Brian McDonald
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Sunday that his government’s cabinet voted unanimously to close the local offices of Qatari-owned broadcaster Al Jazeera, worsening Israel’s long-running rivalry with the channel at a time where cfacilitated negotiations with Hamas – mediated by Qatar – are gaining strength.
According to a statement from Netanyahu’s office, the decision takes effect immediately. This could include closing the channel’s offices in Israel, confiscating broadcast equipment, preventing the broadcast of the channel’s reports and blocking its websites, among other measures, the statement said.
Israeli media said the vote allows Israel to block the channel from operating in the country for 45 days, according to the ruling.
“Al Jazeera reporters undermined Israel’s security and incited soldiers,” Netanyahu said in the statement. “It is time to remove the Hamas spokesman from our country.”
The extraordinary measure is believed to be the first time Israel has shut down a foreign media outlet, although its government has taken action against individual reporters in the past. The statement from Netanyahu’s office said that under a law passed last month, the government can take action against a foreign channel seen as “harming the country.”
Ronen Zvulun/REUTERS
There was no immediate comment from Al Jazeera headquarters in the Qatari capital, Doha. But several Al Jazeera correspondents went on air to explain how the decision would affect the channel.
An Al Jazeera correspondent on its Arabic service said the order would affect the broadcaster’s operations in Israel and East Jerusalem, where it has been filming live for months since the Oct. 7 attack that triggered the war in Gaza.
This would not affect Al Jazeera’s operations in the Palestinian territories, the correspondent said.
Another correspondent, from Al Jazeera’s English channel, said the order prohibited the channel from “maintaining offices or operating them” in Israel. He said the broadcaster’s websites would be blocked, although they were still accessible on Sunday afternoon in Jerusalem.
The decision threatens to increase tensions with Qatar at a time when the government in Doha is playing a key role in mediation efforts to stop the war in Gaza, together with Egypt and the United States.
Qatar has had tense relations with Netanyahu, particularly since he made comments suggesting that Qatar is not putting enough pressure on Hamas to get it to compromise on its terms for a truce agreement. Qatar hosts Hamas leaders in exile.
The sides appear to be close to reaching an agreement, but several previous rounds of talks have ended without agreement.
Shortly after the government’s decision, Cabinet members from the National Unity party criticized its timing, saying it “may sabotage efforts to finalize negotiations and stems from political considerations.” The party said it generally supported the decision.
Israel has long had a difficult relationship with Al Jazeera, accusing it of bias. Relations suffered a major crisis almost two years ago when Al Jazeera correspondent Shireen Abu Akleh was killed during an Israeli military raid in the occupied West Bank.
These relations deteriorated further following the outbreak of Israel’s war against Hamas on October 7, when the militant group carried out a cross-border attack in southern Israel that killed 1,200 people and took another 250 hostage.
In December, an Israeli attack killed an Al Jazeera cameraman while he was reporting on the war in southern Gaza. The head of the canal’s Gaza branch, Wael Dahdouh, was injured in the same attack.
In 2017, Israel threatened to revoke the credentials of an Al Jazeera reporter after an interview emerged in which the reporter expressed support for the Palestinian “resistance.”
An order banning a broadcaster is seen as an extraordinary measure by the Israeli government, which largely allows media outlets to operate in the country. However, the government has in the past revoked press cards issued to individual correspondents due to their coverage.
The country has a critical and outspoken local media scene, although Israel considers some international media outlets to be biased against it.
Al Jazeera is one of the few international media outlets that remained in Gaza during the war, broadcasting bloody scenes of airstrikes and overcrowded hospitals and accusing Israel of massacres. Israel accuses Al Jazeera of collaborating with Hamas.
Al Jazeera, which is funded by the Qatari government, did not immediately respond to a request for comment from The Associated Press.
While Al Jazeera’s English-language operation often resembles programming found on other major broadcast networks, its Arabic arm frequently publishes textual video statements from Hamas and other militant groups in the region. Likewise, it was the target of harsh US criticism during the US occupation of Iraq, after its 2003 invasion toppled dictator Saddam Hussein.
Al Jazeera has been closed or blocked by other governments in the Middle East. These include Saudi Arabia, Jordan, the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain during a years-long boycott of Doha by the countries, in the midst of a years-long political dispute that ended in 2021.
Sunday’s development immediately recalled the closure of Al Jazeera in Egypt following the military takeover of the country in 2013 following mass protests against President Mohammed Morsi, a member of the Islamic group the Muslim Brotherhood. The channel covered many of the Brotherhood’s protests live, to the anger of Egypt’s military government. At the time, Egyptian security forces raided a luxury hotel where the channel operated, arresting its correspondents.
Australian Peter Greste, Egyptian-Canadian Mohamed Fahmy and Egyptian producer Baher Mohamed received 10-year prison sentences but were later released in 2015 amid widespread international criticism.
Egypt considers the Brotherhood a terrorist group and has accused both Qatar and Al Jazeera of supporting it.
