Israel to Expel Al Jazeera, Accusing Them of Being a Hamas Agent
‘Our orders will go into effect immediately,’ Israel’s Minister of Communications Shlomo Karhi has said.
The Israeli government has voted to close Al Jazeera’s operations in Israel, citing the risk the Qatari network poses to national security.
“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,“ Israel’s Minister of Communications Shlomo Karhi said at the time. ”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 said of the law, “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.” Shofar is Hebrew for mouthpiece.
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“Our orders will go into effect immediately. Too much time has passed and too many unnecessary legal hurdles for us to finally be able to stop Al Jazeera’s oiled incitement machine that harms the security of the country.
“For months, I did everything and will continue to do everything so that they can no longer operate from Israel.”
Israeli media said the vote allows Israel to block the channel from operating in the country for 45 days, according to the decision. The government will likely close the channel’s office in Israel, seize equipment, and either shut down or restrict access to its website.
Hamas’s offices and senior leadership are located in Qatar.
An Al Jazeera correspondent on its Arabic service said the order would affect the broadcaster’s operations in Israel and in east Jerusalem, but it would not affect Al Jazeera’s operations in the Palestinian territories.
While Al Jazeera’s English operation often resembles the programming found on other major broadcast networks, its Arabic arm often publishes verbatim video statements from Hamas and other militant groups in the region. It similarly came under harsh U.S. criticism during America’s occupation of Iraq after its 2003 invasion toppled director Saddam Hussein.
According to a report by the state-run Kan media agency from Israel, the country’s intelligence agency Mossad supports shutting down Al Jazeera’s operations in the country on grounds that the network harms military activities and puts the lives of fighting personnel at risk.
Mossad claimed that reporters from Al Jazeera have exposed the locations of Israeli soldiers and other sensitive locations.
Naveen Athrappully, Reuters, and The Associated Press contributed to this report.
