Israel has voted to shut down the popular Army Radio station after 75 years of operation, following a unanimous cabinet decision to end broadcasts by March next year. The move has sparked a backlash, with critics accusing the government of cracking down on press freedom.
Army Radio, known as Galei Tzahal, is legally a unit of the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) but operates a major news department staffed by soldiers and civilian journalists, some of whom have frequently been critical of the government and military.
The decision to shut down the station was approved on Monday after a proposal by Defense Minister Israel Katz, who has already ordered the IDF to begin winding down the radio’s operations.
Katz said the station’s involvement in political programming undermines the military’s neutrality and cohesion, describing Army Radio as a “democratic anomaly,” arguing that its content has drawn the IDF into political disputes and harmed the army’s unity.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu backed the move, saying a military-run broadcaster serving the general public is highly unusual. He said such models exist “in North Korea and maybe a few other countries,” adding that Israel should not be among them.
Critics have called the decision illegal. Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara argued that the cabinet resolution fails to consider the impact on freedom of expression and cannot be implemented without legislation.
Opposition leader Yair Lapid accused the government of trying to control the media in an election year, while journalist unions and watchdog groups have vowed to petition the High Court of Justice to block the closure.
Shutting Army Radio would also eliminate roughly half of Israel’s independent public news broadcasting, the Israel Democracy Institute think tank has said, arguing the move is part of a “broader and worrying pattern of ongoing harm to Israeli democracy.”
Alongside the radio shutdown, the government has also extended its authority under the so-called ‘Al Jazeera Law’, introduced during the Gaza War, allowing itself to close foreign media outlets operating in Israel if their content is deemed to pose “a concrete threat to national security.”