Israel’s security cabinet said it “did not discuss” restrictions on Al Jazeera’s Gaza bureau.
Israel will block the Al Mayadeen media outlet but has indicated it will refrain from closing the local Al Jazeera bureau.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s security cabinet said in a statement Monday that it approved the decision to block the programming and websites of Lebanon-based pro-Iranian channel Al Mayadeen. However, he made no mention of Al Jazeera, despite previous threats to use emergency measures to crack down on its Palestinian offices.
The cabinet statement said it will close Al Mayadeen due to its “war efforts aimed at harming (Israel’s) security interests and furthering the enemy’s objectives.”
When asked why Al Jazeera was not included in the Israeli security cabinet’s decision, the Communications Ministry spokesperson replied: “The security cabinet did not discuss this. »
The Israeli government adopted wartime regulations in mid-October allowing it to temporarily shut down foreign media outlets it considered a threat to its national interests.
Israeli Communications Minister Shlomo Karhi said at the time that he hoped the measures would be used against the Qatari channel Al Jazeera, which is one of the few international media channels broadcasting live from Gaza during the ongoing war between Israel and Hamas.
The minister accused Al Jazeera of bias in favor of Hamas and incitement against Israel.
Press freedom organizations have denounced calls to shut down Al Jazeera and other media outlets.
“We are deeply concerned by threats by Israeli authorities to censor media coverage of the ongoing conflict between Israel and Gaza, using vague accusations of harming national morale,” said Sherif Mansour of the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ ).
“CPJ urges Israel not to ban Al Jazeera and to allow journalists to do their work,” Mansour said.
Balancing act
The decision by Israel’s security cabinet to suspend action against Al Jazeera reflects its complex balancing act with Doha, which it is counting on to help it negotiate with Hamas the release of some 220 hostages still in captivity in Gaza.
Israeli media quoted unnamed Netanyahu government officials as saying that now is not the time to restrict Al Jazeera.
However, other senior officials, such as Foreign Minister Eli Cohen, continued to publicly support the network’s crackdown.
Israel has often attacked Al Jazeera, which has bureaus in the occupied West Bank and Gaza.
In May 2022, Israeli forces shot and killed Al Jazeera journalist Shireen Abu Akleh while she was covering an Israeli military raid in the West Bank city of Jenin.
A report commissioned by the United Nations concluded that Israeli forces used “lethal force without justification” in the killing, violating his “right to life.”
In the midst of the war in Gaza, several journalists from the channel and members of their families died under Israeli bombings.
On October 25, an airstrike killed the family of Gaza bureau chief Wael Dahdouh, including his wife, son, daughter, grandson and at least eight other relatives.
Restrictions on Al Mayadeen
Following the Israeli security cabinet’s decision, Karhi was working with police on a plan to block Al Mayadeen’s websites and seize equipment linked to the channel, a ministry spokesperson said.
The minister also asked the Israeli military chief in the occupied West Bank to close Al Mayadeen’s offices there, the spokesperson said.
Al Mayadeen had no immediate comment.
Although Israel and Lebanon have officially been at war for decades and the Lebanese Shiite Muslim group Hezbollah has joined the current hostilities alongside Palestinians in Gaza, Al Mayadeen has been broadcasting information from inside Israeli territory.