On Sunday (5th May), Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu-led Israeli government authorised the shutdown of Al Jazeera News Networks’ operations in the Jewish nation-state. This comes after his cabinet unanimously authorised the closure of Al Jazeera’s operations in line with a law passed by the Knesset in April. It allowed the government temporary closure of foreign media outlets deemed to be harming national security. According to Reuters, the Israeli cabinet asserted that the Qatari television network “threatened national security”.
The cabinet approved the decision in line with a law passed in April by the Knesset, allowing the government to temporarily shut down Al Jazeera in Israel. The so-called Al Jazeera law allowed the govt to prevent foreign news networks from operating in Israel if they are deemed by the security services to be harming national security. After the law was passed, PM Netanyahu had said that Qatar-funded Al Jazeera will no longer be allowed to broadcast from Israel.
Following the government decision, PM Netanyahu and Communications Minister Shlomo Karhi released a joint press release. In the press release, Netanyahu described the Qatari-funded news channel as a mouthpiece of Hamas.
He said, “Al Jazeera’s journalists have harmed Israeli security and incited against IDF soldiers. The time has come to eject Hamas’s mouthpiece from our country.” Taking to X, he wrote in Hebrew, “The government headed by me unanimously decided: the incitement channel Al Jazeera will be closed in Israel.”
Following the cabinet decision, Minister Shlomo Karhi signed four orders implementing the ban and said that “megaphones for Hamas” would not have freedom of expression in Israel.
The Communications Minister signed four orders to shut down Al Jazeera’s operations
As per the first order, Al Jazeera’s offices in West and East Jerusalem will now be closed down. A separate order instructed television providers to stop broadcasting the Al Jazeera channel. The third order instructed that the channel’s broadcast equipment, including cell phones, except those for personal use should be confiscated.
Additionally, Al Jazeera’s workstations, cameras, microphones, servers, laptops, external hard drives, video compression equipment, and wireless broadcast equipment will also be confiscated as per this order.
The fourth order instructed television, cell phone, and internet providers to block access to Al Jazeera’s English and Arabic language websites.
After signing the orders, Karhi said, “Too much time has passed and there have been too many unnecessary legal hurdles in order to finally stop the well-oiled incitement machine of Al Jazeera, which harms the security of the state.”
He added, “We will act immediately against those who use freedom of the press to harm Israeli security and IDF troops, and incite to terrorism at a time of war.”
Speaking to Reuters, the head of Al Jazeera in Israel and the Palestinian territories, Walid Omary described the Israel government’s decision as “dangerous” and motivated by political rather than professional considerations. Omary added that the network’s legal team was preparing a response.
The legal debate and politics
The vote to close Al Jazeera was postponed on Thursday. The National Unity party which boycotted the Sunday’s vote, claimed that the heads of Mossad and Shin Bet (Intelligence agencies in Israel) expressed concerns that shutting down the Qatari-backed channel could negatively impact the hostage negotiations with Hamas terrorists.
While the vote in the cabinet was unanimous, the National Unity Party, led by war cabinet minister Benny Gantz, had boycotted it. After the decision was approved, the party claimed it supported the measure but expressed concern that the timing could harm the hostage negotiations.
Economy Minister Nir Barkat described the Qatari network as “the biggest engine of antisemitism in the world,” and welcomed the decision.
Meanwhile, an order to close a foreign news channel must undergo judicial review by the president of a district court within 24 hours. The court then has three days to determine whether the order will be enacted. According to the temporary law passed in April, foreign media networks can be closed for a 45-day period, which can then be renewed. It was passed as a temporary law and is set to expire on 31st July or earlier, if the government lifts the declaration of an emergency situation.
According to The Times of Israel, the House of Representatives in Israel, Knesset, passed a law on 1st April that gave the government temporary powers to prevent foreign news networks from operating in Israel. The government can ban the channel if it believes its presence in the country harms national security. The law was passed 71 to 10 in its second and third readings.
Following the general vote, Communication Minister Shlomo Karhi said the channel would be closed soon.
In line with the legal requirement, the Israeli Minister asserted on Sunday (5th May) that the decision was made “after supporting position papers were received and the prime minister was convinced, in accordance with the law” in reference to the law’s requirements that the security services issue professional opinions that the outlet in question poses a threat to national security.