For years now, a sword has hovered over the head of Israel’s Army Radio [Galei Tzahal]. In fact, it seems that from the very beginning – since its founding – the station has been controversial.
David Ben-Gurion initiated its establishment, but the move sparked disputes with fellow ministers and IDF commanders. As was his way, Ben-Gurion prevailed. What did he want? According to the official definition, the station was intended to serve both as an educational tool and as a means to mobilize reservists. True, there was already a public broadcaster at the time – Kol Yisrael, which continued from the British Mandate era – but that didn’t satisfy him.
The new station far exceeded the expectations of its founders. It became one of the pillars of Israeli media and broadcasting. The wings it grew carried it, in terms of content and programming, beyond the military-security establishment. It became a central stage for Israeli culture, music, and creativity, encouraging original productions and young artists. Its great success became its own burden: The more successful it was, the more opposition it attracted – including from Kol Yisrael.
Station in crisis
The station’s unique structure – young soldiers combined with civilian professionals – created, within the rigid and “square” military system, a station that was open, flexible, and unconventional. This absurdity, surprisingly, was embraced by the Israeli public with great enthusiasm. The station has always had high listenership and competed with its older sibling.
I served as the commander and chief editor of Army Radio in the second half of the 1980s. I arrived there after working as a journalist in both print and broadcast media. What I found was a station in crisis, reflecting the public debate surrounding the First Lebanon War. That war, as is well known, became increasingly complicated, dividing the public into two camps: one demanded withdrawal at any cost; the other feared the consequences and insisted on staying in southern Lebanon.
As with other public issues, this one preoccupied the station and was reflected in its broadcasts. Internally, however, sharp disagreements and conflicts emerged among the staff, spilling beyond the station’s walls.
Doubts about the station began to surface in public discourse, and within the IDF questions about its legitimacy were raised once again. Toxic workplace dynamics and the fact that the station didn’t unconditionally support government policy provided ammunition for its detractors.
An attempt was made at that time to shut the station down. It ended in a rather absurd compromise: to cancel news editions but allow current affairs programming to continue – meaning no news bulletins, only interviews and discussion programs.
At the time, the defense minister was Yitzhak Rabin. He didn’t interfere with the station’s operations, and I was able, gradually and carefully, to bring it back to life, reintroducing news and current affairs into the programming.
Occasionally, I had to moderate content or rein in certain broadcasters, but it was clear to me that the station’s very existence was important, and it was better to compromise here and there than to shut it down.
Loyal audience
Since then, defense ministers and IDF chiefs of staff have occasionally proposed shutting down the station or fundamentally changing its broadcasts. All these initiatives have failed. A large and loyal audience has always stood behind the station and defended it against such attempts.
Army Radio, and its younger music-focused sister station Galgalatz, drew listeners across age groups and built a solid base of public support. Not to mention, both the IDF and the defense establishment benefited from the station’s prestige and public standing, using it to promote values of patriotism, national security, and unity.
All of this leads us to the hasty, unfounded, and unjustified decision by Defense Minister Israel Katz to shut down Galei Tzahal. Without giving prior warning or doing a thorough examination, the minister announced his intention to end the station’s broadcasts, leaving only Galgalatz on the air.
He offered various reasons, none of which were relevant or substantiated. Above all, it seems the minister wants to shut it down simply “because he can.” And he’s right – in a way. You can’t shut down the public broadcasting corporation or commercial radio and TV channels, but Army Radio, a government-owned station, is an easy target.
Political considerations
No one will convince me that the primary reason isn’t political. Israel Katz is a political defense minister – more than his predecessors. The public he represents harbors an irrational hostility toward the media and, by extension, freedom of expression.
Generations of Likud members and ministers have walked around with a persecution complex, convinced that “the media is against us.” They refuse to understand that the press operates according to its own norms and that criticism is the essence of media in a democratic society.
The idea that “killing the messenger” will eliminate criticism is an illusion. In our digital age – an age of social media – there is no way to silence the press or hide information from the public. This move, therefore, was doomed to fail from the start.
To the minister’s discredit, he didn’t even hide his intentions. The “professional” committee he appointed discredits previous Israeli public committees. Not a single media professional sat on it.
They rushed through the process and handed him the “goods” – a recommendation to shut the station down. They didn’t even bother to accommodate, in any way, Chief of Staff Eyal Zamir, who, in his previous role as director general of the Ministry of Defense, led a similar review committee that ultimately decided to continue the station’s broadcasts with necessary adjustments. The IDF representative, to whom the station is subordinate, appeared before the committee and did not call for its closure.
But Katz wasn’t interested. He was jealous of his colleagues – like Ministers Shlomo Karhi and Miki Zohar – who had already launched attacks on the media and cultural sectors, and he wanted to join the club.
As happens all too often in today’s Israel – regrettably – the Supreme Court was forced to step in. At first, the court gave the government a month to reconsider. But when it became clear that the Defense Ministry had begun laying off staff and shutting down operations, the court issued a conditional order and froze all further actions.
Writing on the wall
Katz may try to continue, but I believe the writing is already on the wall: He won’t succeed. Perhaps, in his eyes, even the attempt is a kind of victory – but that is a highly questionable achievement. Instead of using his authority to wisely shape the station’s content, as a defense minister could, he rushed into a reckless decision that will likely fail.
Israel is currently fighting for its core values – the same values that once earned it an honored place among the world’s liberal democracies. Freedom of expression is a fundamental right, non-negotiable, and it is expressed, among other ways, through the press.
In the battle for the country’s future, shutting down Army Radio would be a serious blow to the fundamental rights of Israel’s citizens. This initiative – along with others that erode our basic freedoms – is a wake-up call that demands action. We, the citizens, cannot allow this strategy to prevail.
Therefore, the question of Army Radio is not just about whether the station will continue to exist or not – it raises a far more fundamental issue: Will democracy in Israel continue to exist or not?■
Nachman Shai is the dean of Hebrew Union College in Jerusalem. Formerly, he was minister of Diaspora affairs, IDF spokesperson, and chair of the Association for Military-Society Researchers.