Knesset member Nachman Shay speaking in the Knesset, Oct. 14, 2013. (Flash90)
(JTA) — A Knesset member called on Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to save the country’s only English-language television news program from going off the air.
Zionist Union lawmaker Nachman Shai made the call in a speech to Israel’s parliament and also said he would do everything he could to ensure the Israel Broadcasting Authority’s English news continued, The Jerusalem Post reported Thursday.
The program, which is scheduled to go off the air in March, has a staff of only two and broadcasts just one 30-minute show a week, according to the Jerusalem Post.
“Someone has lost his mind,” Shai said in an interview on the show last week, according to the Post. “We are living in a very tough time now. Any broadcast in Arabic or English coming from Israel is extremely important. I am not speaking about propaganda. I am speaking about reporting the news as it is from Israel. I don’t understand. We have spent millions on military and police operations. How much have we spent on getting out our message? Probably nothing.”
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