly voiced objections to the foreign media's coverage of the ongoing conflict with the Palestinians, accusing some organisations of anti-Israeli bias. There are up to 1,000 foreign journalists posted in Israel. The GPO stressed that the move was chiefly aimed at reducing the number of credentials delivered to Israelis: "Instead of delivering 8,000 press cards to Israelis who are not all really working as journalists, we could deliver no more than 1,000".

Since January 2002, the GPO has refused to deliver press cards to hundreds of press technicians and Palestinians working for foreign media organisations.

Bron: AFP.