Knesset Passes Law To Block Al Jazeera Broadcasts In Israel

by Karen Faulkner, Worthy News Correspondent

(Worthy News) – Israeli lawmakers on Monday passed legislation that would shut down the Qatari state-funded news outlet Al Jazeera in Israel in the event the prime minister decides content being aired by it or other foreign media outlets “harms in a real way” the country’s national security, the Jerusalem Post reports.

While the legislation includes safeguards to protect against abuses, the United Nations and the United States have raised concerns it may pose a threat to freedom of the press.

Introduced by Communications Minister Shlomo Karhi, the decision to try and pass the law came after the Shin Bet (Israel Security Agency) and the IDF reported that Al Jazeera coverage of the war against Hamas in Gaza had been revealing the location of IDF troops in its broadcasts, thus endangering soldiers.

The law provides that if the prime minister believes a media outlet is broadcasting content that threatens national security, he can ask the communications minister to bring a resolution to the government to block that media’s television broadcast in Israel and shut down its offices, among other provisions, JPost reports.

In its report the Jerusalem Post listed a number of hurdles the law states must be overcome before a media outlet can be shut down in Israel: “First, for the government to approve the move, all of Israel’s security agencies must provide an opinion and present it to the government, including the “factual foundations” that prove that there is “real harm” to national security; second, the decision will only apply for 45 days, needs to be re-approved every 45 days, and expires on July 31; third, the decision must be brought before the president or vice president of a regional court within 24 hours, and the judges have three days to rule on “changing” the decision or limiting the period of its applicability.”

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