White House ‘concerned’ after Netanyahu pledges to use new law to shutter Al Jazeera in Israel

(JTA) — The Biden White House said it was “concerning” that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu planned to close down the Israeli offices of the Al Jazeera, based on a law just passed by Israel’s parliament, the Knesset.

Netanyahu, posting in Hebrew on X, formerly Twitter, said of the Qatar-based network that “the time has come to eject this herald for Hamas from our country.”

The new law, passed by a vote of 71-10 in the 120-member body, allows the government to shut down a news outlet that poses a threat to security for 45 days, and renew the shutdown…