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Arutz Sheva

URL	English Hebrew Russian
Commercial?	Yes
Type of site	News
Available language(s)	Hebrew, Russian, English
Alexa rank	69,571 (Hebrew),[1] 14,623 (English),[2] 1,545,063 (Russian)[3]
Current status	Active

Arutz Sheva (Hebrew: ערוץ שבע‎) (Channel Seven) is an Israeli media network identifying with Religious Zionism. It offers online news in English, Hebrew, French, Spanish and Russian. Arutz Sheva offers free podcasts, live streaming radio, a daily email news update, streaming video and 24 hour updated text news. The Israeli government has never granted it a license to broadcast, prompting^[who?] charges of government discrimination against the Religious Zionist public. Arutz Sheva sees itself as "the only independent national radio station in Israel" and a counterbalance to "'negative thinking' and 'post-Zionist' attitudes."^[4] Based in Beit El, an Israeli settlement in the West Bank, Arutz Sheva is regarded as the voice of the Israeli settlement movement.^[5]

History [edit]

In the 1970s an unlicensed radio station broadcast from sea was launched by Abie Nathan. The station, named Voice of Peace, aired Western music and broadcast peace messages. In response, Israeli settlers opposed to peace with the Palestinians launched pirate radio station^[6] Arutz Sheva as an ideological competitor.^[7] Arutz Sheva was founded in 1988 and was broadcast on the Israeli airwaves from the ship MV Hatzvi in the Mediterranean Sea off Israel until being shut down by the Israeli government. While the broadcast was generated from the ship, the actual studio for Arutz Sheva was in an Israeli settlement in the Palestinian territories.^[7] The Hatzvi was much larger than most radio ships, but was broken up in 2003.

Currently the station broadcasts over the Internet from its website which it has been running since 1995. Arutz Sheva was one of the first ever internet radio stations and was used as a Beta tester for RealPlayer.

In February 1999, the Knesset passed a law legalizing the operation of Arutz Sheva and absolving it of earlier illegal broadcasting, but this was appealed to the Israeli Supreme Court, which ruled the law null and void in March 2002. In October 2003, ten employees of Arutz Sheva were convicted of operating an illegal radio station during the period 1995-1998, both from inside Israeli territorial waters and from Beit El in the West Bank. Station director Ya'akov Katz (Ketzaleh) was also convicted on two counts of perjury for having lied about the location of the broadcasts.^[8] In 2008, Katz became chairman of the HaIchud HaLeumi (National Union) party, and became a Knesset member (MK) in the 18th Knesset in Israel's February 10, 2009 national elections.

Arutz Sheva had a Hebrew frequency and a foreign language frequency (English, Russian, and French). Written news is offered on the websites in Hebrew, English, French, Spanish and Russian. Internet TV news in English and Hebrew. Arutz Sheva is Hebrew for "Channel Seven", and broadcasts from studios located in Beit El, an Israeli settlement in the West Bank.

Departments [edit]

Israel National News [edit]

Israel National News is the written news website, directed by Rachel Sylvetsky. Hillel Fendel is the senior news editor and was long responsible for the site's popular daily e-mail. Other news editors include Hana Levi Julian, Tzvi Ben Gedalyahu, Ernie Singer, Gil Ronen, and others. The site includes news articles, news briefs, videos, op-eds, a Judaism section, an opinion poll, photos of Israel, a book review section, a caricature, and additional sections.

Israel National Radio [edit]

Israel National Radio is Arutz Sheva's English language Internet radio station operating in Beit El. It broadcasts primarily across the Internet, and is simulcast on radio stations in the United States, Canada, and South Africa and affirms its purposes as being to spread the word of Israel to Jews and Israel-sympathizers living in English speaking countries as well as Anglophones living in Israel, and to be the archetypal "light unto the nations".

The station is made up of news on the hour and live and pre-recorded podcasts. These shows include current affairs commentaries, general talk shows, music shows, and Torah shows. The station's slogan is "the only independent news-talk network in the Middle East."

According to professors Shlomo Deshen and Charles Liebman, the radio station promotes right-wing positions.^[9]

The podcasts on the station include Tamar Yonah, Yishai Fleisher, The Struggle (with ZFA activist Yehuda HaKohen), Israel Beat (a music program), Walter's World (with veteran broadcaster Walter Bingham), Land Minds (with Dovid Wilner and Barnea Selavan), Temple Talk (hosted by Rabbi Chaim Richman, a rabbi who works for the Temple Institute and serves on the Sanhedrin), A Light Unto The Nations, The Jay Shapiro Show, Torah Tidbits Audio with Phil Chernofsky, and The Aliyah Revolution (co-hosted by Go'el Jasper and Daniel Esses).

During shows, people can phone in on international toll-free numbers or chat with other listeners in a virtual studio chat room.

Israel National TV [edit]

Israel National TV offers online streaming television programs with news anchor Yoni Kempinski.

Jukebox [edit]

Arutz 7's popular jukebox offers a wide selection of Israeli, Hassidic & Oriental Music, including selections for Jewish holidays and special events.

B'Sheva Newspaper [edit]

B'Sheva newspaper is currently Israel's fourth most widely read newspaper, according to the TGI survey, and holds 7% of the Israeli market. The paper is distributed free to over 150,000 homes weekly. ISRAEL7.com is a weekly French language newspaper distributed in Israel.

Founding Organisation [edit]

The Beit El Yeshiva is the founding organization of Arutz Sheva and maintains it.^[10]

See also [edit]

• Neo-Zionism

References [edit]

External links [edit]

• Arutz Sheva Israel National News
• Israel National Radio
• Israel National TV
• Israel Jukebox
• Israel offshore radio -History of various offshore stations
• Israel News in Canada
• Arutz Sheva - Israel7 - Russian