The order issued by Interior Minister Eli Yishai on Sunday for the closure of Sawt Al-Haqq Wal-Hurriya (The Voice of Truth and Freedom), a newspaper published by the northern branch of the Islamic Movement, should worry all those who value freedom of expression and thought in Israel.

Yishai based his decision to close the paper on a British Mandate-era law - Article 19(2)(a) of the 1933 Press Ordinance - that had been virtually a dead letter ever since the Supreme Court's verdict in the Kol Ha'am case in 1953.

Some of the articles published in the paper arouse fear and disgust. In crude, aggressive language, Sawt Al-Haqq's writers urge all Arabs to revolt over Jerusalem; call Israelis "the worst virus of all time" and Israel "a louse nesting in the body of the Arab world and sucking its blood and resources... which has permitted verminous rabbis to damage Al-Aqsa [Mosque];" and declares that "the shaheeds [a euphemism for suicide bombers] are the fount of life."

The writers do not deal in refined ideology; they degenerate into racism, incitement and even open sedition.

Nevertheless, the closure of a newspaper is a very extreme measure that is liable to serve as a dangerous precedent for any government interested in gagging its opponents and suppressing freedom of expression and thought. If Sawt Al-Haqq is not an ordinary newspaper, but rather the extremist bulletin of a warmongering political movement, the state could find other ways of protecting itself against its evil designs. It is even possible that the closure of this channel for expression, violent and inflammatory in style though it is, will do more harm than good, as the editors and writers will present themselves both in Israel and abroad as people who are being persecuted on account of their ideas.

Yishai says the closure order was issued "at the demand of the Shin Bet security service, in coordination with the prime minister and with the approval of the State Prosecutor's Office." This is not a convincing argument. On the contrary: Yishai appears to be wrapping himself in the broad mantle of these agencies and ducking his personal responsibility.

The unique and weighty powers that the state grants the interior minister in the broad and complex area of incitement, sedition and disturbances of the peace obligates him to use extreme caution and to rise above immediate political and security pressures.

The Shin Bet's recommendation may be a necessary condition for such a grave decision, but it is not a sufficient one. It is difficult not to suspect that Yishai complied gladly with the Shin Bet's request; the journal's closure will undoubtedly earn both him and Sharon points with the voters.

"The paper's closure is part of our effort in the war on terror," Yishai said to explain his decision. But it would be better for him to leave the war on terror to the security services and a decision on whether to prosecute the paper for its crimes - if it committed any - to the law enforcement agencies.

A democracy has a range of tools with which to defend itself against murderers and lawbreakers. Defending itself against government efforts to suppress dissent is much more difficult.