Israeli state-funded radio station could lose financial backing after reporting on Palestinian poet

Culture minister calls for Army Radio to be defunded for featuring Palestinian nationalist Mahmoud Darwish on an educational programme

Israel's Army Radio has been criticised for featuring the work of Palestinian poet Mahmoud Darwish (AFP/Getty Images)

Israel’s official Army Radio has come under fire by senior government ministers for featuring a piece about a renown Palestinian poet on an education programme about “fundamental Israeli texts”.

Defence Minister Avigdor Liberman summoned the station director Yaron Dekel to explain why the Palestinian nationalist Mahmoud Darwish was featured on the station which is controlled and funded by the Israeli Defence Force (IDF).

Mr Liberman said: “It is a serious matter that the works of a man who wrote anti-Zionist texts that are used to fuel terrorism against Israel would be included in the Army Radio programme.

“It’s clear this should not have happened, and it will not be ignored”.

Culture minister Miri Regev accused the broadcaster of “going off the rails”, saying a state broadcaster “must not be allowed to highlight and glorify an anti-Israeli narrative”.

She told Israeli news website NRG that the radio station “is providing a platform to the Palestinian narrative that opposes the existence of Israel as a Jewish democratic state.

“Darwish isn’t Israeli and his writings are not Israeli and are essentially in opposition to the core values of Israeli society.”

She called on Mr Liberman to defund the station.

Army Radio is considered a part of the IDF’s Education and Youth Corps which is responsible for the education of soldiers, and the station controller is a civilian appointed by the defence minister for a three to five year term.

The station, which began broadcasting in 1950, has defended itself against the criticisms telling the Times of Israel: “We believe that academic freedom obligates us to offer our listeners a wealth of ideas”.

It said the job of their educational broadcasts is to “enrich and engage” their listeners with new ideas.

“On this platform we’ve hosted programs on various topics including the literary works of Rabbi Kook, Ze’ev Jabotinsky, Theodor Herzl and Naomi Shemer, as well as the text of the US Declaration of Independence”, it added.

Mr Darwish, who died in 2008, is considered one of the founding fathers of the Palestinian liberation movement as well as a member of the Palestine Liberation Organisation (PLO).

In addition to living in several countries including Lebanon, France and Jordan, he spent much of his later life living in Ramallah on the West Bank.

He was an outspoken critic of Israel and of Hamas which currently controls the Gaza Strip.