ALBAWABA- Israel’s Knesset on Tuesday passed legislation granting the government expanded authority to shut down foreign media outlets, effectively extending the legal basis used to ban Al Jazeera’s operations in the country.
The bill, approved in its second and third readings on December 23, 2025, extends for two years a temporary order allowing the communications minister to prohibit foreign broadcasts deemed a security threat, without the need to declare a state of emergency or obtain prior court approval.
The new law replaces an emergency regulation introduced in April 2024, under which Communications Minister Shlomo Karhi ordered the closure of Al Jazeera’s offices in Israel, including the seizure of broadcasting equipment. Under the updated legislation, the minister acts based on security assessments and can renew the ban in 45-day intervals.
Israeli officials have justified the move on national security grounds, accusing the Qatar-funded network of biased reporting in favor of Hamas, incitement to violence, and endangering Israeli military operations through the alleged disclosure of sensitive information.
The Palestinian National Initiative Movement said in a post on X that the Knesset’s decision to shut down Al Jazeera and other foreign media outlets for years reflects “weakness and fear of the spread of the true narrative” about Israeli actions and the suffering of the Palestinian people.
The group said the move aligns with what it described as a broader policy of silencing voices, citing the killing of hundreds of Palestinian journalists and restrictions on foreign media access to the Gaza Strip.
It added that such measures would not weaken Al Jazeera or other professional and independent media outlets, but would instead strengthen their role and credibility.
The measure follows the October 7, 2023, and triggered the ongoing Israeli war in Gaza. Israel first banned Al Jazeera in May 2024 using emergency powers, repeatedly extending the ban as the conflict continued.
