Reshet Bet broadcast room
Reshet Bet broadcast roomKan Broadcasting

For the first time since the days of the British Mandate, it was decided to change the hourly news broadcasts on Reshet Bet.

For the first time, the broadcasts will start about half a minute before the hour with noteworthy items of that hour. The news will be accompanied by rhythmic music performed by the Jerusalem Symphony conducted by Shmuel Elbaz and composed by Ofer Meiri.

Sound clips will be added with quotes from the main figures in the news, and separation will be provided between news and reports through alternating musical scales.

The station has decided to preserve the nostalgic elements that accompany the radio news broadcasts from their beginning, including the nostalgic beep signal that indicates the beginning of the news broadcast alongside the catchphrase "This is the Voice of Israel from Jerusalem". These elements were kept as a tribute to the soundtrack that was associated with news broadcasts in Israel for decades.

Gal Berger, station manager of Reshet Bet, said, "Reshet Bet has been broadcasting since the establishment of the state as the leading station for current affairs in Israel. Over the years, the on-the-hour broadcasts have been the gold standard of news, and they have been preserved in their format right up to this very day. It is not every day that we update a historical soundtrack of the news in Israel, and we are very proud to do so and bring the round news broadcasts into a new era in a format adapted for 2023."

Composer Ofer Meiri added: "It is a great honor for me to compose the new soundtrack for Israel's radio newscasts. The round-the-clock broadcasts were for decades a pillar of public broadcasting, so it was important to me in the work process to incorporate musical elements that, on the one hand, are current and, on the other hand, give space of respect to the nostalgia of past broadcasts".

Conductor Shmuel Elbaz noted that "it was a great privilege for me to be present at a historic moment in the history of public broadcasting and to be a part of the process of creating the soundtrack that will accompany the life of the nation during news events in the future and that will affect so many people. May this music only be used to accompany good news for the people of Israel."