Israel relents on local Al Jazeera journalist
September 4, 2017
By Chris Forrester
Israel’s official Government Press Office has decided against revoking the accreditation of a local journalist, Elias Karram, who worked for the Al Jazeera news broadcaster.
The decision permits Karram to continue filing for Al Jazeera at least for the next 6 months, and somewhat defuses the tensions between Al Jazeera and the Israeli media authorities.
It is a modest victory for Al Jazeera – and Qatar – in its dispute with Saudi Arabia over news coverage. In the early hours of last Thursday US President Donald Trump had a phone conversation with Saudi Arabia’s King Salman and called for a resolution in the now 90-day diplomatic spat between Qatar and a handful of Gulf nations. “The president urged that all parties to the Qatar dispute find a diplomatic resolution that follows through on their commitments made at the Riyadh summit, to maintain unity while fighting terrorism,” the statement said.