Mike Brand, well-known radio reporter in Israel sent out this e-mail a few hours ago.
After half listening / half watching the news on Israel TV last night, I suddenly sat up straight when I heard the following :
Israeli Justice Minister Yossef " Tommy " Lapid , is planning to introduce legislation that will make it illegal to advertise on a pirate radio station. As we all know, this is part of legistration that has already been passed in Europe in 1967 and 1974. Lapid has yet to add that it is illegal to WORK for such a station , as is with the Marine Offences Acts of Britain and Holland.
The bill, when introduced in the coming days, is aimed at getting rid of the tens of religious pirate radio stations that broadcast around Israel, of which some of them interfere with the Ben Gurion Airport control tower. This has put at risk, several landings of aircraft in the past few years, as these stations literally blot out all communication between the landing aircraft and the control tower.
But more important, this will be a death blow to the worlds last offshore radio station - Arutz 7. Arutz 7, unlike most of the landbased religious stations, depends wholly on advertising to survive.
Lapid, and his party Shinui ( Change ) is known for it's anti Ultra-Orthodox ( religious ) platform , and this is just another of it's attempts to make it's stamp on Israeli society, to make it more " secular ", after years of religious legislation has been forced on the Israeli public.
With a majority of 11 for and 5 against , the proposed " Pirate Radio Law " will now go to the Israeli Knesset for a primary reading."
Not a good sign. The situation across the region is polarizing even more.
