Occupied Jerusalem- The Israeli government, in its weekly session on Sunday, approved the proposal of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Communications Minister Shlomo Karai to close Tel Aviv Tribune’s offices in Israel, with the decision taking effect immediately with the signature of the Communications Minister today.
Under the “Tel Aviv Tribune Law”, the decision orders the closure of the channel’s offices for a period of 45 days, and can be extended for an additional 45 days, but is subject to review by an Israeli court judge within 24 hours from the time of its issuance.
The decision, which was unanimously approved by the government, allows the closure of the channel’s offices in Israel, the confiscation of broadcasting and communications equipment, the prevention of broadcasting of the channel’s reports, the removal of the channel from cable and satellite companies, the blocking of its websites, the cancellation of its speech identity certificates and other measures.
The government order prohibits content providers operating in Israel and Internet companies from providing services to the network, as well as revoking Israeli credentials and press cards issued by the Government Press Office.
First class orders
Minister Karai signed the orders issued against Tel Aviv Tribune as soon as the government approved them, saying, “Our orders entered into force immediately. It has been a long time, as we faced many unnecessary legal obstacles, until we were able to stop the incitement machine of Tel Aviv Tribune, which harms the security of… The state, and I will continue to do everything so that they can no longer operate from Israel.”
The same proposal was adopted by Netanyahu, who commented on the government’s decision by saying, “We will act immediately against those who use freedom of the press to harm the security of Israel and Israeli army soldiers and incite terrorism during the war, and there will be no freedom of expression for the mouthpieces of Hamas in Israel.”
Netanyahu incited against Tel Aviv Tribune’s reporters and teams, adding in his comment, “Tel Aviv Tribune’s reporters have harmed Israel’s security and incited against Israeli army soldiers. Tel Aviv Tribune will be closed immediately, and the equipment will be confiscated. The decision has been made and now we are going out to the field to implement it.”
The government’s decision grants the Minister of Communications broad powers to issue orders to stop Tel Aviv Tribune in Arabic and English, close its offices in Israel, confiscate the equipment used by its members with the exception of phones and computers, and restrict and block access from Israel to the network’s website.
The government’s decision was in line with the recommendation of the General Security Service (Shin Bet), which claimed, through an assessment of the position it presented when preparing the “Tel Aviv Tribune Law,” that the channel’s broadcast “actually harms the security of Israel,” which is a condition required for closure under the law that was approved in April. Last April.
Incomplete consensus
However, the Shin Bet’s recommendation contradicts the position and recommendation of the Mossad, the opinion of the Israeli army, and the separate opinion of the military censorship, as these institutions had reservations about completely shutting down the Tel Aviv Tribune network, but they supported restricting broadcasting.
Due to the difference in positions and opinions of the leaders of the army and security services, the Ministers of the National Camp, Benny Gantz and Gadi Eisenkot, were absent from the government session, and they justified this by saying that it came “at the request of the officials of the security services, and the head of the Mossad in particular.”
Gantz added, in a brief statement issued by his party, “It was decided to postpone the vote for several days in order not to harm negotiation efforts. Putting the issue to a vote at a sensitive time stems from political considerations and personal motives, and may spoil efforts to reach an exchange deal.”
The official Israeli radio “Kan 11” reported that the decision was supposed to be taken in the Israeli mini-ministerial council for political and security affairs (cabinet) in a session on Friday night, but under pressure from Mossad chief David Barnea and Shin Bet chief Ronen Bar, the vote was postponed to give an opportunity for negotiations. Exchange deal.
The head of the Mossad warned that closing Tel Aviv Tribune at this time would harm the Qatari mediation efforts between Hamas and Israel in order to calm the situation and reach an exchange deal. Despite the decision to postpone the vote indefinitely, Netanyahu – for personal political motives, according to Haaretz newspaper estimates – He did not give the deal negotiations any chance, and rushed to approve it in the weekly government session.
Labor Party Knesset member Gilad Karib considered that Netanyahu and his partners ignoring the position of head of the Mossad is further evidence that the government does not place the release of the kidnapped people among its priorities, considering that the decision to close the offices of Tel Aviv Tribune is “a cosmetic and unimportant step, and will not obscure the fact that Netanyahu has failed to deal with the situation.” With the Gaza Strip.
Repercussions of the decision
Tel Aviv Tribune’s offices employ 70 employees, according to the Government Press Office, and the Ministry of Communications is moving to close the offices, confiscate broadcast facilities, and cancel the press credentials of all of the channel’s correspondents in Israel.
The Minister of Communications also intends to contact the military commander of the Israeli army’s Central Command to ask him to issue an order to prevent the channel from broadcasting in the West Bank as well, according to what was reported on the website of the Yedioth Ahronoth newspaper.
Immediately after the government approved the decision, the Minister of Communications contacted representatives of the Facebook, TikTok, Google, and YouTube platforms in Israel, and informed them of the government’s decision regarding “blocking the content of the Tel Aviv Tribune network in Israel.”
The Israeli minister asked the representatives of these platforms to act as quickly as possible in accordance with the law and the text of the government’s decision, and to ban any content of the Tel Aviv Tribune Media Network on their platforms under the pretext that “the network supports terrorism,” according to what the “Israel Hayom” newspaper, which is close to Netanyahu, reported.
Last April, the Israeli Knesset approved, in three readings, a draft law allowing the closure of Tel Aviv Tribune in Israel on the grounds that it “harms the security of the state.” 71 Knesset members voted in favor of the law, while 10 members opposed it.
The law stipulates that the Israeli Minister of Communications cannot move against a “foreign channel operating against state security” except after obtaining a security recommendation from various security agencies, which requires the approval of the government or the cabinet.
The law – which has become known as the “Tel Aviv Tribune Law” – grants the Israeli authorities the powers to restrict the work and close down foreign broadcast channels based on a security recommendation stating that the foreign channel “harms the security of the state,” and this is done according to orders signed by the Minister of Communications.
