DM Katz orders closure of Army Radio despite protest, claiming it introduces politics into military

Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz announced on Tuesday that he has decided to shut down the IDF radio station, Galei Tzahal (Army Radio).

Accordingly, the station’s broadcasts are scheduled to end by March 1, 2026. A professional team will be established within the Defense Ministry to oversee the implementation of the decision.

The implementation team will address all aspects of ending the station’s operations, with a primary focus on assisting civilian employees working at the station.

In line with the recommendations of the committee that reviewed the station’s activities, the team will also ensure the continuation of the Galgalatz substation, which will continue broadcasting music.

In his statement, Minister Katz said, “As I have made clear – what was will no longer be. Galei Tzahal was established by the government of Israel as a military station to serve as a voice and ear for IDF soldiers and their families – not as a platform for expressing opinions, many of which attack the IDF and its soldiers.”

Katz added that continuing the station’s operation forces the IDF into political discourse against its will, and “severely harms its status as the people’s army and its national, apolitical character.”

Katz claimed that soldiers had complained that the station “does not represent them and undermines the war effort.”

Galei Tzahal Commander Tal Lev-Ram responded, “We received the Defense Minister’s announcement with complete surprise, without being given the opportunity to respond to the report submitted by the committee he appointed.”

He accused the committee of serious flaws saying, “Numerous irregularities were found in the committee’s work, including conflicts of interest, a pre-biased selection of its members, and multiple manipulations in the presentation of the information. A heavy shadow looms over the committee’s work, which from the outset operated under the notion that ‘what was will no longer be.’”

Lev-Ram also declared that he would fight to keep the station operating. The Israeli Journalists’ Association expressed its support for the struggle to preserve the station.

Former Galei Tzahal Commander and ex-Labor politician, Nachman Shai, harshly criticized the decision in an interview with Kan Reshet Bet Radio’s “Kalman-Liberman” program: “A foolish decision, terrible timing. I fear this time the intention is serious – they are uprooting one of its most vital organs from Israeli media.”

About two weeks ago, Kan News reported that, according to the committee’s recommendations, the minister was inclined to close the station due to the complexity of privatizing only its News Division, which was consistent with the committee’s broader recommendation about the station’s future.

Israeli Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara had already expressed her stance regarding the minister’s intention to close the station.

In her statement, she wrote that the closure “raises concerns about political interference in public broadcasting and raises questions about potential harm to freedom of expression and of the press.”