Israel's attorney general informed the Communications Ministry that the seizure of equipment from the Associated Press news agency earlier this week was carried out without proper authority and based on a flawed interpretation of the recently passed law outlawing Al-Jazeera, a senior official briefed on the matter told Israel Hayom.
The government's legal counsel criticized the confiscation of AP's equipment, faulting not only Communications Minister Shlomo Karhi, who made the decision but also the staff at the ministry who signed off on the move. She instructed the ministry that any future action under the Al-Jazeera law must receive her prior approval.
On Tuesday, Minister Karhi ordered communications inspectors to seize broadcast equipment belonging to the AP, one of the world's largest news organizations. The equipment included cameras that had provided live, blurred footage from a distance of an area in the Gaza Strip where Israeli military forces were also visible.
Like many news outlets worldwide, the Al-Jazeera channel used this AP footage livestreamed from the Gaza border. Minister Karhi believed the live coverage endangered Israeli troops by exposing their locations and that he had the authority under the Al-Jazeera law to confiscate the equipment. His view received approval from all the professional staff at the Communications Ministry before the operation was carried out.
The AP reported that Israel was violating its press freedoms by seizing its equipment, prompting widespread international criticism. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu then instructed Mr. Karhi to return the equipment to the AP.
After Mr. Karhi backed down, the attorney general opened an inquiry and subsequently criticized the seizure of AP's gear. According to the legal advisor, the Al-Jazeera law's provision allowing "seizure of equipment used to supply content for the foreign channel" does not grant authority to confiscate equipment from an independent news agency distributing content to all media outlets, even if Al-Jazeera uses that agency's products like other outlets do.
The advisor said the law only permits the seizing of equipment directly belonging to Al-Jazeera itself. If there is evidence, Al-Jazeera is responsible for or connected to the establishment of another media outlet, circumventing the law.
Minister Karhi had claimed AP's broadcasting exposed and endangered Israeli forces. However, the attorney general found the minister's claim of endangerment lacked any factual basis. Neither the minister nor the professional ranks at the Communications Ministry sought an opinion from the Defense Ministry, the military, or other security agencies on whether the broadcast did indeed expose or jeopardize forces.
In a tweet and radio interview, the minister acknowledged that a legal opinion on whether the broadcast was exposing and endangering troops was only requested retroactively after AP's equipment had already been seized. With no substantiation for the claimed risk to forces, the equipment was returned to the agency.
