Close It—Just Not Now: Why Israel’s Army Radio Should End Under the Right Government
Israel’s defense minister wants to shut down Galatz over political criticism, but the deeper issue is whether a democracy should run a military station broadcasting to civilians
It pains me to say this, but Israel should close down its army radio station. But not now.
Israel’s defense minister, master politician Israel Katz, wants to close the station known as “Galatz,” its Hebrew acronym, because some of its broadcasters are critical of his government.
In contrast, the only legitimate reason to shutter the 75-year-old institution is this: It’s improper for a democracy to operate an army radio station that broadcasts to the general public.
Why does it pain me to say that? Because back in the 1970s, under an assumed name, I worked for Galatz.
I was the station’s radio monitor. I would sit on a stool in a bedroom of our tiny Jerusalem apartment, twirling the dials of my shortwave radio, recording broadcasts that would end up on Galatz newsreels. I used a cassette recorder, and when I got something interesting, I’d tell the producers and then race to the Galatz studio in downtown Jerusalem with the cassette tape and transmit the recording to the headquarters in Jaffa, along with a translation into Hebrew.
Among my “scoops” were a recording of the new Russian national anthem (1977) and the official announcement of the death of Spanish dictator Francisco Franco (1975).
Assumed name? It was my Hebrew name, Moshe Bentsion. Why? Because my “day job” was reporting and announcing for the English service of the direct Galatz competitor, the Israeli state radio station.
Several times when I attended the morning meeting at Israel Radio’s news division, I heard grumbling about how Galatz beat them to a story. “Who is this Moshe Bentsion guy,” they’d mutter. This article marks the first time I’ve “outed” myself.
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Our plan was—when it came time for me to do my regular service in the Israeli military, I’d serve in uniform as the radio monitor for Galatz. It didn’t work out, and I ended up in a tank unit.
Galatz was created in 1950 as a service for soldiers. During the 1973 war, it expanded its broadcasts from a few hours a day to 24 hours, carrying special programs for the forces at the fronts. Those continued during Israel’s wars in Lebanon in the 1980s.
The most poignant program was “Mom’s Voice,” recordings of mothers sending messages to their children at the front lines. Back in those dark ages, there was no other way for them to communicate with each other.
Times have changed. “Mom’s Voice” is still on the air, but now it broadcasts conversations between mothers and soldiers, or recordings from soldiers—it’s not that hard to communicate anymore.
Likewise, Galatz has changed. It features hourlong newsreels, political discussion programs, and cultural specials—like its big brother/competitor, the semi-public successor to the Israel Radio of my era.
Defense Minister Katz’s problem appears to be that not all Galatz programming repeats the government line. That’s true—it reflects the wide spectrum of Israeli public opinion, which has been growing more critical of the government over the course of the long war in Gaza.
That’s not the right reason to close the station. The right reason is that army radio stations are associated with dictatorships like North Korea, not democracies like Israel.
But wait a minute. What about the United States? It has a military broadcasting arm, too—Armed Forces Radio and Television Services, known fondly back in my day as AFRTS, and now as American Forces Network.
And believe it or not, I almost worked for that one, too. Facing the possibility of being drafted and sent to Vietnam after my university graduation, I enlisted in the American army. I had a ticket to Armed Forces Radio. If you watched the Robin Williams movie Good Morning, Vietnam! then you’ve seen Armed Forces Radio in action.
But I flunked the US Army physical because of an ice hockey knee injury, ending up in that Israeli army tank unit a few years later, after working for Galatz.
Here’s the difference: Armed Forces Radio does not broadcast inside the United States. It is directed exclusively at American forces and their families serving abroad, in places where there are no American-style broadcasts in English. It’s doubtful whether there’s a need for such a radio station serving Israeli soldiers, since Israeli radio and TV broadcasts in Hebrew are easily accessible on every smartphone.
So is Katz right? Can you be right for the wrong reasons? You can, but you shouldn’t.
It’s important to note that Galatz, as it is constituted today, causes no harm. The same cannot be said of the broader media environment shaped by the government Katz represents:
- It features a communications minister who wants to extend government control over all broadcasting.
- A previous government led by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu pushed special legislation through the Knesset to allow the free distribution of a daily newspaper blatantly and openly reflecting Netanyahu’s politics.
- The government established a TV “news” channel whose purpose is to echo the policies of the ruling party, often ignoring facts or making up its own. The purpose is to provide a home for Netanyahu fans who don’t like the “slant” of the three main news channels, all of which broadcast (gasp) items critical of the government.
So yes, Galatz should be closed. But it should be closed by a government that is accepted as acting on behalf of all the people, not one that is suspected, often for good reason, of acting only in the interests of its most fanatic voters and the most extreme members of its ruling coalition.
We can wait.
