On Sunday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced that the government of his country has decided to close Al Jazeera, a news channel based in Qatar.
According to Netanyahu, his security cabinet met and made the decision.
The Prime Minister called Al-Jazeera the spokesperson for the violent Hamas group in a post on X.
He declared: “Today the Government debated stopping Al Jazeera broadcasts in Israel following a Security Cabinet session and in accordance with my direction.
“Al Jazeera reporters have incited violence against IDF soldiers and jeopardized Israel’s security.” The time has arrived for our nation to expel the spokesperson for Hamas.
Al-Jazeera will not be allowed to exercise its right to free expression, according to Israeli Minister of Communications Shlomo Karhi.
“Freedom of speech for the Hamas trumpets in Israel will not exist,” declared Karchi.
“Al Jazeera’s equipment will be seized and the station will close immediately.”
Karhi filed an order for the seizure of items “used to deliver the channel’s content,” which included servers, laptops, cameras, microphones, editing and routing equipment, wireless transmission equipment, and a few cell phones.
This move follows the overwhelming passage of a new national security bill by the Israeli Knesset last month, which gives senior ministers the authority to close down foreign networks and forbid their broadcasts if they pose a threat to national security.
Netanyahu singled targeted Al Jazeera, which describes itself as the “first independent news channel in the Arab world,” shortly after the law was passed.
