TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Israeli Communications Minister Ayoub Kara announced that he is set to ban Al Jazeera’s Jerusalem based headquarters and revoke the media credentials of all Al Jazeera journalists.
Kara accused the media network of supporting terrorist movements and said that Israel is also seeking to shut down Al Jazeera's cable and satellite transmissions in the country.
The announcement was made following a campaign initiated earlier in July by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, in which he accused Al Jazeera of inciting violence during the Al Aqsa Mosque conflict.
Israel followed the step taken by Saudi Arabia and several Arab Sunni countries to ban the media after the diplomatic dispute with Qatar, which was said to be Al Jazeera’s main financial backer.
According to Kara, local cable TV service providers agreed to revoke Al Jazeera from their services, but steps to close the news network in Jerusalem would need further legal attempts.
The Al Jazeera editor denied the accusations made by the Israeli government and said that they have always been professional and objective in their reporting.
Al Jazeera editor accused Netanyahu of colluding with neighboring autocratic Arab countries in commencing series of attacks against free and independent media networks.
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