16:40 Dec 28, '03


Contrary to headlines on other Israeli media outlets, the Cabinet did not
"legalize Arutz-7" today (Sunday). It rather approved legislation, which
must still be passed in the Knesset, to grant national radio station
licenses for designated public sectors. Arutz-7 will be eligible to take
part in the public tenders for the new stations. Only Interior Minister
Avraham Poraz of Shinui objected to the proposal, saying that it was unfair
to the existing regional radio stations.

The proposal, raised by Ehud Olmert in his capacity as Communications
Minister, stipulates that three special-interest radio stations will be
established for "various special public sectors." The press release issued
today by the Ministry of Communications does not mention Arutz-7 or any
other station, but rather states that the stations will be of "unique
characteristics, such as language or culture, or one that is chiefly aimed
for a particular sector within the populace... The government will determine
the types of stations, giving consideration to the needs of the population
sectors, and will provide expression for various sectors that today do not
have such in the existing media."

Arutz-7 hopes both that one of the designated stations will be for "Judea,
Samaria and Gaza" or the like, and that it will win the tender for that
slot.

Arutz-7 stopped broadcasting two months ago after ten of its broadcasters
and directors were found guilty of operating an unlicensed radio station.
The conviction was handed down despite the fact that the station had spent
millions of dollars on purchasing and operating a ship from which to
broadcast outside of Israel's territorial waters. In addition, its hundreds
of thousands of listeners were an indication of the public's acute need for
its broadcasts.

The "Arutz-7 Ten" will be sentenced tomorrow (Monday) in the Jerusalem
Magistrates Court. The prosecution has asked for active jail terms for up to
four of the defendants, as well as hundreds of thousands of shekels' worth o
f fines for each of several of them. No one has ever been jailed in Israel
for operating a radio station without a license.

Women in Green and other grass-roots organizations will be demonstrating
outside the Jerusalem Magistrates Courthouse in the Russian Compound in
downtown Jerusalem tomorrow at 1:30 PM on behalf of Arutz-7. The organizers
wrote to the defendants, "You are our courageous heroes, and we thank you
for supplying us with the relevant news and commentary for the past 15
years. You have given us responsible free speech, and supplied us with the
kind of views and Jewish orientation of our tradition and heritage that
resulted in pride in ourselves and love of our country."

http://www.arutz7.net/news.php3?id=55218