Israel backs down and orders the return of Associated Press photography equipment
JERUSALEM (Reuters) – Israeli authorities confiscated Associated Press camera equipment on Tuesday before retreating in the face of widespread denunciation from media groups and criticism even from its closest ally, the United States.
Israeli Communications Minister Shlomo Qarai said in a statement that he ordered officials to cancel the original confiscation decision and return the equipment, pending a decision from the Ministry of Defense, which he said wanted to study the issue.
The Israeli Ministry of Communications had previously accused the Associated Press of violating the law by providing live broadcasts to different news channels. Israel imposed a temporary ban on these earlier this month and accused them of endangering national security.
The agency said that it had received an order to stop broadcasting a live scene in Gaza, as seen from the Israeli town of Sderot. It explained that this order was not issued because of the broadcast’s content but because the Israeli government misused the country’s new foreign broadcast law.
The Associated Press condemns in the strongest terms the Israeli government’s long-standing suspension of our live broadcasts showing footage from Gaza and the seizure of AP equipment, agency spokeswoman Lauren Easton said.
The media law, passed in April, allows the government to temporarily order foreign broadcasters to halt their operations for national security reasons. The White House, which supports Israel in the war, said the incident was troubling and that journalists had the right to do their work. Media rights groups denounced the move, which Reporters Without Borders described as heinous censorship.
This incident is the latest in a series of confrontations between media groups and the Israeli government since the start of the war on Gaza last year.
The Associated Press said it complied with military censorship rules prohibiting broadcasting details such as troop movements that could put soldiers at risk. She added that the live footage generally showed smoke rising over Gaza.
Like the AP, Reuters also provides live broadcasts from locations throughout the Gaza Strip to clients worldwide. When Israel suspended the work in May, the channel described Israel’s accusation that it threatened its national security as a dangerous and ridiculous lie and did not immediately respond when asked about the AP incident on Tuesday. Spokesmen for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
