Israel's Persian voice falls silent

If war with Iran breaks out tomorrow, the State of Israel will have no way of speaking directly to the Iranians, as it has in the past, to explain its motives.

Amid the upheaval of terminating the Israel Broadcasting Authority and establishing a new one, the station directors also "forgot" to carve out a time slot for the broadcast in Farsi. Israel's voice will no longer be heard on radio waves across Iran.

Sixty years ago, in an effort to lay the groundwork for the burgeoning Israeli-Turkish-Iranian-Ethiopian alliance in the region, then-Prime Minister David Ben-Gurion gave the directive to create the station with the goal of speaking directly to the citizens of Iran. Several weeks ago, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu spoke to Iranians via video, saying that Israel distinguishes between the peace-seeking Iranian people and the Islamic regime calling for its destruction. Israel Radio in Farsi was the only medium that allowed the broad dissemination of Netanyahu's friendly overtures and contributed to strengthening Israel's standing. This tool has been taken away and Israel is now incapable of speaking into the ears of the Iranian on the street.

Israel Radio in Farsi has an illustrious record in the annals of Israeli history. According to the late Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini's wife, Iran's supreme leader was a loyal listener to the broadcasts from Israel. Other Iranian leaders have occasionally responded to Israel Radio broadcasts -- evidence that they, too, listened. During the arrest and trial 17 years ago of 13 Jews in Iran on charges of spying for Israel, the broadcasts from Jerusalem played a significant role in saving them from hanging.

According to Wikipedia, some 6 million people listen to Israel Radio in Farsi, placing it on level with the BBC and Voice of America's Farsi programming -- two giants in the field of broadcasting inside Iran, with huge budgets. Journalists from dozens of foreign TV stations visited the studio in Jerusalem to report on the direct, fascinating dialogue taking place between the host of "Your Voice on Israel Radio" from Jerusalem and listeners across Iran.

Last week, this voice fell silent, and Israel lost the most effective and unmediated public relations tool it had to communicate with the people of Iran. The new broadcasting authority has killed this grand enterprise, created by Ben-Gurion.

Menashe Amir is the former head of Israel Radio's Persian language division and an expert on Iran.