Veteran military reporter Tal Lev Ram to be appointed head of Army Radio

Defense Minister Yoav Gallant announces veteran military reporter Tal Lev Ram as permanent head of Army Radio.

The move comes following years of plans to shutter or privatize the station, which Gallant said last year he would not do but would instead implement major changes and find a commander with a military background.

Some 20 people submitted applications to command the station, and an advisory panel selected three final candidates.

Gallant in a statement says he interviewed the three yesterday, ultimately selecting Lev Ram after finding him to be the most suitable to command Army Radio.

Lev Ram has been a military reporter and analyst for the Maariv daily and 103fm radio since 2008.

During his military service, Lev Ram served as an infantry officer, and later served in the IDF Spokespersons Unit as the spokesman for the Southern Command.

Gallant says he believes that Lev Ram’s “professional background and his deep familiarity with the defense and military system, both as a reporter and analyst, as well as as a commander and combat soldier, will form the basis for the connection between the Army Radio station and the audience of soldiers, and will contribute to the station’s unique character as a leading media body and a military unit.”

The military’s operation and funding of a radio station with journalists responsible for investigating the IDF itself, as well as politicians, has long been considered anachronistic, expensive, and an ethical minefield.