Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, on April 1, 2024 vowed to shut down the operations of the so-called terror channel Al Jazeera, which according to him spreads enticement after a parliamentary law clearing the way for the closure.
Netanyahu’s pledge escalated Israel’s long running feud against the Al Jazeera but also threatened to heighten tensions with Qatar which owns the channel, at a time when the Doha government is playing a key role in mediation efforts to halt the war in Gaza. Neither Qatar not the broadcaster immediately commented.
Israel has a long rocky relationship with Al Jazeera accusing of unfair bias against Israel. Relations took a major downturn nearly two years ago when the Al Jazeera correspondent Shireen Abu Akleh was killed during an Israeli military raid in the occupied West Bank.
The Palestinian American journalist was well known across the Arab World for her critical coverage of Israel and the channel accused Israel for killing her intentionally. Israel has denied the charge saying she was likely killed in an Israel fire in what appeared to be an actual shooting.
Those relations further deteoriated following the outbreak of Israel’s war against Hamas on October 7, 2023, when the militant group carried out a cross border attack in southern Israel that killed 1200 people and took 250 as hostage.
In December 2023, an Israeli Strike killed an Al-Jazeera cameraman as he reported on the war in South Gaza. The channel bureau chief in Gaza, Wael Dahoud was injured in the same attack. The network also blamed Israel for killing Dahdouh’s son in a strike in January 2024. Hamza Dahdouh was working for Al Jazeera when the strike hit the car in which he was travelling.
The army later said that Hamza Dahdouh was a member for the Islamic Jihad a militant group that joined Hamas in the October 7, 2023 attack. Wael Dahdouh’s wife, daughter and another son were killed along with his grandson in another Israeli strike in October 2023. The channel broadcast images of Dahdouh entering the hospital and giving way to grief as her peered over the body of his dead son. Israel did not mention who the target of that strikes.
Israel accuses Al Jazeera of collaborating with Hamas. “Al Jazeera harmed Israel security, actively participated in the October 7, 2023 attacks, massacre and incited against Israeli soldiers. It is time to remove the bullhorn of Hamas from our country,” Netanyahu said on X, formerly known as Twitter. He said he planned on acting immediately under the authority of the newly passed law.
Al Jazeera has been closed and or blocked by the other Middle Eastern governments including Saudi Arabia, Jordan, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Bahrain. Egypt has banned Al Jazeera since 2013. It launched the crackdown after the 2013 military overthrow of an elected but divisive government dominated by the Muslim Brotherhood group.
Egypt considers the Brotherhood as a terrorist group and accuses both Qatar and Al Jazeera of supporting it. In Washington, the State Department spokesperson Mathew Miller said the US does not always agree with Al Jazeera coverage but respects the group and its work.
“We supported the independent free press anywhere in the world,” he said. “And much of what we know about what has happened in Gaza is because of reporters who are there doing jobs, including reporters from Al Jazeera.”
Israel in the past has threatened to shutter Al Jazeera, but never did so. The law passed by the Netanyahu government on April1, 2024, did not immediately close the station but it authorises officials to do so after consultation and from government legal and security officials.
The communications minister of Israel Shlomo Karhi said he intended to move forward with the closure. He said Al Jazeera has been acting as the propaganda arm of Hamas. The by encouraging armed struggle against Israel. It is impossible to tolerate a media outfit with press credentials from the Government Press Office and offices in Israel, who would act from within against us certainly during wartime, he said.
His office said the order would seek to block the channel’s broadcasts in Israel and prevent it from operating in our country. The order will apply to the West Bank and Gaza. Al Jazeera local bureau chief Walid Omari said on April 1, 2024, that the station had not learnt from Israeli authorities. But it’s a clear question of time and they will take the decision within days; he told an international media agency.
But punishing the channel could be risky. Qatar has been acting as a chief mediator between Israel and Hamas. It helped broker and sponsor a weeklong ceasefire in November 2023 and has been hosting weeks of talks aimed at brokering another pause in fighting.
By targeting Al Jazeera, Israel then could be trying to push Qatar additional pressure on Hamas to make concessions Netanyahu has in the past accused Qatar of not doing enough. But it also risks alienating Qatar, which is wealthy energy rich Gulf State that is one of the few countries with influence on Hamas.
Israel has come under heavy criticism from press freedom groups during the war. The Committee to Protect Journalists says 90 journalists have been killed in war, in addition to two Israeli journalists. Israel has also barred international journalists from entering Gaza independently to cover the war. The army has allowed small groups of journalists to enter Gaza on brief, high controlled visits under armed military escort.
Hagar Shechter, an attorney with Association for Civil Rights in Israel said the law violates the right to free speech, freedom of occupation and undermines separation of powers. She added the group plans to file a petition with Israel ‘s Supreme Court against law.
Oren Persico, a staff writer at the Seventh Eye, an independent media watchdog website in Israel Supreme Court said that the water down version of legislation sought by the country’s far-right national security minister Itamar Ben Gvir, due to the pushback from legal experts.
The closure needs an export opinion from a top security official deeming the network harming Israel security. The order would then need cabinet or parliamentary approval and further approval from the courts. Persico said most worrying was that of other media including Israeli outlets could also be in the line of fire. “What’s important here isn’t Al Jazeera, its about the authority that the government has t shit down the media, it is a slippery slope,” he said.
