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LETTER FROM THE ARUTZ-7 EDITOR: HAPPY 30,000TH!
by Hillel Fendel

In This Article:
1. A Milestone Reached
2. Education And Love
3. Fighting The Lies!
4. Our Goals
5. Your Goals

A MILESTONE REACHED
It happened just a few days ago: Our 30,000th subscriber signed up! The e-mail address indicated that our he-or-she #30,000 comes from the U.S., but our subscriber list tells us that it was just as likely to have been from almost anywhere else around the globe. Arutz-7 has subscribers in Russia, England, Egypt (one), France, New Zealand, Iran, and wherever people feel a need - national, religious, intellectual, emotional, or other - for more than a glimpse at the news coming from Israel.

This impressive number admittedly imposes certain obligations upon us, but let us first address the number itself. For one thing, it's not accurate; it should be much higher. First of all, there are well over 7,000 other readers of Arutz-7's e-mail news in Hebrew, Russian, and French. Add to this the many thousands who read our news on the internet. And wait, there's still more: One reader recently wrote us, "I have been a subscriber to Arutz-7 since 1996 and I forward the Arutz-7 news to about 3,500 people
on a weekly basis..." Others have informed us that they send the news daily to several friends, and to dozens, and even to hundreds. In short, it is hard to know exactly how many tens of thousands actually read Arutz-7's e-mail news each day.

EDUCATION AND LOVE
Arutz-7 Radio and Internet services are, as our signature below states, a project of Beit El Yeshiva Educational Insitutions. It has been said before, but it must always be said again: Education is the key. We aim to make Love of the Nation, Love of the Torah, and Love of the Land the three guiding principles in all that we do. The Torah guides us in our striving for truth and for Divinely-mandated behavior; our feelings for Am Yisrael dictate our concern for Jews everywhere; and the Land is where it all
comes together. We attempt to imbue our news and articles with all of these elements, together with a generous helping of "simcha l'artzecha" - the happiness imparted by the People of Israel living as a Torah nation in the Land of Israel.

Our website - www.IsraelNationalNews.com - also packs a heavy punch in terms of content, web traffic, and the above "triplet." Opinion articles, Torah thoughts, Hassidic and Israeli music, Arutz-7 programming, polls, Arab press samplings, easy Hebrew, and much more - this is Arutz-7 Educational Radio at its best! And as far as news goes: our e-mail service provides only one report per day, in order not to tax our readers' in-boxes. But those for whom this is not enough are advised to make our
home page their home page, as Arutz-7 now provides up-to-the-minute news flashes.

FIGHTING THE LIES!
In addition to the above positive values, we also have been charged with the mission of fighting the negative. Arutz-7's email and internet services began in the summer of 1995 with just two staffers and a small group of subscribers. Over the years, Arutz-7 has been blessed with a reputation for honest reporting and presenting a genuine picture of day-to-day events in Israel that are likely to have a medium- or long-range effect on Jewish history.

This would be an important role to play even if we were the only one on the press scene. But given the powerful presence of worldwide media portraying a corrupt picture of events in Israel, and in light of the erroneous impressions they impart to millions of people, our mission becomes that much more critical.

Can Arutz-7 counteract the false picture conveyed by these commanding and dominant international forces? It appears that you expect us to do so! We received the following letter just a few days ago:    "Every day I read lurid accounts in the newspapers of [Palestinians] affected by the intifada - [but] the IDF soldiers are nameless and
faceless; they are not photographed and they are not quoted. It would be very helpful in the war with the media if Arutz-7 were to very quickly fill in the missing information… Without that information, readers are at the mercy of the anti-Israel press... It is important that those of us who watch the media have information at our fingertips to counter the misinformation which pours unceasingly out of sources like the Associated Press, CNN, and BBC..."

Letters like the above remind us both of our mission and our limitations. We do not claim to be the only answer to the slanted picture portrayed by most of the other media, but we will continue to try to fill in some of the missing information and vantage-points.

OUR GOALS
We have other goals, as well. We wish to improve both the quality and quantity of our coverage, such that readers will be able to choose which type of stories they will receive; more op-eds; more stories of the "ordinary" people who comprise Israeli society; more of the joy that living in Israel imparts; more, and more, and more. We wish, in short, to better utilize this wonderful tool with which we have been privileged to work. With G-d's help, and with yours (see below...), we are confident that we will be able to progress on our way to meeting these goals.

YOUR GOALS
Finally, allow us to remind you of the important role that you, our readers, play in our joint efforts on behalf of the Jewish People. We know that you encompass a very wide range of individuals, with varying degrees of connection with Israel and the Jewish people. We would hope to inspire those who have never visited here, to do so; those who have visited, to come again, or to buy property here, or to send your children for a year of study; those who have done the above, to come on Aliyah; those who are here
already, to bring others; etc. We - Arutz-7 and our readership - will have succeeded to the extent that this occurs.

