Israel passes law banning Al Jazeera

Last Updated on April 2, 2024 3:41 am

Israel wants to ban Qatar-based popular media. For this purpose, a law was also passed in the country’s parliament Knesset on Monday. This information was given in a report of Al Jazeera.

Apart from this, the news agencies AFP and Times of Israel are also publishing related news.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu yesterday urged the Knesset to pass the bill and vowed to ban Al Jazeera “immediately”, AFP reported.

The Times of Israel reported that the law was passed by a 70-10 vote in parliament yesterday evening. Through this, the Netanyahu government got the power to close the office of Al Jazeera in Israel.

Analysts say that Israel has been accusing Al Jazeera of publishing news on behalf of Hamas since the war between Israel and the Palestinian independence group Hamas began on October 7 last year. In the context of that complaint, the country took punitive action against Al Jazeera.

Shaloma Kharhi, Minister of Information and Communications of the country, gave an interview to Israel’s wireless media, Army Radio, on October 15 of last year. In that interview, he complained that since the beginning of the Gaza war, this leading media outlet in the Middle East has been regularly publishing news in favor of Hamas, which could ultimately threaten Israel’s security. So the government of Israel should come to a decision in this regard soon.

Five days after Shaloma Kharhi and the interview were published, Israel’s parliament, the Knesset, passed a bill to shut down Al Jazeera’s broadcasts and its local offices for 30 days.

Then yesterday, a bill was passed again in Israel’s parliament, which will pave the way for the closure of Al Jazeera’s offices in Israel.