Israel to shut down Al Jazeera

ISRAEL: Israel plans to shut down Al Jazeera’s Jerusalem office, stop transmitting its broadcasts and strip the Qatar-based channel’s journalists of their credentials, the country’s communications minister said yesterday.

Ayoub Kara accused the channel of ‘‘incitement’’ as he announced the plans for shuttering the station’s operations.

‘‘Freedom of expression is not freedom to incite,’’ he said, according to a ministry statement. ‘‘Democracy has limits.’’

Al Jazeera said it was unclear when the Israeli government would act on Kara’s request and the channel has said it will fight any attempt to close its office in the courts. A legal amendment will need to be made to adopt the measures, the ministry statement said, with the law updated to reflect the ‘‘current geopolitical reality.’’

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu tweeted his support for the move, having publicly vowed to close down the channel’s Jerusalem bureau last month. He has been attempting to rebuild his following among right-wing voters after agreeing to remove metal detectors at the al-aqsa mosque compound in Jerusalem last month, which was seen by some Israelis as a capitulation to Palestinian worshippers after a twoweek-long stand off. He also accused the channel of incitement; however, his office declined to give specific examples of content it deemed to have stoked tensions.

The announcement also came just days after Netanyahu’s former chief of staff agreed to testify against him in relation to allegations of fraud and breach of trust, throwing his continued tenure into jeopardy.

- Washington Post