Kol Yisrael

Entrance to Kol Israel Facilities in Romema, Jerusalem
Broadcaster microphone in Kol Israel studios near Sarona
"Reshet Gimel" studio commemorating Ehud Manor
Live show in Kol Israel Studios
Control and Monitoring room in Kol Israel facilities in Tel Aviv
Kol Israel Studio

Kol Yisrael (קול ישראל lit. "Voice of Israel", also "Israel Radio") is Israel's public domestic and international radio service. It operated as a division under the Israel Broadcasting Authority, until 14 May 2017, and the following day it started operating under Israeli Broadcasting Corporation (that replaced the IBA).

History

Kol Yisrael was originally an underground Haganah radio station that broadcast from Tel Aviv. It started consistently broadcasting in December 1947 under the name Telem-Shamir-Boaz, and was renamed to Kol HaHagana ("Voice of the Haganah") in March 1948. With Israel's declaration of independence on May 14, 1948, it was transformed into the official station Kol Yisrael. Another station named Kol Yisrael operated in Haifa, and was renamed Kol Tzva HaHagana (Voice of the Defense Force).[1]

The first Kol Yisrael transmission was a live broadcast from Tel Aviv of David Ben-Gurion reading of the declaration of independence. It was operated by a department of the Ministry of the Interior responsible for domestic and international broadcasts. Responsibility for the service was later transferred to the Office of Posts and Telegraphs and then to the Prime Minister's Office.

The station inherited the facilities of the former Palestine Broadcasting Service which had been founded as the official broadcaster of the Mandate of Palestine in 1936, and had run the Kol Yerushalayim radio station. Kol Yisrael staff was made up both of former PBS personnel as well as former staffers at the underground radio stations run by the Haganah.

Kol Yisrael pioneered the use of FM transmission. In the early years, stations were operated in Jerusalem, Tel Aviv, and Haifa.[2] The PBS had had its transmitter in Ramallah, but this transmitter was lost to Kol Israel due to Ramallah being in the Arab sector and under Jordanian governance.

In March 1950, international broadcasting was begun under the name Kol Zion La Golah ("The Voice of Zion to the Diaspora.") The broadcasts were produced at Kol Yisrael by the World Zionist Organization in cooperation with the Jewish Agency. In 1958, the international service was merged with the domestic broadcaster, with both services operating under the Kol Israel name.

In 1965, the Israel Broadcasting Authority, an independent public entity, was created and took over responsibility for Kol Yisrael from the Prime Minister's office. In 1973, the IBA adopted the name Shidurei Yisrael (Israel Broadcasting) for the service's domestic radio and television services. The name Kol Yisrael was revived for the domestic and international radio service in 1979.

Name: meaning and significance

A previous station named Kol Yisrael had briefly been operated by the Haganah in 1940 on the 42-meter band. However, the station was soon renamed when the Haganah decided that the Kol Yisrael name should be reserved until independence.

Besides meaning "voice of Israel", Kol Yisrael is also a wordplay which in Hebrew sounds like the phrase "all of Israel" (although spelled differently).

An internet radio station was launched in 2014 and operated through 2015 under the confusing name of "Voice of Israel". This station is not connected to the official "Kol Yisrael" run by Israel Radio International.

Broadcast channels

Israel Radio Persian-language broadcasting

Kol Yisrael channels include:

Kol Yisrael's Arabic and Persian-language services have broadcast extensively to Arab countries and Iran for decades. As of April 1, 2008, only Persian to Iran is broadcast on shortwave, using leased airtime from Bezeq transmitters. The transmissions in Persian are occasionally jammed. Broadcasts to Arab countries are not jammed, apparently to avoid retaliatory jamming of their broadcasts to Israel. Kol Yisrael's Persian-language service is reportedly popular in Iran.[4]

There are also educational stations broadcasting via low-power transmitters from colleges and universities across Israel under the collective banner of Tachana Chinuchit.

Israel Radio International, also known as Reshet Hei ("Network E") (formerly known as Kol Zion Lagola), is a shell of what it used to be. As of July 29, 2007, the only program created for Israel Radio International, is Persian. The rest of the network is a direct relay of the REKA network.

As of June 13, 2013, there are no shortwave broadcasts left of Israel Radio International. To listen, users are pointed to the new official Israel Radio International website. Transmission was shifted from shortwave to internet as a cost-saving measure.

All of Kol Israel's stations are available worldwide through streaming audio over the Internet. Both live broadcasts as well as archived programs are available to listeners.

See also

References

  1. ↑ Bar-On, Mordechai (2001). The Beginning of the Israeli Historiography of the 1948 War. Ministry of Defense Publishing. ISBN 965-05-1126-1.
  2. ↑ Israel radio history
  3. ↑ http://www.intkolisrael.com/
  4. ↑ Israel Radio Often Finds Best Friends Are Iranian - The New York Times - 20 February 1998
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