The Israeli government has unanimously approved the termination of Qatari television network Al Jazeera’s operations in the country. This was reported by Reuters, citing a government statement. Israeli police subsequently raided the Jerusalem hotel room the station uses as its office. Officers in the room dismantled the camera equipment to confiscate it.
The decision by Benjamin Netanyahu’s cabinet preceded the passage of a law in Israel’s parliament that allows the closure of foreign broadcasting stations deemed a threat to national security during Israel’s war against the Hamas movement in the Gaza Strip.
The decision is an escalation of the long-standing dispute between Israel and Al Jazeera, the AP agency pointed out. Israel has long had problematic relations with the TV station and accuses it of being biased against Israel. There is also the risk of heightened tensions with Qatar, which owns the station, at a time when the Qatari government is playing an important role in negotiations to end the war in the Gaza Strip.
Al Jazeera’s editor-in-chief for Israel and the Palestinian territories, Waleed Umary, called the Israeli government’s decision “dangerous” and motivated more politically than professionally.
