Knesset passes law to close Al Jazeera office in Israel

Following the Israeli parliament's approval of a law enabling senior ministers to close foreign news outlets considered a security threat, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has vowed to "act immediately to stop" the operations of Al Jazeera in Israel.

“Al Jazeera will no longer be broadcast from Israel,” Netanyahu wrote in a post on X after the law was approved on Monday. “I intend to act immediately in accordance with the new law to stop the channel’s activity.”

In a Knesset vote that concluded 70-10, the newly passed law grants the prime minister and the communications minister the power to shut down foreign networks functioning within Israel and seize their equipment, should they be considered to pose "harm to the state’s security".

The White House said on Monday that if reports regarding Israel's attempts to close the news network Al Jazeera are accurate, it would be "concerning."