Israel’s Netanhayu says he will seek to shut down Al-Jazeera
27 Jul 2017
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said that he wants to expel Qatari broadcaster Al-Jazeera from Israel, accusing the television news network of inciting recent violence in the city amid tensions over a sensitive Jerusalem holy site.
"The Al-Jazeera channel continues to incite violence around the Temple Mount," Netanyahu wrote in a Facebook post on Tuesday, referring to the Haram al-Sharif compound in Jerusalem, known to Jews as the Temple Mount.
Jerusalem is experiencing one of its most tense periods in years as Palestinians protest heightened Israeli security measures near the Temple Mount-Noble Sanctuary compound, and the events have been widely reported, including by Al Jazeera.
"I have appealed to law enforcement agencies several times to close the Al-Jazeera office in Jerusalem. If this is not possible because of legal interpretation, I am going to seek to have the necessary legislation adopted to expel Al- Jazeera from Israel," Netanhayu wrote in Hebrew.
The spike in tensions and the deaths of three Israelis and four Palestinians in violence on Friday and Saturday raised international alarm.
Al Jazeera has also faced government censure in neighbouring Egypt when in 2014, the Arab state jailed three Al Jazeera staffers for seven years and closed the network's offices. Two staffers have been released but a third remains imprisoned.
Regional leader Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, the United Arab Emirates and Egypt broke ties with Qatar on 5 June, accusing it of fostering extremism and later issuing 13 demands, including Al-Jazeera's closure.
Israel has regularly accused Al-Jazeera of bias in its coverage of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
Protests and deadly unrest have erupted in the days since the new security measures were installed at the holy site.
A tense standoff was still underway between Israel and Muslim worshippers at the Jerusalem holy site despite the removal of metal detectors there, with concerns the situation could deteriorate into major unrest.
Muslims have refused to enter the site and have prayed in the streets outside for more than a week after Israel installed the new security measures at the compound. The Israeli measures followed an attack that killed two policemen.
Palestinians view the security move as Israel asserting further control over the site, which houses the revered Al-Aqsa mosque and the Dome of the Rock.
Netanyahu has sought to improve ties with countries in the region, where it is heavily criticised over its 50-year occupation of Palestinian territory. Egypt and Jordan are currently the only two Arab countries with peace treaties with Israel.
