The Israeli Cabinet unanimously announced its decision on Sunday, nearly six months after it first announced its intention to shut down the operations of Qatari news outlet Al Jazeera in Israel, citing security concerns related to the Israel-Hamas war. It was decided to close it.
Israel's National Security Cabinet was scheduled to vote on Thursday, but Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu postponed the vote over concerns it would not pass. According to a spokesperson for the National Unity Party, led by MK Benny Gantz, a cabinet member without a portfolio, this is because Mossad chief David Balnea has warned of possible negative diplomatic consequences related to Qatar's role as an intermediary between Israel and Israel. He said that this was because he had requested the government to postpone it for a few days to avoid such a situation. Hamas is negotiating a deal to release Israeli hostages.
The decision would have required approval from either the government's National Security Cabinet (NSC) or the entire cabinet, but Netanyahu chose to proceed with the general cabinet on Sunday despite Balnea's request.
Communications Minister Shlomo Karhi signed the executive order immediately after the vote passed, and it went into effect immediately. In a video statement, Mr. Karhi called Al Jazeera a “Hamas incitement organ.” Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu also posted on X: “The government under my leadership has decided unanimously that the inflammatory channel Al Jazeera will be shut down in Israel.''
The three nationally unanimous ministers did not attend the meeting or participate in the vote. The party said in a statement that ministers “support the closure of Al Jazeera and announced their support for the closure at the recent (national security) cabinet meeting.”
“While it was the right decision to bring this issue up for a vote in government this morning, the timing is bad, it has the potential to undermine efforts to negotiate the (hostage deal), and it is a political decision borne out of political considerations. It is.”
The decision requires recertification every 45 days and includes suspending Al Jazeera broadcasts in Arabic and English. Al Jazeera office in Israel will be closed. Seize equipment used for broadcasting. Restrict access to websites.
The decision is contrary to the position of the head of Mossad.
A party spokesman said ministers supported the decision, but called it a “political show” and contradicted the Mossad chief's position.
The decision is based on a law passed by Israel's Knesset on April 2nd, which expires on July 31st. Therefore, if the government wants to extend the decision beyond that date, it will need to extend the law. The law itself faces a constitutional challenge in the High Court from the Civil Rights Association of Israel (ACRI) on the grounds that it violates freedom of speech, and the state has until May 15 to submit a preliminary response to the court. There is a need to.
The government passed emergency administrative measures that allowed Al Jazeera to be temporarily shut down at the start of the war. These were in effect from October 21st to January 20th. However, the government reportedly refrained from implementing these measures during that period due to the potential negative diplomatic consequences related to Qatar.
The bill, passed in April, aimed to give the cabinet a stronger legal basis to take on Al Jazeera. In Sunday's decision, the Cabinet explained that it had received a confidential opinion dated April 9 from the Shin Bet that deemed Al Jazeera a national security threat. The IDF and Mossad also provided confidential opinions supporting restrictions on Al Jazeera's broadcasts in Israel.
According to the law, the decision must be submitted to the regional chief judge or deputy chief judge within 24 hours, who must then decide within three days whether to change the decision or limit the period of the ban. be.
In its High Court petition against the law, it argued that it unnecessarily restricts free speech and is therefore unconstitutional. ACRI does not dispute the fact that Al Jazeera carried out “pro-Palestinian” reporting, but said this is not a sufficient reason to shut down the network. Additionally, the network provides content from Arab countries, including the perspective of Israeli Arabs, whose content has been cited numerous times in Israeli mainstream media and whose content has been deemed important. ACRI added: The NGO acknowledged that Al Jazeera contained content inciting Israel. Still, ACRI argued that the incitement was no less serious than incitement against Palestinians on mainstream Israeli websites.
ACRI asked the court on Thursday to issue an interim order barring the government from making a decision to shut down Al Jazeera until the case is heard. The court denied the request and said it would consider an interim order after receiving the state's preliminary position.
