The District Court approved the continuation of restrictions on Al Jazeera broadcasts until the end of March, after determining that the broadcasts continue to cause substantial harm to state security.

Communications Minister Shlomo Karhi ordered about a month ago to restrict broadcasts of two channels: Al Jazeera, which broadcasts from Qatar and is funded by it and is identified, among others with the Hamas terrorist organization; and Al-Mayadeen channel, which broadcasts from Lebanon, is identified with the Hezbollah terrorist organization and is presumably funded by Iran.

For both channels, this is a continuation of restrictions that began weeks and months ago, based on the Law for Prevention of Foreign Broadcasting Body's Harm to State Security, which was passed as an emergency measure in April last year under the auspices of the war and was recently extended in July and again in November.

Immediately after the legislation, the Association for Civil Rights and Al Jazeera itself petitioned against the law, claiming it was unconstitutional. The petition has not yet been decided, and the hearing is expected only in April.

"These order proceedings are part of an attack on media outlets and press freedom," argued Al Jazeera's attorney Jamal Abdu at the hearing held at the beginning of the month (2.2). "It's impossible to disconnect this law and these orders and not see them in the same light as the attack on the Broadcasting Authority and the attempt to subject it to political considerations, and the boycott of Haaretz newspaper."

Attorney Abdu also noted that in recent weeks, Israeli television channels have been broadcasting Al Jazeera's coverage from Gaza documenting the release of hostages. "This absurdity, that the same channel whose broadcasts definitely harm state security has its content broadcast on Israeli television channels, can only be understood through the claim that these are indeed political, not security considerations," he argued.

Additionally, Al Jazeera's attorney argued that the content presented to the court as grounds for continuing broadcast restrictions was old content, broadcast many months ago.

In his decision to approve the order, Judge Shai Yaniv rejected this claim and determined that he was exposed in an ex parte hearing to new content recently broadcast that justifies the broadcast restrictions.

"The classified discussion focused mainly on presenting updated intelligence material, namely, data accumulated by security agencies after the court's previous decision regarding Al Jazeera broadcasts," noted Judge Yaniv.

"Examination of the details showed me that there has been no change in Al Jazeera's broadcast approach," the judge added and determined. "It's not just about presenting Hamas's narrative [...] and glorifying the murderous terrorist organization [...]. It was shown to me that Al Jazeera continues to broadcast content that substantially harms state security. Thus, a report was presented on a clear security issue with implications for substantial harm to state security."

Before issuing the order, the Acting Director General of the Ministry of Communications, Elad Makdassi, informed Al Jazeera that "according to security agencies' assessment, the content distributed through Al Jazeera promotes a perception of reality that may, under certain circumstances, push lone attackers to commit acts of terror." Judge Yaniv noted that he was shown the basis for this notice, as well as "an indication of the broadcasts' explosive potential, especially during the approaching Ramadan month, causing substantial harm to state security."

According to Judge Yaniv, "Al Jazeera's broadcast content does not exist in a vacuum," as he was presented with "updated data on the continuing close connection between Hamas and Al Jazeera channel [...] including regarding broadcast content and timing of publications [...] The current picture thus shows the continuation of the close connection between the Hamas terrorist organization and Al Jazeera media channel."

Judge Yaniv also addressed Al Jazeera's attorney's claim regarding the apparent absurdity in broadcasting the Qatari channel's content on Israeli stations and wrote: "Needless to say, the fact that it was possible to see the release of hostages in Israel through Al Jazeera channel does not mitigate the overall picture detailed above, according to which the channel continues to broadcast content that substantially harms state security."

Therefore, Judge Yaniv approved the continuation of restrictions on the channel for a period of 60 days retroactively, starting from 30.1.25. A decision regarding the orders issued to the Lebanese Al-Mayadeen channel has not yet been received.