Benjamin Netanyahu, Israel | Netanyahu promises to close the “terror channel” Al Jazeera in Israel

The Israeli national assembly, the Knesset, approved a bill on Monday evening that gives the government the authority to stop the television channel Al Jazeera’s broadcasts in Israel.

The law means that content from foreign TV channels can be banned from broadcasting and also makes it possible to close Al Jazeera’s offices in Israel. The law was passed by 70 votes to 10.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had previously promised to take immediate action to shut down Al Jazeera in Israel as soon as the law came into force, and on Monday he repeated this.

– The terrorist channel Al Jazeera will no longer be able to broadcast from Israel, Netanyahu writes on the messaging service X.

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The US worried

The White House says it is “disturbing” if it is true that Israel is trying to shut down Al Jazeera’s broadcasts in Israel.

– We believe in press freedom. It is crucial, says White House spokeswoman Karine Jean-Pierre, according to Al Jazeera.

Al Jazeera is an Arabic television channel and media house owned by the State of Qatar through the Qatar Media Corporation, and is headquartered in the Qatari capital Doha. Israel has previously accused the channel of collaborating with Hamas in the war on the Gaza Strip. For several years, the Israeli government has threatened to close the channel’s operations in the country.

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Al Jazeera journalists killed

Netanyahu has accused the media house of harming Israeli security, aiding the terrorist attack on October 7 and inciting violence against Israel. Al Jazeera has flatly rejected the accusations and accuses Israel of systematically attacking the channel’s staff in Gaza.

Several Al Jazeera employees are among the more than 100 journalists who are said to have been killed in Israeli attacks on the Gaza Strip since 7 October. When Al Jazeera journalists Hamza Dahdouh and Mustafa Thuria were killed in an Israeli drone strike in January, Israel claimed they were aiding and abetting terrorism. Several other Al Jazeera journalists, including the channel’s Gaza chief Wael al-Dahdouh, have also been wounded in Israeli attacks.

In May 2022, Al Jazeera journalist Shireen Abu Akleh was killed during an Israeli attack on the Jenin camp in the occupied West Bank.