Israeli Foreign Ministry to boycott al-Jazeera

The hundreds of thousands of people who tune into the al-Jazeera news network from around the world in order to find out about the latest goings-on will no longer hear Israel's opinion on the network – at least not from official sources. Israel has decided to boycott the station in wake of accusations of biased coverage.

On Wednesday, the Foreign Ministry sent out a new guideline stating that official spokespersons are to boycott the popular news network. Foreign Ministry personnel are also crafting a letter that they intend to send to al-Jazeera headquarters in Qatar complaining about the station's perceived anti-Israel stance primarily in its Arabic language broadcasts (the station also has English-language news broadcasts).

Israel claims that the news network has stepped over the line in its coverage of the news in recent weeks. It started with pictures from Gaza of what people in Israel are calling the "initiated electricity outage" in which thousands of Palestinians were shown walking around with candles in hand. It continued with heart-breaking footage of injured Palestinians – including babies, women and children – during an IDF incursion into northern Gaza, which was called Operation Warm Winter.

Israel blasts al-Jazeera for one-sided coverage that primarily serves Hamas. "The station does not act with fundamental objectivity and of course does not cover the rocket attacks in Ashkelon and the Gaza vicinity with the same intensity (that it covers Palestinian causalities in Gaza)," an Israeli official said. He even claims that the pictures of Palestinians with candles were doctored by the network.

"The network's writers and editors have lost all semblance of objectivity in their coverage of events in the region. They're operating with full coordination from Hamas. It's an untenable situation from our perspective," he said.

Palestinians protesting in Gaza (Photo: AFP)

Deputy Foreign Minister, MK Majalli Whbee, who is leading the Israeli effort against the Qatari news channel, told Ynet that: "The station's broadcasts are characterized by incitement against Israel which was seen in the last confrontation with Hamas in the Gaza Strip.

"We're not prepared to give communication services to an inciting channel whose broadcasts are likely to cause Israeli citizens to pay a heavy price. I intend to send a severe letter in this vein to Qatari authorities in the coming days in order to demand an end to these broadcasts. Until then, we won't send them any representatives on our behalf."

Zvi Mazel, a former Israeli ambassador to Egypt and Sweden who regularly watches al-Jazeera

broadcasts, told Ynet that: "It is clear that they are not OK; they are the source of radical positions and during the Second Lebanon War they served as Hizbullah's mouthpiece."

However, he has a hard time seeing how an Israeli boycott will help: "I would really consider the move; there are other things that can be done. For example, showing how radical they are; shattering the liberal neutral façade that is attached to (the network). It is advisable to send serious, tough officials to their broadcasts in order to present Israel's positions more vigorously.

'Boycott not solution'

Raanan Gissin, a frequent guest on al-Jazeera programs, finds it difficult to find the logic behind the boycott: "This decision stems from frustration. Will they stop broadcasting if we boycott? At the end of the day, we satisfied the urge to get revenge and 'got them back' as it were. In actuality, we left the stage open to only one opinion."

In the multi-channel world, Gissin told Ynet, Israel can't ignore a station that broadcasts to a billion Muslims. "Al Jazeera is also competing for public opinion and ratings and radical opinions against Israel bring (good) ratings. But they also need an Israeli reaction, because the Arab world is undergoing a communications revolution and viewers will find it difficult to get only one opinion.

"It is advisable that we accept that it is impossible to reach a billion Muslims by passing along an opposing message via Hebrew-language Israeli television – they don't watch the daily Israeli news round-up. We must enunciate our opinion in every way and take advantage of every stage."

The way to deal with the prevailing opinion in the Qatari news channel, Gissin believes, is an offensive attitude: "It's true that Al Jazeera is the closest thing to al-Manar (Hizbullah's television station), but the solution is not to boycott. We must get up and unapologetically say exactly what we want.

"We should unhesitatingly and unequivocally say: You have two options. Make a deal with us or continue to attempt to attack us. But, take into consideration that if you attack us, we kick hard. You have a history of hundreds of years, ours is 3,000 years old and we'll continue to be here."

Knesset Member Jamal Zahalka (National Democratic Assembly) said the Foreign Ministry's decision to boycott the al-Jazeera television network was a "dangerous attempt to intimidate media outlets.

"The Israeli government wants the media to conceal information regarding its crimes in Gaza, but the pictures don’t lie," he said, "the boycott is another symptom of the government's moral bankruptcy."

Walid el-Omri, head of the al-Jazeera news network Israeli bureau said in response that Israel "has yet to officially inform us of any decision to the effect of a boycott.

"The incitement campaign against al-Jazeera began long before the IDF operation in Gaza," he said. "This is nothing more than an attempt to scare us, to pressure us, like they do in many Arab and non-Arab regimes."

Roi Mandel contributed to this report