Police officers and Communications Ministry inspectors arrive at Al-Jazeera’s Jerusalem offices to confiscate the channel’s broadcasting equipment, May 5, 2024. (Screenshot, Office of Communications Minister Shlomo Karhi)
Jerusalem, May 6 (RHC)-- Israeli satellite and cable television providers suspended broadcasts of Al Jazeera after the government decision to shut down the network’s operations in Israel for as long as the war on Gaza continues.
Benjamin Netanyahu’s cabinet made the decision on the grounds the television network, in their estimation, threatens national security.
The network is funded by the Qatari government and has been critical of Israel’s military operation in Gaza, from where it has reported around the clock throughout the war.
“The incitement channel Al Jazeera will be closed in Israel,” Netanyahu posted on social media following the unanimous cabinet vote. “Al Jazeera Media Network strongly condemns and denounces this criminal act that violates human rights and the basic right to access of information,” the network said in a statement.
“Al Jazeera affirms its right to continue to provide news and information to its global audiences.”
The UN Human Rights Office also criticised the closure, urging the Israeli government to overturn the ban, citing the importance of “free and independent media.”
We regret cabinet decision to close Al Jazeera in Israel. A free & independent media is essential to ensuring transparency & accountability. Now, even more so given tight restrictions on reporting from Gaza. Freedom of expression is a key human right. We urge govt to overturn ban.
Israel’s parliament last month ratified a law allowing the temporary closure in Israel of foreign broadcasters considered to be a threat to national security.
The law allows Netanyahu and his security cabinet to shut the network’s offices in Israel for 45 days, a period that can be renewed, so it could stay in force until the end of July or until the end of major military operations in Gaza... if it is ever allowed to operate in Israel again.
