March 1988 |
A Jewish religious organisation, Gush Emunim approached Abie Nathan about the possibility of hiring the Voice of Peace's transmitters to broadcast an hour of programmes every week. After being refused by Nathan the group went on to purchase a ship of their own and planned the launch of their own offshore station later in the year. |
21st October 1988 |
The new radio ship, Eretz Hatzvi (Land of the Gazelle) arrived off Tel Aviv in the early hours of the morning and test transmissions under the call sign Aruts Sheva (Channel Seven) started at 8.00am. |
end of October 1988 |
The ship entered Haifa to have some adjustments made to the transmitter. |
18th November 1988 |
The Hatzvi returned to her original anchorage and resumed test transmissions for Arutz Sheva |
20th November 1988 |
Regular broadcasts of Arutz Sheva programmes started at 2.00pm. |
June 1989 |
Arutz Sheva, brought its ship, Hatzvi, closer to shore, anchoring near the MV Peace. |
September 1989 |
Arutz Sheva acquired a new FM transmitter and increased its broadcasting time to 17 hours a day. |
June 1993 |
The Arutz Sheva ship, Hatzvi was given permission to anchor a mile offshore, near to Tel Aviv Marina. A public opinion poll also showed that the station had a listenership of over 300,000. A second service, Arutz Sheva Bet, was also started about this time directed specifically at 'religious listeners'. |