Ever since Arutz-7 Radio was shut down in October 2003, the nationalist religious-Zionist camp - particularly in Judea, Samaria and Gaza - has not had a radio voice.  Many initiatives to legalize Arutz-7 have been raised in the interim, but were thwarted by Justice Ministry lawyers and others who objected to Arutz-7's message.  A partial solution was finally found, however, in the form of a regional radio license for Judea and Samaria - although Arutz-7 had been a nationally-heard station. 

New Station: Radiyosh
A group of investors agreed to take up the challenge and form a new station called Radiyosh (Yosh is a Hebrew acronym for Judea and Samaria).  Among the directors are to be Kobi Sela and Yehoshua Mor-Yosef, both former leading broadcasters of Arutz-7.

Even this partial solution has been hard to implement, however, because of legal obstacles placed by the radical left-wing Peace Bloc (Gush Shalom) group.  Citing various technicalities, Peace Bloc sued in the Supreme Court against the new radio station.  One of the clauses in the suit is that the station was approved by a representative of the sovereign over Judea and Samaria - namely, the IDF's Central District Commander - who, Peace Bloc claims, has no authority to approve a civil radio station.

In addition, the anti-nationalist group claimed that given the participation of Sela and Mor-Yosef, the station is actually a continuation of Arutz-7, ten of whose directors and broadcasters were convicted of running an illegal radio station. Arutz-7 maintained throughout the trial, and throughout the 15 years of its operation, that it broadcast from transmitters on a ship outside Israel's territorial waters - at a cost of close to a million dollars a year.

Compromise in the Works
A source close to the current case said that the Supreme Court appears to prefer a solution that will allow it to ignore the complexities of the legal situation in Judea and Samaria (Yesha). For this reason, it has designated a ten-day period in which to formulate a solution involving the placing of transmitters just outside Judea and Samaria. The radio waves would reach the most distant spots in Yesha, including the Jordan Valley, while the transmitters would be inside the pre-1967 Israel borders.

The petitioners had hoped for a restraining order against the budding station, which would have frozen the status quo for many months.  The Court did not agree, however, and will instead hand down its final decision two weeks from now.

Yesha Residents Deserve What All Israelis Have
The chairman of the Radiyosh group, Shimon Alkabetz, said on Thursday, after the latest court hearing, "We are waiting with baited breath for the Court's ruling, in order to enable the population of Yesha to be able to enjoy quality programming that meets their needs - just like all other citizens of the country have regional radio stations that are directed to their interests and needs."

Arutz-7's Legal History
In February 1999, the Knesset passed a law, by a 40-30 vote, formally licensing Arutz-7.  Within hours, left-wing MKs Yossi Sarid, Chaim Oron and Eitan Cabel submitted petitions against it - and in March 2002, in a practically unprecedented decision, the Supreme Court deemed the duly-passed Knesset law null and void.  It ruled that the special Arutz-7 law harms the country's "rule of law" as well as the "freedom of occupation" of potential competitors.

As Rabbi Eliezer Melamed, son of the station's founders Rabbi Zalman and Shulamit Melamed, said at the time of its closure, "During its 15 years, Arutz-7 succeeded in influencing the programming of the other stations to a certain extent. They realized they had no choice but to compete with us, and were therefore forced to broadcast more Hebrew, Middle-Eastern and Hassidic music.  They were also forced to put on more people identified with the right-wing..."