Comparing United States television news coverage of the Palestinian uprising in the Israeli-occupied territories before and after press restrictions were introduced in March 1988, a study examined whether Israel's press clampdown (restricting particularly the activities of camera crews, and apparently begun in response to negative foreign opinion about Israeli handling of the uprising) successfully reduced the flow of negative news and improved Israel's global image. Content analysis of the evening news broadcast on the three major U.S. television networks from December 1987 through June 1988 revealed, among other things, that in the post-clampdown period there was a sharp decline in the number of stories per month, the length of stories, the number of on-camera sources in the reports, and the production of stories using film footage to accompany reports. Public opinion trend data indicated that, in the period after the press restrictions, Americans had softened their opinion about Israeli tactics in curbing the rebellion--thus indicating that governments beset by internal strife can effectively use press sanctions to reduce the flow of bad news, and ultimately, to sway foreign public opinion. (Six tables of data are included and 18 references are attached. Two appendixes--the coding sheet for television coverage and a list of definitions of source categories--conclude the study.) (SR)