Channel 1 (Hebrew: הערוץ הראשון, romanized: HaArutz HaRishon, lit. 'The First Channel', sometimes called Arutz Ahat (1 ערוץ)) was the second oldest television channel in Israel (behind the Israeli Educational Television) and one of five terrestrial channels in the country (along with Channel 2, Channel 10, Channel 33 and the Knesset Channel).

Run by the Israel Broadcasting Authority, it started broadcasting on 2 May 1968, and was largely funded through a television licence, though there were some adverts. With the abolition of Israel Broadcasting Authority and the establishment of the Israeli Public Broadcasting Corporation, Channel 1 closed down on 14 May 2017 and was replaced a few days later with Kan 11.

The Knesset passed the law establishing the Israel Broadcasting Authority on 6 June 1965. From 1966, detailed planning to build the channel started with assistance from CBS vice-president Joe Stern. Channel 1 started broadcasting 2 May 1968. Up until then, only the IETV service existed, broadcasting on Channel 8 from the Eitanim transmitter, which covered Jerusalem and Tel Aviv.

The establishment of television, originally planned for the 1970s, was felt following the Six-Day War, and it was explained that through television broadcasts it was possible to improve Israeli information to the Arab countries and the residents of the territories.

The station's first broadcast was a live broadcast of the IDF parade on Independence Day, which was held in May 1968, in Jerusalem. The broadcast frequency assigned to the station was the same frequency as Israel Educational Television, therefore the two stations have since shared the broadcast hours on the channel.

After several one-off broadcasts, in August 1968 regular test broadcasts began, initially three evenings a week, which were later expanded to four. During this period, one hour in Arabic and two hours in Hebrew were broadcast every day. The station broadcast in black and white, despite the fact that during this period there were already stations in a few parts of the world that already broadcast in color.

On 1 August of the same year, the first edition of Mabat laHadashot (A Glance at the News) was broadcast, this program was broadcast on Channel 1 until 9 May 2017, and for many years was presented by the host Haim Yavin, nicknamed "Mr. TV". In the same year, on 13 August 1968, the channel also broadcast for the first time the news bulletin in Arabic, presented by Gloria Stewart.

In the first year of broadcasting, Israeli television operated as an independent unit within the framework of an "establishment team" headed by Prof. Eliyahu Katz from the Department of Communication at the Hebrew University, and several art and media people participated in it, including the artist Ada Hamayrit (Schwartz). The first broadcasts of Israeli television were defined as trial broadcasts. Katz was actually the first director of Israeli television. After that, Israeli television merged with the state radio station, Kol Yisrael, which was already operating within the framework of the Broadcasting Authority (which was founded about three years before).