The Israeli parliament has approved a law that allows a foreign broadcaster operating in Israel to be shut down “if it harms state security.” The reports it Times of Israel, which specifies how the law passed by the Knesset will authorize the Minister of Communications to «order users of content to stop broadcasting TV channels, close Israeli editorial offices, confiscate equipment and that the website is taken offline, if the server is physically located in Israel, or otherwise block access to the site” linked to the newspaper. Above all, the television network based in Qatar is in the Netanyahu government’s sights – write the local media Al Jazeera. Greeting the passing of the law, Communications Minister Shlomo Karhi said that «there will be no freedom of speech for Hamas spokesmen in Israel. Al Jazeera will close in the next few days.”
What the law provides
Foreign broadcasters will not be able to broadcast for up to 45 days, but the shutdown order can be renewed for another 45 days. The decision requiring the closure of foreign news channels, the Israeli newspapers explain, must be subjected to judicial review within 24 hours. The president of the district court must decide within three days whether he intends to revoke, modify or shorten the closure period. The legislation was approved on first reading by the Knesset in February. The executive’s tightening comes in a period marked by strong protests in several Israeli cities. In Tel Aviv, Jerusalem, Beer Sheva, Haifa, thousands of people took to the streets again this weekend to demand the prime minister’s resignation. For the protesters, who are calling for early elections, Netanyahu would not have done enough to obtain the release of the hostages held by Hamas after the October 7 attack, and indeed he would have acted in a counterproductive way.
The “concern” of the White House
The move of the Israeli governing majority did not please the US at all. If the reports are true, the passage of the law is “deeply worrying”, White House spokeswoman Karine Jean-Pierre said in response to a question in the daily press briefing.
Cover photo: ANSA/ATEF SAFADI | The Al Jazeera editorial team (2017)
