Shin Bet report that led to closure of Al Jazeera is ‘classified,’ won’t be released
Government shut Qatari outlet’s offices, blocked its broadcasts, after agency found it ‘does actual harm to state security’; official: ‘It incites Palestinians to attack Israelis’
Jeremy Sharon is The Times of Israel’s legal affairs and settlements reporter
The government will not make public the details of position papers submitted by the security services saying that Al Jazeera has harmed Israeli security, following a cabinet decision on Monday to temporarily shut down the Qatari news network.
According to a government resolution passed on Sunday, the Shin Bet domestic security agency issued a report on April 9 that said Al Jazeera’s broadcasts were harmful to national security, while the IDF and Mossad issued reports that supported restricting the channel’s broadcasts.
These reports are classified, an Israeli official noted, and they will not be released to the public.
According to the law under which Communications Minister Shlomo Karhi ordered Al Jazeera off the air, the prime minister and communications minister must receive at least one position paper authored by one of the state security agencies detailing the “factual foundations” of the allegation that the foreign media outlet in question is causing “actual harm” to state security.
The law was passed on April 2, and Karhi submitted a request the same day to the National Security Council and the cabinet secretary to have Al Jazeera shut down.
The government resolution passed on Sunday states that the security cabinet sent a request to the IDF, the Shin Bet, the Mossad, and the military censor on April 3 asking for their position papers on whether Al Jazeera is causing damage to national security.
The Shin Report was received on April 9 and its conclusions were that “all the information in the Shin Bet’s possession instructs that the content broadcast on the channel does actual harm to state security,” the resolution stated.
It added that classified reports from the IDF and Mossad supported “the restriction of Al Jazeera broadcasts in Israel.”
In Karhi’s request, the communications minister provided what he said were examples of damage done by Al Jazeera’s broadcasts, claiming that they demonstrated “unambiguously that the channel serves as a megaphone for incitement propaganda that glorifies terror attacks and terrorists, assists the enemy, and therefore is likely to harm public wellbeing, state security, and even undermine public order.”
Another Israeli official told The Times of Israel in a similar vein that Al Jazeera Arabic in particular incited terrorism, which by extension would pose a threat to security, and said that the channel was closed down because it was “the main mouthpiece of Hamas” and other terror organizations.
“It has been inciting terrorism against Israelis for over 20 years now, as well as promoting antisemitic tropes. Al Jazeera is an Islamic terrorism propaganda tool, disguised as a news network,” the official said.
“It has abused Israel’s democracy and freedom of the press to glorify terrorism against Israelis and to poison the minds of the Arab masses. It does not abide by any journalistic professional standards, as it is dedicated to glorifying violence and killing of Israelis.”
The official said that Al Jazeera in Arabic “has been inciting Palestinians to carry out attacks against Israelis” by idolizing Palestinian terrorists and presenting them as heroes.
“Al Jazeera abused democracy and freedom of the press in Israel to incite Arab masses against Israel and to perpetrate attacks against Israelis,” the official said. “They want to make sure the masses get the message, which is jihad against Israel. It’s a jihadi propaganda tool that supports all terror groups in the region.”
Al Jazeera described the decision to shut its operations down as a “criminal action” and said the accusation that the network threatened national security was a “dangerous and ridiculous lie” that put its journalists at risk.
“Israel’s suppression of free press to cover up its crimes by killing and arresting journalists has not deterred us from performing our duty,” the network said.
Reuters contributed to this report.
