Sorry, I had not realised that the Haaretz article about Israel banning Al Jazeera continued:
The government authorized Karhi to order the cessation of the channel's broadcasts in Israel, in Arabic and English; to close its offices in Israel; to confiscate equipment used by its personnel, except for telephones and computers; and to limit access from Israel to the network's website.
Al Jazeera slammed the decision, calling it "a deceptive and slanderous move."
The network stated it "strongly condemns and denounces this criminal act that violates human rights and the basic right to access of information," and that "Israel's ongoing suppression of the free press, seen as an effort to conceal its actions in the Gaza Strip, stands in contravention of international and humanitarian law."
Israel's direct targeting and killing of journalists, arrests, intimidation and threats will not deter Al Jazeera from its commitment to cover, whilst more than 140 Palestinian journalists have been killed since the beginning of the war on Gaza," the network said.
Furthermore, Al Jazeera said it "vehemently rejects the allegations presented by Israeli authorities suggesting professional media standards have been violated*."
Al Jazeera chief for Israel and Palestinian territories called the government's move "dangerous and political," adding that the network's legal team is preparing a response to the closure decision.
The Foreign Press Association said that with this decision, "Israel joins a dubious club of authoritarian governments," urging the Netanyahu government to "reverse this harmful step and uphold its commitment to freedom of the press."
"This is a dark day for democracy," the statement added.
Ministers from the National Unity Party, headed by Benny Gantz, were absent from the vote. One party member said that they did not boycott the vote, but were absent from the meeting, like most government meetings.
The National Unity Party said that they support the closing Al Jazeera, "but the timing of the vote is unfortunate," adding that it may sabotage hostage release negotiations with Hamas.
The Knesset passed the law allowing the government to halt the broadcasting of Al Jazeera in April. The bill received support from 71 lawmakers, while 10 opposed it.
The law allows the communications minister, with the prime minister's consent, to order the cessation of broadcasts of a foreign channel broadcasting in Israel if the prime minister is convinced that its content directly threatens the country's security. The law states that the decision requires approval from the security cabinet or the government.
Diplomatic sources had a hard time explaining Netanyahu's decision to immediately proceed with passing the law and to announce his decision to shut down the channel right away.Since the war in Gaza started, the government has blocked attempts to halt the Qatari TV channel's operationto avoid sabotaging Qatar's mediation efforts in Israel's negotiations with Hamas. Israel chose instead to pass on messages to Qatar asking it to downplay reports by Al Jazeera.
A diplomatic source told Haaretz it's no coincidence that the decision to push the issue is simultaneous with talks in Doha for reaching a hostage deal. "It's clear that this move is intended to put pressure on Qatar. The law and the curtailing of Al Jazeera activity in Israel are another tool Israel can use to increase pressure on Qatar so it uses its influence over Hamas so it makes the organization moderate its positions," said the source.
Following the vote, Netanyahu wrote on X that the "cabinet, headed by me, decided unanimously to shut down the incitement channel Al Jazeera."
Karhi, who pushed to close down Al Jazeera, lauded the decision, saying that "it's been too long and too many redundant legal bumps so we could finally put an end to the network's well-oiled incitement machine that harms the country's security."
Ya'ala Mazor and Kholod Idres, co-directors of the shared society department in Sikkuy-Aufoq, a Jewish and Arab nonprofit that seeks to advance an equal and shared society, said that the decision is "yet another aggressive to silence the Palestinian community in Israel" and that the government is trying to "silence Arab and Jewish voice opposing to the war in Gaza.
Reuters contributed to this report.
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“Netanyahu Cabinet Unanimously Votes to Shut Down Al Jazeera in Israel”