Netanyahu government moves to shut down Israel’s Army Radio

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JERUSALEM: Israel’s cabinet on Monday (Dec 22) approved a plan to shut down Army Radio, a popular national broadcaster, in a move that critics say is part of a wider campaign by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s right-wing coalition to curb independent media.

Defence Minister Israel Katz proposed that Army Radio, which has been broadcasting since Israel’s early years, be closed by March 1, 2026. Katz said the station’s original mission was to serve soldiers, but argued that it had evolved into a platform for views that “attack the IDF and IDF soldiers themselves”.

Army Radio is one of only two state-funded news outlets in Israel, alongside public broadcaster KAN. Both are editorially independent and have large civilian audiences, despite Army Radio’s formal affiliation with the military.

GOVERNMENT CRITICISM OF BROADCASTER

Katz said an army-run radio station broadcasting to the general public was an anomaly in democratic states. Netanyahu echoed that argument during the cabinet meeting, saying such arrangements existed in “North Korea and maybe a few other countries”, adding that Israel should not be counted among them.

The move immediately drew backlash from journalists, civil society groups and opposition figures, who warned it would damage press freedom.

“They want an obedient media, they don’t want critical media,” said Anat Saragusti, who oversees press freedom at the Israeli Union of Journalists, speaking at a recent crisis conference in Tel Aviv.

DEMOCRACY CONCERNS RAISED

The Israel Democracy Institute, a non-partisan think tank, said closing Army Radio would effectively eliminate half of Israel’s independent public news broadcasting and should require parliamentary scrutiny.

“The decision to shut down a public media organisation is not an isolated move,” the institute said. “It is part of a broader and worrying pattern of ongoing harm to Israeli democracy.”

The Movement for Quality Government in Israel, an anti-corruption watchdog, said it has petitioned the Supreme Court to block the decision.

PART OF WIDER MEDIA PUSH

The proposed shutdown comes amid other initiatives by Netanyahu’s coalition affecting the media landscape, including plans to expand emergency powers allowing the government to ban outlets deemed a national security threat. Such powers have already been used to halt the operations of pan-Arab broadcaster Al Jazeera in Israel during the Gaza war.

Netanyahu’s government had previously suspended a wave of controversial legislation, including a far-reaching judicial overhaul, during the two-year conflict. Some of those proposals have since resurfaced as Israel heads toward an election year, with critics warning that renewed pressure on the media could further deepen political divisions.

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