Avi Atgar

Avi Atgar is an Israeli radio broadcaster and television host whose career spans radio, television, entertainment and public engagement. Recognized for his deep voice, personal presentation style and ability to connect directly with audiences, he became one of the familiar voices and faces of Israeli broadcasting from the 1970s onward. Across several decades, he hosted music, talk, variety and comedy programs, while also giving performers and emerging entertainers opportunities to reach a national audience.

Early life and the road to broadcasting

Atgar was born in Berlin in 1948 as Avraham Kloberg, the only child of Holocaust-survivor parents. When he was an infant, his parents immigrated to Israel, and the family settled in Kiryat Motzkin, where he grew up. After completing his military service, he began studying law at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and took an announcers’ course offered by the Israel Broadcasting Authority. That training led him toward the broadcasting profession that would define his public career.

A serious injury and a return to professional life

In 1971, while visiting Amsterdam, Atgar was critically injured when he was struck by an electric tram after its driver lost control. Both of his legs were amputated. After returning to Israel, he began working in radio. A special bridge was built to enable him and broadcaster Leah Lior to reach the studio, allowing him to return to broadcasting and continue developing his career.

His return to the studio is an important part of his biography because it reflects the practical and personal obstacles involved in resuming demanding professional work at a time when accessibility was far less developed than it is today. Atgar’s public identity was not defined solely by his injury; it was defined by his work, his voice and the relationship he built with listeners and viewers.

A recognizable voice on Israeli radio

With his deep voice and distinctive delivery, Atgar became a prominent radio personality. His programs included Mah Kvar Tesha, Yom Yom Yam, Shoko Ham and Tisat Laila. Together, these programs reflect the range of his broadcasting: music, entertainment, conversation and interviews, presented to different audiences and in different time slots.

Radio gave Atgar the opportunity to develop an intimate, highly recognizable style based on direct conversation, humor and vocal presence. He was part of the listening culture of the Israel Broadcasting Authority era, when radio programs were a central feature of everyday life in many Israeli homes.

From radio to television

During the 1980s, Atgar was among the hosts of the television variety and talk programs Sha'ah Tova and Siba LaMesiba on Israel’s Channel 1. These programs brought him to a wider audience and placed him at the center of Israeli popular entertainment. He transferred his radio experience to the screen, using timing, improvisation and conversational ease to create an accessible and welcoming style of television hosting.

In 1989, he began hosting the Channel 1 comedy and talk program Motsash. The program featured Sefi Rivlin, Yael Amit and Eli Yatzpan. Atgar had encountered Yatzpan through his radio programs, where Yatzpan performed comic characters, and brought him to the television show. That exposure helped launch Yatzpan’s television career and contributed to his emergence as one of Israel’s best-known entertainers. The episode illustrates Atgar’s role not only as a presenter but also as a broadcaster who recognized talent and gave it a national platform.

Public initiatives and wider interests

At various points in his career, Atgar used his broadcasting platform to support public causes. Among the initiatives associated with his programs were donation drives for the Israel Cancer Association and for the Or Yarok road-safety organization. These efforts connected the appeal of entertainment broadcasting with the ability to raise public attention and resources for health and social causes.

Atgar is also described in the supplied material as a wine expert. He has published articles and delivered lectures on the subject, extending his work into another area of cultural interest. The material states that he broadcasts a weekly morning program on Kan Gimel and the Saturday-afternoon program Mivhar Shel Avi Atgar; the current status of these broadcasts should be independently verified.

Why Avi Atgar belongs in Moreshet

Avi Atgar merits inclusion in Moreshet because he represents an important chapter in the development of Israeli broadcasting: the period when radio remained central to daily culture while television became a powerful shared national medium. Through his programs, music, humor, conversation and entertainment reached broad audiences, making his voice and presentation style part of the cultural memory of several generations.

His contribution can also be seen in the performers who received opportunities through his programs, particularly Eli Yatzpan at the beginning of his television career, and in the public campaigns through which he helped direct attention toward charitable and social causes. His personal story — the child of Holocaust survivors who suffered a devastating injury and returned to demanding professional work — adds a dimension of persistence and public visibility to his broadcasting legacy. For these reasons, Moreshet and Moreshet.com preserve Atgar’s story not simply as that of a familiar host, but as that of a broadcaster whose work, voice and support for emerging talent became part of Israeli cultural life and the lived memories of audiences.