Defense Minister Israel Katz Orders Closure of Galei Tzahal Radio; Citing Need to Preserve IDF’s Nonpartisan Integrity

By: Abe Wertenheim

In a landmark and controversial decision, Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz announced that he has accepted recommendations to permanently close Galei Tzahal, the Israeli Defense Forces’ long-running Army Radio station, marking the end of an institution that has broadcast for decades from within the ranks of the IDF. According to a report on Wednesday at VIN News, the move—expected to take effect no later than March 1, 2026—represents a fundamental shift in the relationship between the military and the media, driven by Katz’s insistence on restoring what he calls “the IDF’s nonpartisan character.”

Galei Tzahal, established in 1950, was conceived as a channel for soldiers and their families—a unifying voice broadcasting both military updates and cultural programming to troops stationed across Israel’s defense fronts. Over the years, it evolved into a highly influential broadcaster, its journalists shaping national discourse and public opinion well beyond military matters. As VIN News notes, the station became a fixture of Israeli civil life, blurring the line between a defense communications outlet and a national media institution.

That very evolution, Katz argues, lies at the heart of the problem. “What was will be no more,” the Defense Minister declared in a statement carried in the VIN News report. “Galei Tzahal was established as a military station to serve soldiers and their families, not as a platform for opinions—many of which attack the IDF and its soldiers. Operating a civilian radio station by the military is an anomaly unheard of in any democratic country.”

Katz emphasized that allowing a military-run outlet to engage in political debate risks eroding the IDF’s most vital asset—its moral authority as a unifying national body above partisan politics. “Continuing these broadcasts forces the IDF into political discourse and undermines its standing,” he said.

As VIN News reported, Katz’s decision followed months of scrutiny by an advisory committee he appointed in June 2025. The committee held 19 days of deliberations from August through October, consulting dozens of representatives from across Israel’s public sphere, including members of the defense establishment, media professionals, academics, cultural figures, and bereaved families. Committee members even toured the studios of both Galei Tzahal and its sister station, Galgalatz, which specializes in music and traffic updates.

In an unprecedented gesture of transparency, the committee issued a public call for citizen input, receiving over 5,000 responses. Its 47-page report offered two principal options: shutter the station entirely, or eliminate its current-affairs programming to return the outlet to its original military focus. Financially, the report found that Galei Tzahal operated on an annual budget of 52 million shekels, with roughly 87 percent of funding derived from advertising and sponsorships—another sign, Katz suggested, that it had drifted too far from its defense-based mandate.

While Katz framed the decision as a matter of military ethics and democratic norms, VIN News highlights that the move has been met with fierce backlash from journalists, broadcasters, and civil-society advocates who view it as an attack on press freedom. The Union of Journalists in Israel issued an immediate statement rejecting the decision: “Israel Katz will not close a media outlet in the State of Israel. The organization will fight this foolish decision until it is overturned. Army Radio will not be shut down.”

Their reaction echoes a broader anxiety among media professionals that the shutdown signals a troubling precedent for state control over journalism. For decades, Galei Tzahal’s unique status—publicly funded but editorially semi-independent—has served as both a source of national debate and a training ground for some of Israel’s most prominent journalists. Its closure, critics warn, may narrow the country’s already polarized media landscape.

Tal Lev-Ram, the current commander of Galei Tzahal, condemned the move in sharp terms, expressing deep frustration at what he described as a lack of due process. In remarks cited by VIN News, he said: “We received the Defense Minister’s announcement with complete surprise, without being given the opportunity to respond to the report submitted by the committee he appointed. This comes after numerous flaws were found in the committee’s work, including conflicts of interest, biased selection of its members, and manipulations in the information presented.”

Lev-Ram added that the decision “proves that this was not a professional process that places the soldiers’ interests first,” calling the closure “a dramatic blow to the people’s army, to Israeli society, and to freedom of the press in a democratic state.”

His remarks have resonated with both current and former staff of the station, who view the shutdown as both abrupt and politically motivated. Several prominent media figures have already suggested that Katz’s initiative reflects long-standing grievances within Israel’s right-wing establishment, which has often accused Army Radio of harboring a left-leaning bias and insufficient support for IDF military actions.

The VIN News report emphasized that Katz’s announcement comes amid a heightened sensitivity to the IDF’s image and cohesion, particularly during wartime. The Defense Minister stated that soldiers and civilians—including bereaved families—had complained that the station “no longer represented them and sometimes harmed the war effort and morale.” He further warned that “our enemies interpret these broadcasts as messages coming from the IDF itself,” implying that critical journalism within Army Radio could inadvertently serve adversarial propaganda.

In that light, Katz cast the closure not as censorship but as preservation—a means to ensure that Israel’s military institutions remain above the fray of ideological conflict. He noted that similar military-operated news outlets do not exist in democratic nations, arguing that “the anomaly must end if Israel is to maintain its democratic integrity and military neutrality.”

Yet the very argument of neutrality is precisely what critics dispute. Media observers quoted by VIN News caution that dissolving the station could, paradoxically, politicize the issue even further—transforming Galei Tzahal’s closure into a symbol of government overreach at a time when Israel faces international scrutiny over its wartime conduct.

To formalize the process, Katz will present his proposal to the cabinet for government approval. According to VIN News, an implementation team will be established to oversee the winding down of operations, addressing logistical and employment issues, and ensuring that the rights of civilian workers are protected. The Defense Ministry has also pledged to safeguard the future of Galgalatz, the music and traffic division of the network, which enjoys enormous popularity across Israel and operates on a non-political format.

Under Katz’s plan, Galgalatz would retain its format and public character, serving as a cultural rather than editorial extension of the IDF. “The aim,” he said, “is not to silence voices but to restore the correct balance between military service and civilian broadcasting.”

For many Israelis, Galei Tzahal represents more than a radio frequency—it is a historical artifact, an audible chronicle of the nation’s evolution. From its early years broadcasting battlefield updates and patriotic songs, to its later era of investigative journalism and lively public debate, the station has accompanied the country through wars, peace accords, elections, and national mourning. Its closure will mark not merely the end of an administrative chapter but a cultural and emotional turning point.

As the VIN News report called attention to, Katz’s decision follows a pattern of institutional realignment across Israel’s defense sector, reflecting the government’s broader campaign to delineate military functions from political and civilian domains. The debate now emerging—between national unity and freedom of expression, between military decorum and journalistic independence—encapsulates the tension at the core of Israeli democracy.

Ultimately, the shuttering of Galei Tzahal may prove to be one of the most consequential cultural decisions in recent Israeli history. Its legacy—at once venerable and contested—embodies the paradox of a nation perpetually negotiating the boundary between survival and self-critique. While Katz’s supporters hail his decision as a necessary corrective to a decades-long imbalance, detractors see in it the specter of political consolidation and the erosion of open discourse.

In the coming months, as the government deliberates the proposal, the public debate is certain to intensify. For now, what remains clear is that the fate of Galei Tzahal has become a litmus test for Israel’s democracy: a struggle not only over who controls the microphone, but over how the nation defines its own voice.