IBA: radio, non raid

Bombardare con i programmi radiotelevisivi è meno incruento e più efficace che lanciare attacchi militari. Presto Israele dovrebbe attivare canali satellitari, radiofonici e Web in lingua farsi e azera. L'obiettivo, scrive Haaretz, è raggiungere le antiche comunità israelitiche in Iran e Azerbaijian, ma spero che la nuova campagna mediatica possa diventare un ponte tra due realtà in perenne conflitto.

IBA begins formalizing plans to broadcast news program to Iran

By Assaf Carmel, Haaretz Correspondent

The Israel Broadcasting Authority has begun formalizing a proposal initiated by Strategic Affairs Minister Avigdor Lieberman to broadcast Persian and Azeri language programming to residents of Iran.

The plan is to bring breaking news and reruns to Iranians 24 hours a day via a television channel, a radio station and an internet Web site. The operation is estimated to cost tens of millions of shekels and will be funded - upon treasury approval - by the budget from Lieberman's ministry.
The strategic affairs minister met in June with senior European Union figures to discuss a joint initiative to begin the Persian and Azeri broadcasts. Lieberman has met recently with senior figures in the defense establishment, the treasury and the Broadcasting Authority to work out the practicalities of the project.
Lieberman's ministry on Monday confirmed the project's development, saying "the minister sees utmost importance in the creation of Persian and Azeri broadcasts and in establishing a personal and direct dialogue with the Iranian people with whom we share a long history."
The operation is being handled in the Broadcasting Authority by Yossi Meshulam, former Channel 1 TV programming director, and Rafi Yehoshua, former director of the station's engineering division. Meshulam will oversee the project's content and Yehoshua will deal with the technical aspects.
Welfare Minister Isaac Herzog, who is charged with supervision of the Broadcasting Authority, is also privy to the plans for the new programming. His ministry on Monday called the project "a legitimate effort of public relations to a hostile world, based on the decisions of the cabinet and the [Knesset] Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee."