Page 107 - big friday
P. 107
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Up until the establishment of the state, the region was agricultural territory owned by
the German residents of the Templer colony of Sarona. It had been decided that the
broadcast station would be located here, in the heart of a banana plantation. The decision
was made by the leadership of the Jewish Yishuv, which saw an urgent need to create the
infrastructure for Israeli radio broadcasts. The reason for this was that the Mandatory
station which the British had established was based in Ramallah – outside the borders of
the future state, and the leadership wanted a broadcasting infrastructure within the state
borders. With a view to protecting the transmitters from sabotage or bombing, this site,
east of Tel Aviv, was selected, and the matter was kept top secret.
The team charged with establishing Kol Yisrael began its operations in January, 1948, in
the midst of the fighting. Hillel Langholz, an engineer, was appointed as head of the team.
He had been director of the Mandatory radio station for psychological warfare in Beit Jala,
south of Jerusalem (it was, in fact, a radio broadcasting station). The team chose the hill to
the east of Tel Aviv, and the Jewish Agency provided funds. Within two months a structure
had been built, displaying an agricultural façade to camouflage the true purpose of the
building, and under the main room an underground bunker was excavated. The bunker
is a round room with walls of silicate bricks and a concrete floor and ceiling. The ceiling
is supported by an iron skeleton including rounded pillars and beams bent at the ends.
On the eve of the establishment of the state, three 2.5 kilowatt transmitters that had been
"borrowed" in a daring operation from the Mandatory broadcasting station in Ramallah
were set up in the bunker. They were sufficiently powerful to broadcast throughout
the country and even to the neighboring states. The first broadcast, which was meant
to inaugurate the Kol Yisrael station, was the ceremony of the declaration of the state,
which was transmitted live. For this purpose a telephone cable stretched all the way from
Dizengoff House on Rothschild Boulevard, where the People’s Council was gathered, to
the seemingly unremarkable structure in the banana plantation.
On Friday, 5th Iyar 5708, at 4pm, the ceremony was to be broadcast at a frequency of
6.82 MHz, but just a few moments before the appointed time it was discovered that two of
the condensers had burned out. These were quickly removed, and the historic broadcast
emerged from Tel Aviv – and not from Ramallah – exactly as planned.
The underground transmissions did not continue for long. As the fighting progressed
and it became clear that the building was not likely to be damaged by enemy forces, better-
quality transmitters located above ground took over the work. The historic transmitters,
which were difficult and dangerous to access, were forgotten, and the bunker closed. The
broadcasting station continued to operate above ground, serving Kol Yisrael as a backup
station. Thereafter it was used by the Bezeq telephone company, up until 2004, when its
functions were transferred to broadcasting stations in Yavneh and in Kadima, and the Tel
Haim site was abandoned.
A State is Born 105
Up until the establishment of the state, the region was agricultural territory owned by
the German residents of the Templer colony of Sarona. It had been decided that the
broadcast station would be located here, in the heart of a banana plantation. The decision
was made by the leadership of the Jewish Yishuv, which saw an urgent need to create the
infrastructure for Israeli radio broadcasts. The reason for this was that the Mandatory
station which the British had established was based in Ramallah – outside the borders of
the future state, and the leadership wanted a broadcasting infrastructure within the state
borders. With a view to protecting the transmitters from sabotage or bombing, this site,
east of Tel Aviv, was selected, and the matter was kept top secret.
The team charged with establishing Kol Yisrael began its operations in January, 1948, in
the midst of the fighting. Hillel Langholz, an engineer, was appointed as head of the team.
He had been director of the Mandatory radio station for psychological warfare in Beit Jala,
south of Jerusalem (it was, in fact, a radio broadcasting station). The team chose the hill to
the east of Tel Aviv, and the Jewish Agency provided funds. Within two months a structure
had been built, displaying an agricultural façade to camouflage the true purpose of the
building, and under the main room an underground bunker was excavated. The bunker
is a round room with walls of silicate bricks and a concrete floor and ceiling. The ceiling
is supported by an iron skeleton including rounded pillars and beams bent at the ends.
On the eve of the establishment of the state, three 2.5 kilowatt transmitters that had been
"borrowed" in a daring operation from the Mandatory broadcasting station in Ramallah
were set up in the bunker. They were sufficiently powerful to broadcast throughout
the country and even to the neighboring states. The first broadcast, which was meant
to inaugurate the Kol Yisrael station, was the ceremony of the declaration of the state,
which was transmitted live. For this purpose a telephone cable stretched all the way from
Dizengoff House on Rothschild Boulevard, where the People’s Council was gathered, to
the seemingly unremarkable structure in the banana plantation.
On Friday, 5th Iyar 5708, at 4pm, the ceremony was to be broadcast at a frequency of
6.82 MHz, but just a few moments before the appointed time it was discovered that two of
the condensers had burned out. These were quickly removed, and the historic broadcast
emerged from Tel Aviv – and not from Ramallah – exactly as planned.
The underground transmissions did not continue for long. As the fighting progressed
and it became clear that the building was not likely to be damaged by enemy forces, better-
quality transmitters located above ground took over the work. The historic transmitters,
which were difficult and dangerous to access, were forgotten, and the bunker closed. The
broadcasting station continued to operate above ground, serving Kol Yisrael as a backup
station. Thereafter it was used by the Bezeq telephone company, up until 2004, when its
functions were transferred to broadcasting stations in Yavneh and in Kadima, and the Tel
Haim site was abandoned.
A State is Born 105
