Al Jazeera to Be Kicked Out of Israel, Deemed Agent of Hamas

The Al-Jazeera headquarter building in Doha, Qatar, on May 11, 2022. Imad Creidi/Reuters

The Israeli government has voted to close Al Jazeera’s operations in Israel, citing the risk the Qatari network poses to national security.

The decision was passed in a unanimous vote by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s Cabinet.

The cabinet vote came after Israel’s parliament passed a law allowing the temporary closure in Israel of foreign broadcasters considered to be a threat to national security during the war against Hamas in Gaza.

“Al Jazeera serves as a propaganda organ of Hamas. The channel encourages the armed struggle against Israel. It is intolerable for a media organization, with press cards from the Government Press Office and offices in Israel, to operate against us from within us, certainly in wartime,“ Israeli Minister of Communications Shlomo Karhi said at the time. ”We have received an efficient and quick tool to act against those who use the freedom of the press to harm the security of Israel and the IDF soldiers, and to incite to terrorism during wartime.”

Mr. Netanyahu said of the law, “Al Jazeera correspondents have harmed the security of Israel and incited against IDF soldiers. The time has come to eject Hamas’s mouthpiece from our country.”

He was referring to the Israel Defense Forces’ (IDF’s) claims that Hamas terrorists have doubled as Al Jazeera journalists. One of its journalists, Ismail Abu Omar, “is a deputy company commander in Hamas’ Eastern Battalion of Khan Yunis” the IDF previously said. “Abu Omar even filmed himself in Kibbutz Nir Oz during the October 7th massacre and published it on social media platforms.”

The Israeli government had been trying to shut down the channel since October 2023 following Hamas’s Oct. 7, 2023, massacre. However, the order had been tied up in the courts.

“The government approved and I immediately signed the orders against Al Jazeera,” Mr. Karli said on X, formerly Twitter, on May 5 after the vote.

“Our orders will go into effect immediately. Too much time has passed and too many unnecessary legal hurdles for us to finally be able to stop Al Jazeera’s oiled incitement machine that harms the security of the country.

“For months, I did everything and will continue to do everything so that they can no longer operate from Israel.”

Israeli media said the vote allows Israel to block the channel from operating in the country for 45 days, according to the decision. The government will likely close the channel’s office in Israel, seize equipment, and either shut down or restrict access to its website.

There was no immediate comment from the channel headquarters in Doha, Qatar, where the government provides funding to the channel. The Doha government is a key supporter of Hamas and has been playing a key role in mediation efforts between the terrorist group and Tel Aviv to negotiate the release of remaining Israeli hostages in exchange for some form of cease-fire in Gaza.

Hamas’s offices and senior leadership are located in Qatar.

An Al Jazeera correspondent on its Arabic service said the order would affect the broadcaster’s operations in Israel and East Jerusalem but not in the Palestinian territories.

Israel and others have a long-running feud with Al Jazeera, which is accused of promoting jihadi ideology with links to the Islamist Muslim Brotherhood.

“Through the Al Jazeera network, Qatar spreads narratives that demonize and delegitimize Israel, and justify terrorism, thereby supporting Hamas in its efforts,” Asher Fredman, director for Israel at the Abraham Accords Peace Institute think tank, previously told The Epoch Times.

While Al Jazeera’s English operation often resembles the programming found on other major broadcast networks, its Arabic arm often publishes verbatim video statements from Hamas and militant groups in the region. It similarly came under harsh U.S. criticism during the U.S. occupation of Iraq after the United States’ 2003 invasion toppled Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein.

Al Jazeera is one of the few international media outlets to remain in Gaza throughout the war, broadcasting bloody scenes of airstrikes and overcrowded hospitals and accusing Israel of massacres. Israel accuses Al Jazeera of collaborating with Hamas.

According to a report by the state-run Kan media agency from Israel, the country’s intelligence agency Mossad supports shutting down Al Jazeera’s operations in the country on the grounds that the network harms military activities and puts the lives of fighting personnel at risk.

Mossad claimed that reporters from Al Jazeera have exposed the locations of Israeli soldiers and other sensitive locations.

Naveen Athrappully, Reuters, and The Associated Press contributed to this report.