In order to understand who Galei Tzahal [Army Radio] belongs to, one must first understand who the IDF belongs to. The answer: the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) belongs to everyone. The IDF includes left-wingers, right-wingers, Druze, immigrants from Miami, and a bit of every religion and outlook that exists in Israel, more or less. Being the Army radio station means that, above all, it is a public station funded by the public. True, it has a slightly different higher authority than the Israel Broadcasting Authority; but at the end of the day, Army Radio is supposed to reflect public opinion. In order to do so to the best of its ability, it has to be successful; if it isn't, any conversation about its content is completely irrelevant. Army Radio is truly successful. I don't think that anyone in the army fantasizes about having the station play music as if it is The Airforce Magazine or BeMahane [In the Camp], a weekly army magazine. If they did this, both their influence and public confidence would certainly plummet. Army Radio is not the megaphone for the current Chief of Staff or any of his predecessors. It is not intended to represent the Defense Minister in his budget battles, nor the generals' struggles with politicians. Army Radio is supposed to play good music and serve the soldiers. Yes, even the "regular" soldiers, the ones not popping over to the Ministry of Defense. Critics of their programs and broadcasts should really take a closer look. They need to head out for a spin around the country and see how many Army Radio broadcast vans actually enter the army bases. The vans do go to a base for the show entitled "Mom's Voice." They also conduct a daily interview on some random base in the middle of nowhere, just to let soldiers say "shalom" to their loved ones over the radio; and here and there just to ask regular on-the-ground soldiers for their afternoon song picks. Army Radio is intended to bring the IDF home to the citizens, as well as the opposite and to bring the citizens to the IDF. Army Radio's goal is to provide the soldiers with all the options and all the viewpoints that democracy permits them to hear. Now, however, Army Radio finds itself, again, under attack. One critique comes after the appointment of a new chief following stations officials' fears of increased intervention with station content. Just a reminder that Army Radio is subordinate to the management committee of the Israel Broadcasting Authority, not the IDF, for public broadcasts. Instead of satisfying these officials, this intervention is likely to turn Army Radio into a station for their benefit and, thus, irrelevant. The second issue is patronage. After all, the station should have a chance to vie for ratings and listeners in order to remain competitive with other stations such as Kol Yisrael [Voice of Israel], and lighten the burden they place on the defense budget. Nothing would happen, for example, if part of the national television and radio license fee (a public tax charged in some countries to allow public broadcasters to transmit programming with minimal or no advertising-based funding) were diverted to army stations as well and not only to the Israel Broadcasting Authority. The final plague on Army Radio reaks of interests not connected to the IDF at all. It seems most likely that the owners of local radio stations, who have already proven that they can play hardball with their power, might make it very difficult for Army Radio to compete with them. Before we allow these issues to harm Army Radio, let us remember that it caters to the entire public, not just the soldiers. This effort should be welcomed and protected, not cursed.
