Mossad Chief David Barnea and Shin Bet Chief Ronen Bar asked the security cabinet late on Thursday to delay a decision to close down the offices of the Qatari-owned Al Jazeera Network in Israel, while there is still a chance to reach a hostage release deal with the mediation of Qatar after officials in Jerusalem expressed their hope that Dohan would use its leverage over Hamas including a threat to remove Hamas officials living there.
The cabinet was scheduled to vote on the matter proposed by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Communications Minister Shlomo Karhi. The vote was postponed until the next meeting which is set to take place on Sunday.
Officials in Israel have repeatedly complained that Qatar fails to use its power over Hamas and now hoped that the threat of removing the network from the country would prompt the Qataris to act after they've expressed their frustration over Israeli criticism of their actions as mediators.
By postponing the cabinet's vote, Qatar has more time to secure a deal that would release Israeli hostages in exchange for a cease-fire and the freeing of Palestinian prisoners held in Israeli jails. The U.S. is also putting pressure on the Qatari government amid hopes of the Biden administration that a deal can be reached.
A law that enables the Al Jazeera Network's closing passed in the Knesset last month. It states that if the prime minister is convinced a foreign media outlet is causing harm to the state, the communications minister can take action against it, consultation with at least one of the security services and with approval from the prime minister or the cabinet.
If approved, the communication minister would sign a directive to close the Network's bureaus, confiscate its broadcast equipment, prevent its journalists from broadcasting from Israel, remove the channel from cable and satellite services, block its internet websites and more.