Defense Minister Israel Katz announced that he will submit a resolution for government approval to close the Army Radio.
“The Minister of Defense intends to order the termination of the station’s broadcasts by March 1, 2026, and to establish a professional team within the Defense Ministry to oversee implementation of the decision,” the ministry said.
“As I have made clear – what was, will not be,” he said.
He said the Army Radio was established “to serve as a voice and an ear for IDF soldiers and their families, and not as a platform for voicing opinions, many of which attack the IDF and its soldiers.”
He added that “operating a civilian radio station run by the military is an anomaly with no parallel in any democratic country.” According to him, “the continued operation of the radio station implicates the IDF against its will in political discourse, seriously damaging its status as the people’s army as well as its state character.”
Katz noted that “from the 1950s to today, many defense ministers and chiefs of staff have examined many options, such as shutting down the station, removing it from the defense establishment, privatizing it, or closing its news division, but none of those processes were ever implemented.”
He further said that in the past two years, “Many soldiers and civilians, including bereaved families, complained many times that they feel that the station does not represent them and even undermines the war effort and morale.”
“Worse,” Katz added, “our enemies interpret these messages as if they are being conveyed by the IDF itself.”
In August, Katz convened a committee to review the Army Radio operations. Media industry observers feared the composition of the committee indicated its aim to shut down Army Radio, or at least its news and current affairs division.
The Attorney General’s Office criticized the committee’s work, saying it raised concerns about political interference in public broadcasting and posed questions regarding freedom of expression and freedom of press.
