Israel Satellite Station

Congratulations to Israel television for the new satellite station which started on 25 June 2002. Whilst the programmes can do with a little improvement, the idea of an Israeli voice on the waves is wonderful which we will continue to watch instead of having to move from one anti-Israel station to another.

Israel's long-awaited Arabic-English international satellite network features English news programme broadcast nightly at 8 p.m. Israel time (5 pm GMT). The network will be available via satellite throughout the Middle East and Europe on the same French satellite that broadcasts Al-Jazeera and other top Arabic networks. Mr Ra'anan Cohen, the minister responsible for enforcing the IBA (Israeli Broadcasting Authority) Law, emphasised at a cabinet meeting that the news broadcasts would be high quality and not propaganda.

The IBA has invested a NIS 97 million budget in the project at a time when cuts are being made in local news broadcasts. International viewers should point their satellite dishes to the Hotbird 3 satellite at 13 degrees east. The channel is at 12220 megahertz. The polarity of the reception is horizontal, with a 6161 symbol rate from the symbol 3/4 FEC.