The Ministerial Committee for Legislation approved Sunday a bill meant to make the "Al Jazeera Law," currently a temporary provision, a permanent law. The temporary order allows the government to stop for 45 days the broadcasts in Israel of a foreign media outlet if it is determined that they cause real harm to national security.
The bill, approved by the committee, was introduced as a private member's by MK Ariel Kallner (Likud). It would allow a channel's broadcasts to be stopped permanently, without having to approve an extension when the 45-day order expires. The bill now goes to the Knesset for the first of four votes. The ministers approved advancing the law subject to the consent of the communication and justice ministries and agreed to discuss the bill again after the first vote and before the second.
The temporary provision, whose official name is the Bill for Preventing a Foreign Broadcasting Organization from Harming State Security, is currently valid until July 31, or until the end of the declaration of a special situation on the home front.
Kallner said because "Israel has faced serious security threats since its founding and is expected to continue to face them in the future, it cannot afford to allow a foreign broadcasting organization to seriously harm its security."
About two weeks ago, the High Court of Justice gave the state until August 5 to reply to a petition challenging the temporary order. The petition was filed by the Association for Civil Rights in Israel.
The court gave the respondents – Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Communications Minister Shlomo Karhi and Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara – the option of informing the court that it will not seek to renew the temporary provision against Al Jazeera when it expires. The original order against the network expired at the beginning of June, and Karhi extended it by another 45 days.
