Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has revived a push to close down Al Jazeera in Israel.
The Israeli leader demanded on Monday that his coalition government pass legislation in the Knesset that would allow senior ministers to shut down foreign news networks deemed a security risk.
Netanyahu, who has long sought to shutter broadcasts from the Qatari-based media outlet, promised to “immediately act to close Al Jazeera” following the law’s adoption, according to a statement from his Likud party.
The bill, passed in a first reading in February, would give the prime minister and the communications minister the authority to order the closure of foreign networks operating in Israel and confiscate their equipment if it is believed that they pose “harm to the state’s security”.
Likud officials have been instructed to make sure that the Knesset passes a second and third reading of the legislation on Monday evening.
The revived push comes as Netanyahu faces huge protests against his handling of Israel’s war with the Palestinian group Hamas.