And finally, not *instead* of the direct connection with Israel, but in addition to it, we know that there are many things that remain to be done on a local level. Whether it be starting action groups, Jewish education for the community and for yourselves, introducing Arutz-7 to friends and relatives, writing or faxing Israeli or foreign political leaders, prayer, discussing Israel with friends - it is all necessary. Our efforts in Arutz-7 can only be crowned with success if they lead to one or more of the above.

On behalf of the entire staff of Arutz-7 Israel National Radio, thank you for your 30,000 votes of confidence. May we all be worthy of it!
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Important E-mail Addresses:
** For donations:     donations@IsraelNationalNews.com
** Editorial comments: neteditor@IsraelNationalNews.com
** Arutz-7's Webmaster: webmaster@israelnationalnews.com

RIVLIN IN FAVOR OF ARUTZ-7

Communications Minister Ruby Rivlin told Arutz-7's Haggai Seri in the Knesset today that he supports allowing the completion of Arutz-7's licensing process. "Arutz-7 from its very inception never violated the law," Rivlin said, "and it should be fully licensed in order to respond to the needs of an entire segment of the population."

In February 1999, the Knesset legislated a law granting Arutz-7 broadcasting rights. The law's implementation has been held up for two years in the Supreme Court's High Court of Appeals, and still awaits final adjudication. In the interim, Arutz-7 continues not to violate Israeli law by broadcasting from a ship located outside of Israel's territorial waters.

Rivlin further added that radio stations affiliated with the Shas party operate illegally from within the country, and therefore should be dismantled and rebuilt legally at a later date.

The dark cloud of Arutz Sheva

By Hannah Kim

A dark cloud hovers over MK Limor Livnat's imminent appointment as Minister of Internal Security. It may not be nice to say it, but these things must be said - the dark cloud also seems to be hovering over the offices of State's Attorney General Elyakim Rubinstein and State Prosecutor Edna Arbel.This is how the affair came to be: Yaakov Katz, the managing-director of Arutz Sheva, who was brought to trial for operating the pirate radio station, said in an affidavit to the High Court of Justice and testified under oath at his trial that Livnat - the communications minister in the Netanyahu government - had called him in to the Prime Minister's Office in a panic and told him that, in a meeting with Netanyahu, Rubinstein had said "he was going to raid their ship out in the middle of the sea" - meaning the police were about to raid the ship from which Arutz Sheva was broadcast.

Livnat gave him advance warning, Katz said, so he approached Yaakov Weinroth, who in turn submitted a petition to the High Court of Justice and succeeded in frustrating the plans of the police. About six months ago, former MK Eitan Cabel approached the attorney general and asked that he initiate an investigation against Livnat on suspicion of tampering with the work of the police. Although he himself was involved in the story, Rubinstein handled the request for several months, and then - only after
his connection with it was made public - transferred the handling of the case to the State Prosecutor. If any investigation had been opened against Livnat, Rubinstein would have been one of those questioned in the matter.

About three weeks ago, Arbel sent a letter to the head of the police investigation division, Major General Moshe Mizrahi, stating that she had determined there were no grounds for launching an investigation against Livnat. Arbel's letter, replete with unconvincing arguments and even a major contradiction, actually reinforces the argument that the matter should be further investigated.

For example, the letter reveals that two protocols have vanished into thin air: a protocol of the meeting between Rubinstein, Netanyahu and the ministers, at which Rubinstein supposedly reported on police intentions to raid the offices of the pirate station; and a protocol of the meeting in Rubinstein's office, at which it was decided to permit the police to implement their plan. Due to the disappearance of the two protocols, it would be impossible to conduct a thorough and truthful investigation, writes Arbel. But is not their very disappearance added impetus to open an investigation?

Furthermore, Arbel writes that Rubinstein does not recall exactly what he said at the meeting with the prime minister and the other ministers: "Rubinstein does not exactly recollect the circumstances of the ministerial consultation, at which he updated the prime minister and the political echelons." In addition, Livnat told Edna Adato, a Yediot Aharonot reporter, that she does not recall what was said. Later on, Livnat changed her version of events and, through her lawyer, denied Katz's statement. The function of
a police investigation is to jog the memories of those under investigation - both those who say they don't remember, and those who suddenly do remember and revise their accounts.

"(The attorney general) is not accustomed to entering ministerial meetings for items of operative enforcement," Arbel writes in her letter. However, in a letter by Noam Solberg, then a senior assistant to Rubinstein, which was written just prior to the meeting in the attorney general's office (the protocol of which, as the reader may recall, has vanished), Solberg wrote: "The State's Attorney General will provide advance word to the political echelon about the planned enforcement action." How is one to explain the contradiction between the statement of the attorney general and that of his assistant, who seems to be supporting Katz's version of events?

