Israel Radio International or Reka (Hebrew: רשת קליטת עלייה Reshet Klitat Aliya, or רק״ע Reka) is the radio service of Israel Broadcasting Authority for immigrants and listeners abroad.
Operating since 1950, the Voice of Israel's shortwave transmissions on Reshet Hey ("Network E") broadcasts to the entire world. They are also the main link between Israel and the Jewish diaspora. In its early years, "Kol Zion la'Gola" (קול ציון לגולה) as it was known, was the sole reliable and direct source of information for Jews living in the Arab countries and behind the "Iron Curtain".
Administered by the overseas broadcasting division, it transmits to listeners abroad in 14 languages: English, French, Russian, Bukharan, Georgian, Mugrabian, Yiddish, Tigrinya, Ladino, Spanish, Romanian, Hungarian, Persian and Amharic.
Apart from news and broadcasts reflecting events in the country, the channel transmits documentaries on Judaism, the history of the Israeli people, Israeli culture and discussions on immigration and absorption.
As of the summer of 2007, the only Israel Radio International / Reshet Hey produced programming, is Persian. The rest of Israel Radio International, is a relay of the domestic REKA network. For example, the English news broadcasts on REKA and Israel Radio International are now identical.
As of April 1, 2008, the only shortwave broadcasts left are 1.5 hours of Persian aimed at Iran. The Persian Service was founded by Amnon Netzer in 1958.
As of the same date, they also started a new official Israel Radio (Kol Israel) International webpage, listed below, with live and on-demand audio. The full Israel Radio International feed is now only available via webfeed and via the Amos Middle East spot satellite beam.
The Israel Radio English news may be heard on some radio stations which use the WRN feed, such as Sirius / XM satellite channel 120. These stations do not broadcast at the same schedule as Israel Radio does, they are time delayed.
Since Israel Radio is on WRN, a time delayed English broadcast is sometimes broadcast on shortwave via WRMI. WRMI frequently changes its broadcast schedule.
Famous quotes containing the words israel and/or radio:
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—Ronald Reagan (b. 1911)
“The radio ... goes on early in the morning and is listened to at all hours of the day, until nine, ten and often eleven o’clock in the evening. This is certainly a sign that the grown-ups have infinite patience, but it also means that the power of absorption of their brains is pretty limited, with exceptions, of course—I don’t want to hurt anyone’s feelings. One or two news bulletins would be ample per day! But the old geese, well—I’ve said my piece!”
—Anne Frank (1929–1945)