Apparently mindful of the controversial and highly profitable “pirate stations” which operated in recent years off the coast of Britain, the Ministry of Justice is drafting a bill that would inhibit any such activity off Israel. The measure would be aimed at preventing commercial broadcasts to Israel by ships outside her territorial waters. Commercials are the property and monopoly of the Broadcasting Authority which is owned by the State, Ministry sources explain.
The Government cannot actively interfere with such marine stations but the bill would prohibit wireless contact with them from the coast. No services would be given to any such ship in Israel ports. Sanctions would be applied to individuals having contact with a floating station –suppliers of food, equipment, phonograph records. The bill, Ministry sources hastened to point out, is not aimed at Abie Nathan who has announced plans for a “Peace Ship” that would broadcast messages to Israel and the Arab states from the Mediterranean.
JTA has documented Jewish history in real-time for over a century. Keep our journalism strong by joining us in supporting independent, award-winning reporting.
The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
