OAN’s Brooke Mallory
1:05 PM – Monday, April 1, 2024
The Israeli government can now prevent the Qatari state-funded outlet Al Jazeera from operating inside its borders, thanks to a law passed by the Knesset on Monday that gives top government officials the power to block foreign media outlets that are considered threats to Israeli national security.
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Post Translation: ”Al Jazeera harmed Israel’s security, actively participated in the October 7 massacre, and incited against IDF soldiers. It is time to remove the shofar of Hamas from our country. The terrorist channel Al Jazeera will no longer broadcast from Israel. I intend to act immediately in accordance with the new law to stop the channel’s activity. I welcome the law promoted by Communications Minister Shlomo Karai with the support of coalition members led by coalition chairman Ofir Katz.”
In response to the October 7th Hamas onslaught on Israeli civilians, Al Jazeera swiftly questioned accounts of widespread killings and rapes of civilians, and the Israeli government also claims that the organization has hired Hamas terrorists as reporters in Gaza.
The outlet recently asserted that during an airstrike in January, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) deliberately targeted journalists. According to the IDF, a terror agent piloting a drone was traveling with the two journalists who were killed in the strike.
Additionally, before quietly pulling the stories, Al Jazeera ran reports, now proven to be false, alleging that Israeli soldiers had sexually assaulted patients at the Al Shifa hospital while conducting a raid against Hamas.
Rich Goldberg, senior adviser to the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, told the National Review that Israel’s decision to end Al Jazeera’s operations there has long been anticipated.
“We used to think of Al Jazeera as incitement to terrorism. Now we’ve seen the evidence of al Jazeera’s material support to terrorism, including its own employees exposed as Hamas operatives,” Goldberg told NR. “Shutting them down in Israel is a no-brainer. The only question I’d ask is why the U.S. doesn’t have sanctions on this terror-supporting outlet, too.”
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