The law was acted upon in May, with the shutdown of the Qatari Al Jazeera station within Israel.
By Ben Rappaport, United with Israel
The Knesset on Thursday voted to approve in second and third readings an extension of a law that allows the government to shut down foreign broadcasters deemed to be “harming state security.”
The bill passed with 26 MKs in favor, 8 against. It proposes to extend until November 30 the validity of the original law passed on April 2 and due to expire at the end of July.
According to the explanatory notes to the bill, “On April 2, 2024, the Law for Preventing a Foreign Broadcasting Organization from Harming State Security (Temporary Provision—Swords of Iron), 2024 went into effect. The law grants, as a temporary provision, to the Minister of Communications the powers listed below, which are similar to the powers granted to him in the emergency regulations, and will help him to prevent real harm to state security as a result of the broadcasts of a foreign channel broadcasting in Israel.”
“Due to the ongoing nature of the significant military actions and the special situation on the home front, and following the position of the security agencies as to the need to leave in place the powers granted to the Minister of Communications in the law in order to prevent real harm to state security as a result of the broadcasts of a foreign channel broadcasting in Israel, and due to the fact that the temporary provision is due to expire at the end of July 2024—it is proposed that the validity of the temporary provision be extended,” the wording of the bill continues.
The extension comes after the government on May 5 voted unanimously to authorize Israeli Communications Minister Shlomo Karhi to temporarily shut down the broadcasts of Qatari news channel Al Jazeera within Israel, in accordance with the law passed in April.
Within hours, the channel was pulled off the air in Israel, and police had shut down Al Jazeera offices in Jerusalem, confiscating broadcasting equipment.
“Al Jazeera’s journalists have harmed Israeli security and incited against IDF soldiers,” Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a joint press release issued together with Karhi’s office following the government decision.
“There will be no freedom of speech for the Hamas mouthpieces in Israel,” Karhi said. “Al Jazeera will be closed immediately and their equipment will be confiscated.”
“Too much time has passed and too many unnecessary legal hurdles for us to finally be able to stop Al Jazeera’s well-oiled incitement machine that harms the security of the country,” he also said.
“We will act immediately against those who use freedom of the press to harm Israeli security and IDF troops, and incite to terrorism at a time of war.”