Jerusalem (Web Desk): Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has banned Al-Jazeera's Jerusalem bureau chief from attending a seminar about freedom of speech, officials said.
The Israeli government press office said late Wednesday that Netanyahu had demanded Walid Al-Omary be excluded from the conference taking place on Thursday. The event was focused on the limits of freedom of expression.
The press office said Netanyahu reiterated his intention to close Al-Jazeera in Israel and called for “legal measures to be taken to prevent the accreditation of all Al-Jazeera journalists.”
Amnesty International called the Israeli moves a “brazen attack on media freedom.”
Al-Jazeera, which is owned by Qatar, has also been banned by the gas-rich Gulf state's rivals in recent months.