Public Security Minister Gilad Erdan signed an order Thursday shutting down the Palestinian Musawa television station, which is funded by the Palestinian Authority but has been operating without a license from facilities in Israel. It ceased broadcasting on Friday. The station's programs were produced in the northern Israeli city of Nazareth before undergoing editing in the West Bank Palestinian city of Ramallah.

"We won't allow any harm to the sovereignty of the State of Israel or the granting of a foothold to the Palestinian Authority in the territory of the country," Erdan said in explaining his order, which remains in effect for six months.

Erdan had also shut the station down when it was known as Palestine 48, but the Israel Police and the Shin Bet security service later received information that its broadcasts had resumed under the name Musawa. The director of Musawa also managed Palestine 48.

The Nazareth-based I'lam Arab Center for Media said Erdan's move was surprising because, the center claimed, Musawa functioned for six months without Erdan addressing the station's operations. "This decision by the minister is a direct continuation of prior decisions designed to harm Palestinian media institutions and to violate the rights of Palestinian journalists."

Joint List Knesset member Yousef Jabareen responded: "Minister Erdan is acting like a military governor and working non-stop to silence people and suppress freedom of expression. This step is another vengeful step produced by the extreme right-wing government."