In a press release today, Etisalat set to normalize with Israel as the company announced the launch of Israel-based network i24NEWS on eLife and Switch TV.
The emirate’s mobile operator instructed its eLife customers to watch i24NEWS (English) on channel 537 and i24NEWS (Arabic) on channel 520 for free. Switch TV users can watch TV i24NEWS (English) on channel 264 and i24NEWS (Arabic) on channel 265 at no extra cost.
The company justified the move by saying, “The partnership between Etisalat and i24NEWS comes after the UAE signed a peace agreement to normalize ties with Israel in September.”
i24NEWS is a news network based in Israel that broadcasts in Arabic, English, and French from studios in Jaffa Port, the US, and Europe.
i24NEWS is part of the Altice Group, owned by businessman Patrick Drahi and since CEO Frank Melloul has led its inception. In 2017, i24NEWS expanded into the North American market and opened bureaus in the United States. Today, the channel has studios in Tel Aviv-Jaffa, Paris, New York, Washington, and Los Angeles and deploys correspondents worldwide.
