(JTA) – The Israeli government confiscated and later returned equipment belonging to The Associated Press under a new law it recently used to shut down Al Jazeera's offices.
Communications Minister Shlomo Karhi said late Tuesday that his ministry was returning equipment used for live coverage of the Gaza Strip that officials had seized from news agencies earlier in the day.
He said the decision would be left to the Defense Ministry, which would assess whether the news agency jeopardized the Israeli military in its war against Hamas.
Karhi was hired this month to seize equipment under a law passed earlier this year and shut down the local bureau of Qatari-owned news agency Al Jazeera.
Israeli leaders say the law is needed to combat organizations that allegedly aid and abet Hamas. Al Jazeera rejects the accusations, and news channels and other foreign news organizations say the law is a blow to press freedom and a precursor to authoritarian repression in Israel.
The New York-based international news agency Associated Press said Al Jazeera was one of its thousands of customers. The confiscation of the equipment sparked an international backlash, with Israel's opposition leader Yair Lapid calling it “insane.”
“This is not Al Jazeera. It's an American media outlet that has won 53 Pulitzer Prizes.” He said this in X.
The Biden administration opposed the law when it was adopted this month, and on Tuesday expressed concern about the confiscation of AP equipment.
“We remain steadfast in our belief that journalists have the right to do their jobs,” White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre told reporters.
In a statement announcing the return of the equipment, Karhi said the Associated Press broke the law by providing live shots to Al Jazeera.
“They broadcast on Al Jazeera that our troops were deployed in the north, putting the lives of our soldiers in the field at risk,” Karhi said. He said it in X.
The Associated Press has ridiculed the idea that live footage from the northern Gaza Strip, where Israel is at war with Hamas, is putting soldiers at risk. The photo was taken from the Israeli town of Sderot, the agency said.
“The Associated Press is following Israeli military censorship rules that prohibit it from broadcasting details such as troop movements that could put soldiers at risk,” it said. “Live video shows smoke generally rising over the territory.”
