Netanyahu wants to expel Al-Jazeera over incitement
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said he wants to expel Qatari broadcaster Al-Jazeera from Israel amid tensions over a sensitive Jerusalem holy site.
"The Al-Jazeera channel continues to incite violence around the Temple Mount," Netanyahu wrote in a Facebook post late Wednesday, referring to the Haram al-Sharif compound in Jerusalem, known to Jews as the Temple Mount.
"I have appealed to law enforcement agencies several times to close the Al-Jazeera office in Jerusalem. If this is not possible because of legal interpretation, I am going to seek to have the necessary legislation adopted to expel Al-Jazeera from Israel."
Israel has regularly accused Al-Jazeera of bias in its coverage of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
Al-Jazeera condemned what it called "arbitrary accusations and hostile statements."
It added the network would "take all necessary legal measures in case they act on their threat," saying its coverage was professional and objective.
Protests and deadly unrest have erupted in the days since new security measures, including metal detectors, were installed at the holy site, which includes Al-Aqsa mosque and the Dome of the Rock.
Israel removed the remaining new security measures yesterday and Palestinians announced they would end a boycott of the site.
Muslims had been refusing to enter the site and prayed in the streets outside for more than a week after Israel installed the new security measures at the compound. The Israeli measures followed an attack that killed two policemen on July 14.
Palestinians view the security move as Israel asserting further control over the site.
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