Adir Zik
Adir ZikIsrael news photo: archives



Adir Zik was one of the most vocal media personalities opposing the Oslo Accords

The Jerusalem Street Names Committee has decided to name a street after former Arutz 7 radio host Adir Zik z"l, who passed away in 2005 after suffering from cancer for several years. The decision was made despite fierce opposition by leftist groups, the weekly Zman Yerushalayim magazine said.

Zik was one of the most vocal media personalities opposing the Oslo Accords. He also gave voice to a theory, accepted by many Israelis, that the murder of former Prime Minister Yitzchak Rabin was an "inside job," a conspiracy originating inside the Israeli security establishment and carried out for a number of reasons.

In 2003, Zik and other radio hosts and executives from Arutz 7 were placed on trial on charges of running an unauthorized radio station. Zik was sentenced to four months in prison, but was released on probation without serving any time.

The proposal to name a street after Zik, first made last year, during the administration of former Jerusalem Mayor Uri Lupolianski, set off a wave of howls from leftists. MK Ofer Pines (Labor) wrote a letter to Lupolianski, saying that "preserving the memory of a host on a pirate radio station will cause a great deal of pain to a large segment of the Israeli public, and cause many in Israeli society to stay away from Jerusalem. A man known for his radical incitement against the leaders of the country must not become a symbol for the city of Jerusalem," Pines wrote.

While the street naming committee last week decided to go ahead with the street naming in honor of Zik, several Jerusalem government officials are still trying to quash the decision, claiming that city bylaws do not allow a person to be honored with more than one municipal naming. As a park in the Givat HaMivtar neighborhood is already named after Zik, it would be illegal to name a street after him, the officials said.