Foreign Press Association slams Israeli police attack on photographer

An international media association condemns what it describes as a “violent and unprovoked attack” on veteran photographer Menahem Kahana.

Kahana was covering a demonstration against a death penalty bill passed by the Knesset that mandates execution for Palestinians convicted of deadly acts of terror.

According to the Foreign Press Association, which represents hundreds of journalists in Israel, the West Bank and Gaza, Kahana was “sprayed at a close distance by a water cannon” at the protest outside the Knesset.

“The force of the spray threw him to the ground and he remains hospitalized with pain to his neck, back and head,” the FPA says in a statement on X.

During a protest outside the Knesset against the death penalty law for Palestinians, Israeli police used a water cannon, injuring photojournalist Menahem Kahana. Video by: Tomer Cordovi pic.twitter.com/FdZ8pBbXgU

— Oren Ziv (@OrenZiv_) March 31, 2026

An AFP image shows Kahana lying on the ground next to a puddle of white liquid that was mixed with the sprayed water, according to an AFP reporter who was on the scene.

“There simply is no justification for this attack on journalists doing their job,” the group writes, criticizing the “lack of professionalism” of the officers involved and the “climate of impunity” encouraged by the police command and politicians.

An AFP journalist sits on the FPA board. Kahana is a former AFP employee.

The police do not immediately respond to a request for comment from AFP.

The law does not apply to Israeli citizens and only concerns those who “intentionally cause the death of a person with the aim of denying the existence of the State of Israel” — which is designed to exclude Jewish terrorism. It has been widely criticized in Israel and abroad as discriminatory.