Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced on Sunday that his cabinet had passed a resolution to suspend Al Jazeera's activities in Israel. Al Jazeera is a Qatar-based network that is a major news source in the Arab world and has often highlighted the suffering of civilians in the Gaza Strip under Israeli rule. war with Hamas.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu accused Al Jazeera, which has long had a tense relationship with Israel, of violating Israel's security and inciting violence against soldiers. Israeli authorities did not immediately provide examples of Al Jazeera content that could be considered threatening.
Al Jazeera called the decision a “criminal act” in an Arabic statement. “Israel's suppression of press freedom to cover up its crimes does not prevent us from fulfilling our obligations,” the network said.
Communications Ministry officials said the initial closure order was for 45 days, with an option to extend it for another 45 days. The order focuses on halting Al Jazeera's ability to emanate from and be seen inside Israel. It was not immediately clear whether the closure would affect the network's coverage in Gaza and the West Bank.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has previously described the network as a “mouthpiece” for Hamas, the militant group that controls Gaza and led the October 7 cross-border attack that sparked the war.
Journalism organizations denounced the closure, which has been discussed for weeks in Israel, as a blow to press freedom. Reporters Without Borders said in an Arabic statement that it strongly condemned the decision as repressive. The Foreign Press Association said Israel had joined the “shady club of authoritarian governments” that banned the broadcaster.
The move was unusual for the Israeli government, which also shut down the Lebanese channel al-Mayadeen in November, more than a month after the October 7 attack. Al-Mayadeen is affiliated with the Iranian-backed Lebanese group Hezbollah and has been involved in retaliatory attacks across the Israeli-Lebanese border since the start of the war. It was closed for two months.
Israeli Communications Minister Shlomo Karhi said in a video statement that Al Jazeera's “equipment will be confiscated.”
There were signs that Israeli authorities were moving quickly. HOT, Israel's main cable provider, said it had halted transmissions on its network, and Israeli police said they had accompanied government officials who seized equipment at Al Jazeera's offices in an East Jerusalem hotel. Closed. Israel primarily occupied Palestinian East Jerusalem in the 1967 war and later annexed it. The Ministry of Communications said in a statement that access to Al Jazeera's internet site would also be blocked, although it was still accessible Sunday night.
But the closure could have broader implications. Qatar, which funds the network, is helping broker a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas, along with Egypt and the United States. The Qatari government did not immediately comment on Israel's actions.
The National Unity Party, led by Benny Gantz, a centrist member of Israel's wartime cabinet and a former military commander, said in a statement on Sunday that it supported a deal, but the timing was unfortunate as it could “obstruct” delicate negotiations. said.
Mr Gantz's party said the timing was due to “political considerations” and could signal Mr Netanyahu's need to appease hard-line members of his party and the right-wing coalition.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on social media that his government had unanimously decided to suspend operations at the base. “The incitement channel Al Jazeera will be shut down in Israel,” he said.
The vote came after Israeli lawmakers passed a bill last month that would allow the government to temporarily shut down foreign media that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu deems would compromise national security.
Early in the war, Israel's internal security agency, the Shin Bet, said Al Jazeera's content posed a risk to national security. Other Israeli security sectors, including the military, also support restrictions on the channel's operations, according to an official government document outlining the Israeli National Security Council's legal opinion. However, the entire Shin Bet evaluation was confidential, the document said.
Al Jazeera's Arabic-language reporting is frequently criticized by Israel, which accuses it of amplifying the Hamas perspective and uncritically covering calls for violence. On October 7, the day of the Gaza attack, Al Jazeera repeatedly reported statements by Hamas officials calling for a violent uprising in the Israeli-occupied West Bank.
By law, government actions must be approved by a district court judge. Within three days of the entry into force of a closure order, the court may issue a judgment varying the closure order or varying the length of the closure period.
The war in Gaza has taken a heavy toll on the network's own employees and their families. In October, Al Jazeera's Arabic-language Gaza bureau chief, Wael al-Dahdou, was informed live that his wife, son, daughter, and young grandson had been killed in central Gaza, where they had taken refuge. His eldest son was killed in an Israeli airstrike in January, according to Gazan authorities.
liam stack, Adam Rathgon and Jonathan Rees Contributed to the report.