Bill to expand 'Al Jazeera Law' passes Knesset preliminary vote

In a preliminary vote on Wednesday, the Knesset approved a bill proposal to extend and permanently establish the “Al Jazeera Law,” which grants the government the authority to shut down a foreign media outlet if deemed a threat to national security.

In April, the Knesset passed a temporary bill that empowered the government to block the foreign media outlet’s cable television broadcast in Israel, shut down its offices, seize equipment used for its broadcasts, and block its website under certain conditions. The bill mandated a District Court judge’s review and government reapproval of the decision every 45 days, with an expiration date of July 31.

Both satellite and cable broadcasts can be blocked

The bill, introduced by Likud MK Ariel Kalner, canceled the July 31 expiration date on Wednesday and was made permanent. It also extended the need for government reapproval from every 45 days to every 90 days and added a provision, saying that the communications minister could “direct government agencies responsible for the issue to stop the channel’s broadcast.” A spokesperson for Communications Minister Shlomo Karhi explained that this would enable the government to block not just cable but also satellite broadcasts.

In May, the government voted to shut down Al Jazeera’s broadcasts in Israel, and soon after, inspectors raided the Qatari news outlet’s offices and confiscated equipment. The decision was ratified by a judge in early June. Later in May, inspectors confiscated equipment used by AP, claiming it was being used by Al Jazeera. The move drew widespread criticism, and Karhi eventually reversed it.

The bill has raised concerns that it disproportionally violates freedom of the press and that the real intention behind it is to silence voices that are critical of Israel, such as that of Al Jazeera.

The Association for Civil Rights in Israel (ACRI) appealed to the High Court against the constitutionality of the bill that passed in April. ACRI argued during a hearing in early June that the bill violated freedom of expression, freedom of the press, and the right to information. According to ACRI, these freedoms and rights are especially important during wartime, when governments tend to curtail freedoms.

ACRI also noted that the wording of the bill included a last-minute change, which, it said, revealed what ACRI argued was its political nature. While the original wording enabled the judge to review the decision to cancel it, the new wording merely enabled him to change it. A government decision to shut down a foreign news outlet was thus “immune” from effective judicial oversight, as it could not be canceled even if it was carried out illegally, ACRI said.

The judicial oversight provision did not appear at all in the original versions of the bill and was inserted due to insistence by the attorney general’s office, which argued that the measure of shutting down a news outlet was extreme in a democracy and therefore required extra oversight.