This law, passed by 70 votes to 10, not only gives the right to ban the broadcasting of foreign channels’ content, but also allows them to close their offices in Israel.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has vowed to take action to shut down Al Jazeera in Israel once the law is passed.
On Monday, he wrote on the X social network: “The terrorist channel Al Jazeera will no longer broadcast from Israel. I intend to take immediate action under the new law to stop the channel.”
In January, Israel said an Al Jazeera journalist and another freelancer killed in an airstrike in the Gaza Strip were “terrorist agents”.
He later said another channel journalist wounded in a separate strike was a Hamas “deputy squad leader.”
Israeli troops have been fighting Hamas in the Gaza Strip since October.
Al Jazeera strongly denied the allegations and accused Israel of systematically targeting Al Jazeera staff in the Gaza Strip.
The White House said on Monday it was concerned about a possible move by Israel to ban Qatari news channel Al Jazeera from broadcasting in the country.
“I will reach out to Israel about what they may or may not be considering,” White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said. “If that’s true, that’s a worrying move.”
A bill that would allow officials to shut down foreign media deemed harmful to national security passed its first hurdle in parliament last month.
Netanyahu’s Likud party said he had asked to “ensure that the law to shut down Al Jazeera is approved tonight” in Israel’s parliament.
Wael al-Dahdouh, head of Al Jazeera’s bureau in the Palestinian territories, was also injured in an Israeli strike that killed the broadcaster’s cameraman in December.
The war between Israel and Hamas began on October 7 with an attack by the militant group that killed about 1,160 people in Israel, mostly civilians, according to figures compiled by the AFP news agency based on official Israeli figures.
Israel’s retaliatory campaign has killed at least 32,845 people, mostly women and children, according to figures from the Hamas-run Gaza Health Ministry.
