The two parties are separated one from the other because of the stereotypes presented by the Israeli media

Hala Hashish, Head of Egypt's TV satellite stations

"It is time to act so that our opinions do not reach them only via the Israeli media, which is far from being impartial," she said.

"One reason for the persistence of the Israeli-Arab conflict is that the two parties are separated one from the other because of the stereotypes presented by the Israeli media."

According to the head of the Nile TV project, Hassan Ali Hassan, the broadcasts will include news, current affairs discussions and cultural slots. Up to 50 Egyptian Hebrew speakers will be involved.

Egypt's Information Minister Safwat el-Sherif decided to launch the Hebrew television after the Arab information ministers met in August and agreed to inject cash into media backing for the Palestinians, Mr Hassan, who is also director of Egypt's Hebrew radio, said.

Mr el-Sherif said the aim of the broadcasts was to espouse the Arab cause and "to call for peace based on justice and the legitimate rights of the Palestinian people".

Media war

The launch of the Hebrew-language channel comes as the latest round of an Arab-Israeli media war.

It is time to act... The Israeli media are far from impartial

Hala Hashish

Israel and the Palestinian Authority have made strenuous efforts to shore up world support through the media since the Palestinian uprising began more than 14 months ago.

Israel's government said in May it had plans to beef up its Arabic-language broadcasts and transmit them across the region, in part to counter the effect on Arab public opinion of the popular Qatari al-Jazeera satellite channel.

Arab ministers of information countered a month later by declaring their intention to mobilize the media to highlight Arab points of view, in particular concerning the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

Egypt, the biggest Arab state with a population of roughly 70 million, made peace with Israel in 1979, but offers key diplomatic support to the Palestinian Authority led by Yasser Arafat.

BBC Monitoring, based in Caversham in southern England, selects and translates information from radio, television, press, news agencies and the Internet from 150 countries in more than 70 languages.