As part of Israel's move to shut down Al Jazeera's operations in the country, video equipment was seized today (Tuesday) from the offices of the Associated Press news agency in the Southern city of Sderot. According to the Ministry of Communications, the news agency facilitated broadcasting opportunities from the Gaza border for Al Jazeera.
During the raid on the broadcast offices in Sderot, inspectors from the Communications Ministry confiscated a camera that was live-streaming northern Gaza and IDF forces. Among the items seized were also a tripod, a wireless modem providing live broadcast capabilities, and two microphones.
Last week, a warning was sent to the agency, demanding they cease providing broadcasts to the Al Jazeera channel. However, AP decided to continue providing them with the footage.
החרמת הציוד של AP, סוכנות הידיעות הגדולה בעולם, בידי אנשיו של שלמה קרעי, היא מעשה של טירוף. זה לא אל ג'זירה, זה כלי תקשורת אמריקאי שזכה ב-53 פרסי פוליצר.
הממשלה הזו מתנהגת כאילו החליטה לוודא בכל מחיר שישראל תנודה בכל העולם. הם השתגעו.
— יאיר לפיד - Yair Lapid (@yairlapid) May 21, 2024
Following these events, AP stated that the Qatari satellite channel is among thousands of clients that receive live video feeds from the organization, and decried "in the strongest terms the actions of the Israeli government to shut down our longstanding live feed showing a view into Gaza and seize AP equipment."
Lauren Easton, vice president of corporate communications at the news organization also said "The shutdown was not based on the content of the feed but rather an abusive use by the Israeli government of the country's new foreign broadcaster law. We urge the Israeli authorities to return our equipment and enable us to reinstate our live feed immediately so we can continue to provide this important visual journalism to thousands of media outlets around the world."
The Communications Ministry stated that "Photographers from the AP news agency regularly filmed the Gaza area from a balcony in Sderot, including focusing on the activities and positions of IDF soldiers. Despite Communications Ministry inspectors warning them that they were violating the law and must disconnect Al Jazeera from receiving their content and not transmit to them, they continued to do so."
"The Israeli government has determined that it will not allow the Hamas-supporting terrorist channel Al Jazeera to broadcast from Israel. The law and regulations make no distinction between Al Jazeera itself or suppliers that transfer material to it from Israel."
The issue drew a response from the White House, calling the incident "concerning." Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre also added the White House believes journalists have the ability and right to do their jobs.
Israel's opposition leader, Yair Lapid, called the move "an act of madness" in his recent post on X. "This is not Al Jazeera. This is an American news outlet," he said. "This government acts as if it has decided to make sure at any cost that Israel will be shunned all over the world."
Communications Minister Shlomo Karhi addressed Lapid's comment, and said he should be "ashamed." He added, "Let me remind you that the laws and regulations unanimously passed by the government, with full backing from all security forces, require confiscating any equipment used to provide content to Al Jazeera, regardless of the individual or corporation involved. This is especially true in this case, in which AP staff were explicitly warned last week and still refused to stop servicing this terror-supporting channel. We will continue to take decisive action against anyone who tries to undermine our soldiers and the state's security, whether you approve or not."
