ISRAEL CALLS FOR KNESSET TO PASS LAW ALLOWING CLOSURE OF FOREIGN NEWS NETWORKS

Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has called for Knesset to pass the legislation allowing his government to shut down foreign news networks, according to The Times of Israel.

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Netanyahu has promised to "immediately act to close AI Jazeera" after the law is passed.

Netanyahu's Likud party released a statement claiming that the prime minister asked coalition whip Ofir Katz to make sure the bill passed both its second and third readings today, reported the Times of Israel.

If the law is approved, the prime minister and the minister of communications will have the power to declare international networks functioning in Israel to be in danger of closing and seizing their equipment, if they are deemed to be posing "an actual harm to the state's security."

After a lengthy discussion in the Knesset National Security Committee, the legislation was authorised for its second and third readings after passing its first reading in the plenary of the Knesset in February.