WASHINGTON (JTA) — This week, Israel shut down Al Jazeera domestically and in the West Bank, and sent law enforcement to the Qatari-owned major news organization's local offices to seize equipment.
What it failed to do was prevent Israelis from watching the station, which remains the most popular media channel in the Arab world.
“I'm watching Al Jazeera on my computer,” Zvi Barel, an analyst who writes about Israeli-Palestinian issues for Haaretz newspaper, said in an interview on Tuesday, two days after the alleged shutdown.
Israel's decision to shut down the station is the most far-reaching action the country has taken against a major foreign broadcaster, spurring criticism from allies, including the Biden administration, and threatening Israelis and residents of Israel. Foreign journalists have voiced their protests, calling it an attack. Regarding freedom of the press, which is a characteristic of authoritarian governments. Israeli authorities defend this as a necessary restraint on agents of a hostile state.
But Middle East analysts say the reason for the closure has more to do with Israel's international relations than with internal threats. They argue that closing the channel's offices in other countries in the Middle East as well could be a way to settle the deal with Qatar. Or it could be an act of information warfare as Israel faces growing protests around the world.
“Israel is a country that perceives itself to be badly on the losing end of the media space war, the information war and the perceptual war over the Gaza war,” said Hussein Ibish, a senior fellow at the Washington-based Arab Gulf States Institute. speaks. He has criticized Israel's war efforts.
Al-Jazeera is an easy target because it has the most comprehensive coverage of the Gaza Strip and reaches every corner of the Arab world, he said. “This is the most professional, organized and well-funded reporting operation in the Gaza Strip,” he said.
What the closure means for the network's hard-hitting coverage of the war between Israel and Hamas in Gaza is less clear. Al Jazeera's war coverage, which led to its closure, continues unabated. The office closure also deprives the network of access to Israel and Israeli commentary on the war, which Al Jazeera regularly seeks, but does not affect its operations in the Gaza Strip.
The Israeli satellite provider displayed a message that the channel was no longer available. “Following the government's decision, Al Jazeera broadcasting has been suspended in Israel,” one of the providers, Yes, told viewers. However, his multilingual streaming website remained active online.
The law allowing Al Jazeera to be shut down was introduced by far-right lawmaker Zvi Scott and passed by the plenary session of Israel's parliament, the Knesset, earlier this year. For supporters of the law, Al Jazeera is less a foreign media channel than a proxy for a hostile country that hosts Hamas leadership and whose biased coverage of the war endangers its soldiers. The Israeli Cabinet unanimously approved the closure.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a statement that “Al Jazeera correspondents violated Israel's security and incited hostility against IDF soldiers.” “The time has come to rid our country of Hamas's spokespeople.”
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's representatives are celebrating the decision. Communications Minister Shlomo Karhi posted a video on social media of police raiding the agency's East Jerusalem headquarters to seize equipment. “We are shutting down Al Jazeera,” he wrote. Added Israeli flag emoji.
Al Jazeera has correspondents in the Gaza Strip and has provided the most extensive coverage of the war from the Gaza side, but critics say its coverage is hopelessly biased and that some of its staff have ties to Hamas. The house is making a statement. Two of its staff are among the more than 100 journalists killed since the start of the war.
The far-reaching impact of Al Jazeera's removal may be in the West Bank, where the station has provided full coverage of the smoldering unrest there before and after the war began on October 7.
Israel's Foreign Press Association said the closure of the agency's offices “should be a cause for concern” and that Israel joins the “shady club of authoritarian governments” that have banned the agency.
The Biden administration also criticized the move.
“We do not support that action,” National Security Council spokesman John Kirby told reporters at a regular White House briefing on Monday. “The work of independent journalism around the world is vitally important. It matters to informed citizens and citizens, but it also matters to inform policy-making processes.”
Meanwhile, Al Jazeera accused Israel of committing a crime by closing the broadcaster's offices.
“Al Jazeera Media Network strongly condemns and condemns this criminal act, which violates human rights and the fundamental right to access information.” “Al Jazeera affirms its right to continue providing news and information to audiences around the world.”
Israel has been at war with Al Jazeera for years over its divisive reporting. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu first threatened to close the agency in 2017. Israel temporarily revoked the correspondent's status in 2017, a rare move in recent years against foreign correspondents who flout government censorship. . The measure is symbolic and has little effect beyond keeping journalists out of government-sponsored press conferences.
In 2022, Israeli forces killed prominent Palestinian-American Al Jazeera correspondent Shireen Abu Akre during a military operation in Jenin. After initially denying responsibility, Israel acknowledged that its forces killed Abu Akre, but said the shooting was a mistake. Al Jazeera and many American officials called on the US government to investigate the killing.
Currently, Israel is opposed to the base because Qatar owns it, Barel said. Qatar is one of the few countries with ties to Hamas, and Prime Minister Netanyahu and the Biden administration are not doing enough to pressure the terrorist group into a deal to release hostages held by Hamas in Gaza. It is said that
The closure “seems to be the result of grievances and reconciliation with Qatar,” Barer wrote in the Haaretz newspaper.
In that sense, Israel is in rich company. Qatar is a small but wealthy oil-producing nation with a unique foreign policy that has fostered relationships with disparate countries like Iran and Israel. It also means that there are feuds with various neighboring countries, and that virtually all Arab countries have temporarily shut down Al Jazeera due to these diplomatic skirmishes.
“Al Jazeera has been shut down or blocked by other Middle Eastern governments,” the channel noted in its own report on the Israeli shutdown.
The United States and other Western countries have financial ties to terrorist organizations, including those associated with Hamas and the terrorist organization Hezbollah, which exposes Israel to constant fire from the north and aids Hamas in the current war. The office of a news organization was closed. After Russia invaded Ukraine, satellite and cable operations shut down Russia's propaganda arm RT, forcing the channel to close its U.S. offices.
Still, some Israeli journalists, especially foreign news outlets, say there are signs the government will move in arbitrarily and confiscate expensive equipment.
“The government may not be done yet,” the Foreign Press Association said in a statement. “The Prime Minister has the power to target other foreign media outlets for acts against the state.”
Barel said Israeli journalists should also take note.
Israeli journalists “should be concerned about the closure of foreign media of any kind, especially if they cannot go to Gaza and see for themselves what is happening.” he said. Setting Al Jazeera's precedent would make it “much easier for governments to follow in the footsteps of other media outlets and shut down other networks and sites.”
And if the goal is to change the direction of international opinion, Ibis said, that quest may be in vain. “Currently, the sharpest criticism of Israel comes from social media, which Israel has even less control over, which is fueling its momentum,” he said. This season, large-scale protests against the war are taking place at universities.
“Look at what is shaping the negative press that Israel has received. Aside from Israel's own actions, it is not something to be taken lightly,” he said. “But which media is most problematic? It's TikTok, which has been rife with highly problematic expression since time immemorial. It's TikTok, where very young people, including many protesters It shaped the perception of a generation of Americans.'' JN