Menashe Amir

Menashe Amir (Hebrew: מנשה אמיר‎; born 27 December 1940) is a long time Persian language broadcaster on Israel Radio International, a channel of Kol Yisrael (lit. "Voice of Israel"). He is a former head of the Israel Broadcasting Authority's Persian language division. He is also a leading Iranian expert in Israel and a former chief editor of the Foreign Ministry's Persian website.

Menashe Amir
Menashe Amir at the studio of Kol Yisrael Persian service

Biography

Menashe Amir was born Manouchehr Sachmachi (Persian: منوچهر ساچمه‌چی‎) in Tehran, Iran, on December 27, 1940 in a secular Jewish family. He grew up in the ancient Jewish quarter called "Mahaleh". His primary education was in a Christian missionary school called "Nour-va-Sedaghat", and he continued his secondary education in two Jewish schools named "Ettehād" (Alliance/Unity) and "Kourosh" (Cyrus). He began his journalist's profession at the age of 17, at the Kayhan evening newspaper. Amir made aliyah (immigration) to Israel on October 19, 1959.[1]

Journalism and radio career

He has been working as a journalist and a broadcaster for over 55 years, and broadcasting to Iran for over 52 years.[2] Amir became popular in Israel during his coverage of the 1979 Iran hostage crisis. In 2006, he founded the Persian version of the Israeli Foreign Ministry website, and served as its Chief Editor for 4 years. Currently retired from his post in the Israel Broadcasting Authority, he continues to host his radio program.

Amir hosts a daily 1.5 hour radio program in Persian,[3] which is broadcast every evening to Iran on shortwave radio.[4] The program includes a call-in portion, with Iranian listeners calling a special number in Germany.[5] While no hard data is available the show is apparently popular in Iran, and some experts estimate that up to 5 million Iranians listen to it.[6] Beside political discussions, the program also broadcasts music banned in Iran. Iranian newspapers often denounce the radio as the "Zionist regime radio", and refute the radio program assertions.[7]

In the aftermath of the 2009 Iranian presidential election, the Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei blamed the "Zionist radio and the bad British radio" for misleading the public.[8] This was widely interpreted as a reference to Menashe Amir's program on Kol Yisrael and a reference to BBC Persian.[9]

Published works

"Iran, Jews, Israel", a collection of interviews with Amnon Netzer, an Israeli expert in Iranian Studies, was published in Persian in 2014.

See also
  • Israeli journalism

References
  1. THE JERUSALEM POST's Interview with Menashe Amir Archived 2015-06-10 at the Wayback Machine, September 17, 2006.
  2. IRAN’S FOREIGN POLICY AND DRIVE TOWARD NUCLEAR WEAPONS, US State Department Panel Discussion with Menashe Amir and his mini-biography, May 22, 2008.
  3. Persian-Israeli radio makes waves, Ynet.
  4. Israel's defence establishment is looking east with concern, BBC, 11 August 2004.
  5. Listening to Iran, CBC, August 27, 2008.
  6. After Rebuke, Bush Officials Voice Support For Israel Plan Israeli Sends Signal to Iran Over Airwaves — In Persian, The Forward, December 26, 2003.
  7. Israel Radio Often Finds Best Friends Are Iranian, The New York Times, February 20, 1998.
  8. Ayatollah Ali Khamenei backs Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in address at Friday prayers, Daily Telegraph, 19 Jun 2009.
  9. Israeli Radio Show Captivates Iranians, Wall Street Journal, June 24, 2009.
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