The Voice of Peace was a unlicenced radio station operating from 1973 to 1993. It was situated on the converted fishing vessel, the MV Peace, anchored (usually) 2-3km off the coast of Tel Aviv, Israel.
The station's owner was Abie Nathan, a veteran peace campaigner. The station itself was supported by charitable donations and some advertising (particularly when the state radio service went on strike for several months, and there was no other outlet for commercials). It was the first pop music station in Israel, and the first stereo station. It operated on 100MHz with a 25kW Harris FM transmitter. The station began on AM with converted Collins CW/Morse transmitters from an American charitable foundation, operating on 1540kHz (later moving to 1539kHz to suit revised European channel spacing, but it was always announced as 1540). These transmitters eventually broke down and were replaced by a Nautel Ampfet-10 (10kW), solid-state unit.
The station closed down in October 1993 as running the station was becoming a severe financial burden for Abie. At the time, it looked as if the Oslo accords were promising peace between Israelis and Palestinians, so the raison-d'etre for the station had also disappeared. All broadcasting equipment was removed, and the ship was scuppered.
Rumour has it that the FM transmitter is now rotting away in the store room of a fire station in Tel Aviv. The AM was apparently gifted to the Palestinians.
Not long after the station closed down, Abie suffered a stroke, and became wheelchair bound. He died in August 2008.
Since November 2006, Voice of Peace shows have been aired on Radius 100FM, a commercial broadcaster in central Israel. These programmes are presented by original Voice of Peace DJs and include music of the era, along with original jingles, airchecks and classic commercials.