Israel Army Radio
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Israel Army Radio, or Galèi Tzáhal as it is called in Hebrew (גלי צה"ל, lit. "Waves of the IDF", often abbreviated as גל"צ Galátz) is an Israeli nation-wide radio network owned by the Israeli Defense Forces and funded mainly by the Israeli government. The station is based in Jaffa and broadcasts entertainment and information programs to soldiers, as well as news, music, traffic reports and educational programs to the wide public. The network has one main station, and an offshoot - Galgalátz (גלגל"צ) - a smaller station which focuses on music and traffic reports. The network broadcasts 24 hours a day and 7 days a week in Hebrew. Its team includes both soldiers and civilians.
Galei Tzahal officially started its transmissions in 1950 as a continuance of the Hagana transmission to the Jewish public during the Israeli War of Independence. In 1956 its status was defined within the Israeli Broadcasting Authority law (paragraph 48). According to this law, the IDF has a free hand as long as the Army Radio broadcasts information for solidiers, but when it comes to programs to the wide public, the station must receive an approval from the civilian authority, namely the IBA. In practice, the IBA approval is merely a technical measure, as the two organizations try to keep a clear distinction between them. Despite being both state-owned non-profitable organizations, they often compete for public attention.
Galei Tzahal expanded over the years. War or military tension often served as a pretext to an expansion which persisted when normal life was restored. In 1967, during the Six Days War, the IDF conquered the West Bank and confiscated the equipment of the popular and modernly equipped Jordanian radio station in Ramallah. This equipment was given to Galei Tzahal and allowed it to upgrade its broadcasts. In 1973, during the Yom Kippur War (a.k.a October War), Galei Tzahal became the first Israeli radio station to broadcast around the clock. These 24 hours a day, seven days a week, broadcasts remained ever since, and increased the popularity of the station among the wide public. In 1982, during the Lebanon War, Galei Tzahal started to cooperate with the Israeli Educational Television (IETV). This wartime cooperation led to a news and interviews daily show, which became very popular. This show, Erev Hadash, (today a co-production of the IETV with the IBA), changed the way news have been presented in Hebrew. The cooperation with IETV ended in 1994.
Galei Tzahal was the first radio station in Hebrew to abandon the formal and somewhat artificial language in which programs used to be presented. Its entertainment programs to soldiers were the first to use colloquial Hebrew on the air. Since it began to broadcast its own news bulletins it has been using a laxed less-formal speech, rather than the strict formal style of IBA's Kol Israel (Voice of Israel) hourly bulletins.
This presentation style proved very popular, especially among two age groups: youngsters and senior citizens. The youngsters related better to the less-formal contemporary language, while the senior citizens, among whom there were less native Hebrew speakers, felt more comfortable with the collocquial language, than with the higher lesser-used Hebrew.