In Arbel's letter, Katz is portrayed as not telling the truth: Arbel mentions twice that Katz was put on trial for having submitted a specious affidavit to the High Court of Justice. If so, why did the prosecution decide not to include the ostensibly specious false charge against Livnat in its indictment against Katz? In his cross-examination in Katz's trial, why did prosecutor Shimon Dolan fail to bring up the matter of the Livnat and Arutz Sheva affair? Perhaps Katz is actually telling the truth? Nevertheless, we have already seen that, when the prosecution decides to believe someone - Rafi Pridan for example, it is willing to make him a state's witness (such as in the Nimrodi case), even after the court has determined that he committed perjury in his own trial.

Arbel explains her decision not to investigate Livnat by referring to published newspaper accounts that warned of police intentions to enforce the law against Arutz Sheva: Livnat had been informed of something that had already been published in the press. But nothing ever appeared in the media as to when the police might actually raid the station. There is a difference between knowing of police intentions to investigate drug trafficking in Lod, and knowing about a police raid on a specific day on a specific street.

The Supreme Court will soon be holding a hearing on the petition by Eitan Cabel against Arbel's decision. The story is not yet over, which is a good thing. It should be investigated until the truth comes out - even if it concerns the Minister of Education-elect. And even more so when the individual is in line to become Minister of Internal Security, who would, among other things, be responsible for preventing classified information from being leaked by the investigation branch - information that might interfere with the work of the police.

© copyright 2001 Ha'aretz. All Rights Reserved

HOW TO LEGALIZE RADIO STATIONS

An important feature of the coalition agreement between the Likud and Shas involves the legalization of the Shas radio stations. The agreement calls for the formation of a separate broadcast authority for religious broadcasts, which will be established for this purpose in the Ministry of Religious Affairs. Arutz-7's Media Correspondent Kobi Sela explained: "The idea is that the Likud feared that a special religious station would not stand the test of an appeal to the Supreme Court - but an authority that is subordinate to a sectorial ministry such as the Ministry of Religious Affairs will be immune to that form of attack. The new authority will be like the Cable Stations Council, where the council sets guidelines for the type of stations it will authorize; different bodies will submit bids and proposals, and the council will select the winners and will supervise them."

Further to my story about charges being brought against former (and now possibly future) Communications Minister, Limor Livnat, (warning Arutz 7 head Yaakov Katz of a pending raid to take place on the station). It has now been made clear, that, through lack of evidence, all charges against Livnat are to be dismissed.

Election Committee Chairman Hon. Mishael Cheshin has issued a restraining order forbidding Arutz-7 from broadcasting election propaganda. The Keshev organization had asked Cheshin to forbid the station from broadcasting altogether because it is a “pirate radio”, but the judge said that he had not been provided with any evidence suggesting that Arutz-7 is a pirate station.

I was going to write this in my own words, but I found this article in the breaking news part of Haaretz in English at 15.00 h:

Cheshin orders Channel 7 to stop airing campaign ads

By Gideon Alon, Ha'aretz Correspondent

Supreme Court Justice Michael Cheshin, Chairman of the Central lections Committee issued an order Friday morning immediately orbidding Channel 7 to broadcast campaign dvertisements for Likud prime ministerial candidate MK Ariel Sharon, until election day on February 6. Chsshin made the decision because Channel 7's
broadcasts violated election law that forbid broadcasting campaign commercials for the 60 days prior to the election.

By issuing the order, Cheshin responded to a complaint filed by the group "Keshav" - the Center for Defending Democracy in Israel - which asked to immediately stop the "pirate political broadcasts during the election period."


What is not written here is that all the advertisements were ONLY for the right wing candidate Arik Sharon. The group Keshav also filed a complaint to close Arutz 7 all together, claiming that they were a pirate station. Cheshin stated that it was not in his power to close down the station, and also not enough evidence was produced to show that Arutz 7 was indeed a pirate radio station. The stations management have agreed to abide by the order, and have stopped all programmes with listeners,political
commercials,and commentaries, until after the elections on February 6th.

But the most interesting question here is something not written anywhere at all. If a Judge issues an order to a radio station to stop a certain programme or broadcast, he must recognize that stations legality. If Arutz 7 were indeed deemed as "Pirates", then they could completely ignore the order and continue as they were. So from one side, the Judge, as stated above, knows that there is not enough evidence to prove that Arutz 7 is in fact a pirate radio station,and on the other side, Arutz 7, by abiding by
the order, is acting as a legal radio station would normally do. Both sides recognizing Arutz 7 as a legal station?

So ? Are Arutz 7 a pirate radio station or not ? The question is not as simple as broadcasting from a boat in International waters etc. First of all, Arutz 7 broadcasts within
Israel's National waters - with the quiet agreement of all Israeli governments for the past 12 years. So if anyone REALLY wanted to close them down, they could. But Arutz 7 has a lot of powerful friends, and closing them down - or trying to close them down, would end in failiure. They do broadcast from a boat, but their broadcasts are heard in most parts of the country on FM,so how does one explain that? The answer is relay stations, but I won't go into that subject now....