27th July, 2017
Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, demanded that the Jerusalem office of Qatari news agency Al-Jazeera be closed, accusing it of inciting recent violence over a Jerusalem holy site.
“The Al-Jazeera network continues to incite violence around the Temple Mount. I have appealed several times to law enforcement authorities demanding the closure of the Al-Jazeera Jerusalem office,” Netanyahu said on Facebook.
“If this does not happen because of legal interpretation, I will work to legislate the required laws in order to remove Al-Jazeera from Israel,” Netanyahu added.
The Al-Jazeera Jerusalem office was not immediately available for comment.
Al-Jazeera, a main conduit for news from Israel to the Arab and Muslim world, extensively covered recent tensions in Jerusalem over Israeli security measures at the al-Aqsa Mosque compound, known to Jews as the Temple Mount.
Israel on Thursday removed the last remaining security installations it had put in place at the holy site after a deadly attack sparked Palestinian protests.
And also Jerusalem’s Muslim leaders told worshippers that they can end their protest, apparently ending the stand-off.
The network has been banned in several countries – including Egypt, Iraq, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Syria – and has been accused of harbouring biases towards Islamist organisations.
Al-Jazeera has been repeatedly accused of bias by Israeli authorities, and in June, Netanyahu met with top security and intelligence officials to discuss potentially shutting down the news bureau.