Israeli Government Orders Al Jazeera to Cease Operations
Summary from the AllSides News Team
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s cabinet voted unanimously to suspend Al Jazeera’s (Lean Left bias) operations in Israel on Sunday.
The Details: Israel’s Communications Minister Shlomo Karhi also ordered the seizure of broadcasting equipment “used to deliver the channel’s content.”
For Context: The vote came after the Israeli parliament passed a law in April that allows for the temporary closure of foreign broadcasters considered to be a national security threat. Israel has long feuded with Al Jazeera, one of the few international outlets remaining in Gaza since the beginning of the war, which is funded by the Qatari government.
Key Quotes: Netanyahu said, “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.” Al Jazeera reporter Zein Basravi, who reports from the West Bank, said the Palestine-Israel conflict is “one of the main reasons that our network exists.” He added, “To have our journalists, our operations, threatened in this way… Definitely, the worry here in the occupied West Bank is that we will be next.”
How The Media Covered It: Associated Press (Lean Left bias) noted that Al Jazeera’s English and Arabic-language counterparts are quite different, with the Arabic branch “often publish(ing) verbatim video statements from Hamas and other militant groups in the region.” Al Jazeera noted that it has repeatedly rejected Israel’s accusations that it’s collaborated with Hamas and highlighted Qatar as “playing a key role in mediation efforts to halt the war in Gaza.”
Featured Coverage of this Story
From the Left
Netanyahu government votes to close Al Jazeera channel in IsraelIsraeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s cabinet has voted unanimously to close Al Jazeera’s operations in Israel, according to a government statement.
The cabinet vote on Sunday 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 months-long war in Gaza.
Netanyahu announced the decision on X, formerly Twitter. “The government headed by me unanimously decided: the incitement channel Al Jazeera will be closed in Israel,” he posted in Hebrew.
In another X post, Israel’s Communications Minister Shlomo...
From the Left
Israel orders Al Jazeera to close its local operationIsrael ordered the local offices of Qatar’s Al Jazeera satellite news network to close Sunday, escalating a long-running feud between the broadcaster and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s hard-line government as Doha-mediated cease-fire negotiations with Hamas hang in the balance.
The extraordinary order, which includes confiscating broadcast equipment, preventing the broadcast of the channel’s reports and blocking its websites, is believed to be the first time Israel has ever shuttered a foreign news outlet.
Al Jazeera went off Israel’s main cable provider in the hours after the order. However, its website...
From the Right
Al Jazeera to Be Kicked Out of Israel, Deemed Agent of HamasThe 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 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...
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