Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is pressing ahead with calls to block Qatari news broadcaster Al Jazeera from operating in Israel, alleging the foreign broadcaster has harmed national security in his country.
Israel’s unicameral legislature, the Knesset, approved legislation on April 1 giving Israel’s prime minister the authority to block any foreign broadcaster from operating in Israel if the broadcaster’s content is deemed harmful to national security. The legislation passed with a 71–10 vote in its final reading.
Knesset Member and Minister of Communications Shlomo Karhi, a member of Mr. Netanyahu’s Likud party and proponent of the legislation, indicated the bill is meant to upend Al Jazeera’s operations in Israel.
“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,“ Mr. Karhi said. ”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 indicated in an April 1 statement that he plans to act on the power granted to him by the Knesset.
“Al Jazeera harmed Israel’s security, actively participated in the October 7 massacre, and incited against IDF soldiers. It is time to remove the shofar of Hamas from our country. The terrorist channel Al Jazeera will no longer broadcast from Israel,” reads a translation of the prime minister’s statement in Hebrew. “I intend to act immediately in accordance with the new law to stop the channel’s activity. I welcome the law promoted by Communications Minister Shlomo Karai with the support of coalition members led by coalition chairman Ofir Katz.”
Al Jazeera’s Relationship With Israel, US
Al Jazeera describes itself as an independent news organization, though it’s funded in part by the Qatari government.Throughout its 26-year history, the Qatar-based international broadcaster has covered conflicts throughout the Middle East, including the U.S.-led wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, and periods of fighting between Israel and Hamas. Throughout this period, the Qatari broadcaster has been accused of holding a bias against both the United States and Israel.
Numerous Al Jazeera journalists have also been killed throughout the past two decades of U.S.-led military interventions in the Middle East.
Several other Al Jazeera journalists have been killed amid the ongoing fighting in the Gaza Strip since Oct. 7, 2023.
Israel’s military alleged that Al Jazeera reporter Ismail Abu Omar is a Hamas operative after the reporter was injured in an Israeli airstrike in the southern Gazan city of Rafah in February.
Last week, Al Jazeera published allegations by a woman named Jamila al-Hissi, who claimed Israeli forces kidnapped, raped, and executed women during a recent raid on Gaza City’s Shifa Hospital. Israeli forces denied the woman’s allegations, and The Times of Israel reported that Al Jazeera retracted a video containing her remarks but didn’t officially announce a retraction.
Mansour Abbas, an Israeli Arab member of Knesset, denounced the Israeli government’s efforts to limit Al Jazeera, insisting the Qatari broadcaster offers a range of views.
“Al Jazeera gives a platform to speakers from Israel, even to military spokespersons. The Israeli position is always present in the network’s news reports and ads. So it is in Israel’s interest in general that Al Jazeera continue to broadcast. It is impossible, also for reasons of fairness, to block them on one hand and to use Al Jazeera to present your positions on the other,“ Mr. Abbas said. ”The bill we are debating is unworthy.”
Biden Admin Raises Press Freedom Concerns
The Biden administration expressed its reservations on April 1 about the apparent Israeli effort to limit Al Jazeera’s operations in the country.“A move like this is concerning. We believe in the freedom of the press. It is critical. It is critically important. And the United States supports the critically important work of journalists around the world,” White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said at an April 1 press briefing.
State Department spokesman Matthew Miller offered a similar defense of Al Jazeera during a department press briefing on the afternoon of April 1.
“We’ve not always agreed with all of Al Jazeera’s coverage, but it’s a media organization that we engage with. I’ve done interviews with Al Jazeera; other people from the department have done interviews with Al Jazeera. So what we will continue to make clear is that we support the work that the free press does,” Mr. Miller said.
