JERUSALEM (VINnews)-Israel’s Channel 14 will switch to “Silent Wave” mode for the upcoming Shabbat, with similar silent broadcasts activated on select radio stations, due to heightened regional tensions, authorities and the station announced Friday.

The emergency protocol, coordinated with the Home Front Command and approved by the Chief Rabbinate of Israel, permits religiously observant viewers and listeners to leave their televisions or radios tuned to the designated channels and powered on before Shabbat begins. The broadcasts remain completely silent—no regular programming, audio, commentary or music—unless a life-threatening situation requires immediate interruption for real-time alerts, missile warnings, advance notices, shelter instructions or all-clear messages from the Home Front Command.

In Hebrew, the format is known as Gal Sheket (“quiet wave”). On radio, it operates on frequencies including Kan Moreshet (90.5 FM, 90.8 FM, 92.5 FM, 100.7 FM), Kol Barama (92.1 FM, 104.3 FM, 105.7 FM) and Kol Hai (92.8 FM, 93 FM, 102.5 FM), among others, during periods of elevated security risk.

The measure upholds pikuach nefesh, the paramount Jewish principle of preserving life, while respecting halachic restrictions on using electronics during Shabbat.

Channel 14, a prominent right-leaning Israeli news outlet, has deployed the Silent Wave format multiple times in recent years amid threats from Iran, Hezbollah or allied groups. Friday’s announcement, widely circulated on social media and OSINT channels, serves as a standard precautionary step amid ongoing regional developments, though no specific imminent attack was referenced in official statements.

The Home Front Command routinely endorses these arrangements for observant communities, enabling access to critical advance warnings that can provide vital time before standard sirens activate.