JERUSALEM: Israel's communications minister has said he wants to shut down pan-Arab broadcaster Al-Jazeera in the country.

Ayoob Kara, of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's Likud party, said Sunday he wants the news network's press cards revoked and has asked cable providers to block their transmissions. He said he wants them banned altogether. No timetable for the measures was given.

Kara said the station is used by militant groups to "incite" violence.

He said it is "delusional" that Arab states in the region banned Al-Jazeera for that reason but Israel has not.

Jordan and Saudi Arabia have closed Al-Jazeera's local offices, while the channel and its affiliate sites have been blocked in Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, Egypt and Bahrain.

Israeli officials have long accused Al-Jazeera of bias against the Jewish state.