Since the beginning of the war, it has been evident that many media outlets around the world are relatively hostile to Israel and the Israeli position. Among them are the British media giant, the BBC, whose main news title will always portray Israel in a negative light; and the American ‘New York Times’, which is trying to the best of its abilities to create a “comparison” between Israeli and Palestinian suffering, or between Palestinian aggression and Israel’s war activities. But Al-Jazeera, the Qatari news network and the most powerful by far in the Arab and Muslim world, is in another league: Since the beginning of the war, the network has devoted itself entirely to the blackening of Israel’s name and supporting Hamas, woth the war never dropping from the main headlines on the site; there is no doubt that the network itself has contributed greatly to the negative mood toward Israel in the world, and may have even led to an increase in antisemitism.
Israel is a democratic country, and does its best to preserve the freedom of the press; but Al-Jazeera’s actions exclude it from being normal press. The network distributes Hamas propaganda videos, which include attacks on Israeli civilians, and blatant lies. In addition, it is proven that many of the network’s employees in the Gaza Strip participated in terrorism against Israel – also in the October 7 attack, but also before and after. Only a few days ago, the IDF Spokesperson in Arabic revealed that Muhammad Washeh, one of the channel’s senior media figures in the centeral Gaza Strip, is in fact a Hamas operative and a senior figure in the anti-tank units. Given the circumstances, there is no doubt that there is sufficient justification for the closure of the channel, and to prevent its activity in Israel.
The truth is that the process of closing the channel began in the first few weeks of the war, but was halted because of legal concerns by the attorney general, and also because the political leadership opposed it: Such a move could harm relations with Qatar, and Qatar is an important country that serves as a outlet for Hamas – both in discussions about calmings and finance in the past, and in hostage negotiations in the present. But in recent weeks, an official law has been introduced to close the Al-Jazeera network, which even passed the government vote and thus overcame the legal barrier, in accordance with Israel’s “emergency regulations” that accompany the war; all that remains now is an official decision to be carried out by the political leadership. This can be expected in accordance with the situation of the negotiations, or the progress of the war.
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