I initially came to the Voice of Peace station for a six month period, as per the request of the accountant Yaakov Werker - in order to assist with Abbey Nathan’s accounting and business management until a replacement would be found. I ended up sticking around for two and a half years.

​

My time in the Voice of Peace station was intriguing and expanded to matters beyond the radio station itself. Abbey dedicated himself to the sponsorship of the war on drugs, and allowed the anti-drug ‘Al-Sam’ organization to set up headquarters at the station. Frightened parents hoping to cure  their children’s addiction would come to the station daily. My heart went out to them. On top of everything else and way before my arrival at the station, Abbey would travel the world in order to gather supplies for the starving population of Biafra. He even “hopped” on a light aircraft and went to Egypt once, in an attempt to draw the public’s attention to the peace process.

​

Abbey owned an outstanding restaurant by the name of “California”, where many of the rich and famous would dine regularly. He even installed a walk-up window and was one of the first people in Israel to sell quality hamburgers on the street.

​

The station ran a few programs:

On Fridays there was a regular talk show segment, hosted by Ethan Danzig, which was frequented by various politicians and entertainers. There was also a weekly sports program presented by Shaul Eisenberg, where he’d interview different athletes. Gad Biton ran a music segment where he’d play a variety of records into the late hours of Saturday nights. In general and more often than not, the station would be crawling with the very people who were making headlines at the time.

​

The offices were set up  on Frug street, Tel Aviv. The ship (or rather, the boat) was anchored around 3 km offshore. The broadcasters would usually take week-long vacations onshore on a monthly basis. Their salaries were miniscule - which is why I would invite them to our home for Shabbat dinners. Concerns for the ship’s crew would usually run high during the winter. Most of the broadcasters came from abroad though, with Gil Katzir - a member of the ship’s crew - on standby as reinforcement.

​

It was right around that time when Abbey got married to Clarita, a handsome South American mother of three.

Abbey’s cook was an Indian man called Raddah, who was also a part of the ship’s crew. He had worked for him for many years, nursing him during the years of his illness. 

​

Abbey’s assistant and right hand man - Reuben Levi - was a loyal worker through and through up until the station’s final days. We were all ecstatic when he finally wed Abbey’s secretary, Chava.

It was a small crew, with the atmosphere of a tightly knit family.

 

We stayed in touch with a few of the broadcasters. Tim (Shepherd) Scrimshaw even set camp in Israel, married an Israeli woman and had two little girls with her. Tim and Gil work for Radio 100FM to this very day. Mike Derby, broadcast director during the Voice of Peace days, returned to England and works as an educator these days. The late Gavin Ford worked as a broadcaster in Lebanon for a time. I have no information regarding the others.