Mike Gallagher, pro-Israel radio host, now live in New York

By Michael Orbach

Issue of August 15, 2008

"To a conservative like me, every Jew should be a conservative," Mike Gallagher said, in a phone interview with The Jewish Star. "Liberals are historically pro-Palestinian and they don't understand that the battles that are going on are for the survival of Israel." With an opening salvo, the staunchly conservative radio host is back in New York. Gallagher began broadcasting on WNYM AM 970 "The Apple" this past Wednesday, August 6, in the 9:00 a.m. to 12 noon slot. It's a return for Gallagher who was last heard in New York in the late 90s on WABC before he was syndicated nationally on Salem Radio Networks in 1998. "I have a love affair with New York City. Even though I'm returning to New York, I never left," Gallagher said. Gallagher, who is a regular contributor to Fox News, is known for his strong pro-Israel stance. "We in America learnt up close on 9/11 something that Israel lives day-to-day," he said. While he said he has always been pro-Israel, Gallagher's sentiments about Israel were crystallized in a five show series he broadcast live from Jerusalem. "As a Christian, it was a visit that changed my life," he said. "There are a lot of gray areas in talk radio. But what's the gray area of the side that believes you can blow up pizza parlors full of school children? Where's the gray area of terrorism?" According to Talkers magazine, Mr. Gallagher is the sixth-most listened to radio personality in the United States with over 3.75 million listeners. He was voted the eighth most influential talk-show host according to the same magazine and with the advent of syndication in New York, Gallagher is heard on 190 stations and in all the top ten radio markets, which include Los Angeles and Washington DC. He is also the author of "Surrounded by Idiots: Fighting Liberal Lunacy in America." Like many of his peers, he is heavily focused on the upcoming election, but over the last few months the show has taken on a much more personal element, describing his wife's battle with cancer. "I wish we had a success story," Gallagher said. His wife Denise passed away on June 29. "This last year we had the best year of our marriage. We held onto each other for dear life," he said. The syndication of Gallagher's show is part of an aggressive move by Salem Radio Network, the Texas-based multimedia company, to hit the tri-state area, which is home to over 16 million listeners. Other radio-hosts on the conservative network include Bill Bennet, Dennis Prager, and Michael Medved. Prager and Medved are Jewish; Medved is a practicing Orthodox Jew. "When you're in the syndication business, New York is the holy grail," said Tom Tradup, Salem's vice president of news and talk programming. "We always wanted Mike to be there. He is the quintessential New Yorker." Despite New York's liberal tendencies, Gallagher is optimistic about his new syndication slot, and described Manhattan as a "pocket of liberalism surrounded by a sea of conservatism." His broadcast from Israel, he said, was the highlight of his thirty-year broadcasting career. "I can't wait to go back," Gallagher said.