The Times of Israel
The Times of Israel is an Israeli multi-language online newspaper that was launched in 2012. It was co-founded by Israeli journalist David Horovitz, who is also the founding editor, and American billionaire investor Seth Klarman.[1] Based in Jerusalem, it "documents developments in Israel, the Middle East and around the Jewish world."[2] Along with its original English site, The Times of Israel publishes in Hebrew, Arabic, French, and Persian. On 1 May 2019, it launched a Hebrew-language news site, Zman Yisrael.
Head office, West Jerusalem (2012) | |
| Type | Online newspaper |
|---|---|
| Founder(s) | David Horovitz Seth Klarman |
| Editor-in-chief | David Horovitz |
| Editor | Suha Halifa (Arabic) Stephanie Bitan (French) Avi Davidi (Persian) |
| Deputy editor | Joshua Davidovich Elie Leshem Amanda Borschel-Dan |
| Opinion editor | Miriam Herschlag |
| Launched | February 2012 |
| Language | English, Hebrew, Arabic, French, Persian |
| Headquarters | Jerusalem |
| ISSN | 0040-7909 |
| OCLC number | 1076401854 |
| Website | timesofisrael |
In addition to publishing news reports and analysis, the website hosts a multi-author blog platform.[3]
In February 2014, two years after its launch, The Times of Israel claimed a readership of two million.[4] In 2017, readership increased to 3.5 million unique monthly users.[5] By 2021, the paper had on average over nine million unique users each month and over 35 million monthly page views. It also maintains a blog platform, on which some 9,000 bloggers are active.[6][7]
History
The Times of Israel was launched in February 2012. Its co-founders are journalist David Horovitz,[8][9] and American billionaire Seth Klarman, founder of the Baupost Group and chairman of The David Project. Klarman is the chairman of the website.[10]
Several Times of Israel editors had previously worked for the Haaretz English edition, including Joshua Davidovich and Raphael Ahren, and former Haaretz Arab affairs correspondent Avi Isaacharoff—co-creator of the popular Israeli television series, Fauda—joined as its Middle East analyst.[11] Amanda Borschel-Dan, who was the Magazine Editor of The Jerusalem Post, is currently The Times of Israel's Deputy Editor, responsible for the Jewish world and archaeology. She also hosts the paper's weekly podcast.
The Times of Israel launched its Arabic edition, edited by Suha Halifa, on 4 February 2014;[12][13] its French edition, edited by Stephanie Bitan, on 25 February 2014;[14] and its Persian edition, edited by Avi Davidi, on 7 October 2015.[15] It launched its Hebrew site, Zman Yisael, on 1 May 2019, edited by Biranit Goren.[16]
Both the Arabic and French editions combine translations of English content with original material in their respective languages, and also host a blog platform.[4] In announcing the Arabic edition, Horovitz suggested, The Times of Israel may have created the first Arabic blog platform that "draw[s] articles from across the spectrum of opinion. We're inviting those of our Arabic readers with something of value that they want to say to blog on our pages, respecting the parameters of legitimate debate, joining our marketplace of ideas."[13] "[T]o avoid the kind of anonymous comments that can reduce discussion to toxic lows", comments on news articles and features in all of the site's editions can only be posted by readers identified through their Facebook profiles or equivalent.[13]
In February 2014, two years after its launch, The Times of Israel claimed a readership of 2 million.[4] In 2017, readership increased to 3.5 million.[5] By 2021, the paper had on average over 9 million unique users each month and over 35 million monthly page views. It also maintains a blog platform, on which some 9,000 bloggers post.[6]
On 1 August 2014, an article entitled "When Genocide is Permissible" and recommending the obliteration of the entire population of Gaza Strip was published on the blogs by a regular contributor. The article was later deleted. Opinion editor Miriam Herschberg said that the article did not conform to their editorial guidelines and the contributor had been discontinued.[17]
Since 2016, The Times has hosted the websites of Jewish newspapers in several countries, known as "local partners". In March 2016, it began hosting New York's The Jewish Week.[18] It also hosts Britain's Jewish News, the New Jersey Jewish Standard, The Atlanta Jewish Times, and Pittsburgh Jewish Chronicle.[19][20][21] In October 2019, The Australian Jewish News became the seventh local partner.[22]
On 2 November 2017, hackers in Turkey took down the web site of The Times of Israel for three hours, replacing the homepage with anti-Israel propaganda.[20] Responding to the attack, Horovitz said: "We constantly work to improve security on the site, which is subjected to relentless attacks by hackers. How unfortunate, and how badly it reflects on them that the hackers seek to prevent people from reading responsible, independent journalism on Israel, the Middle East and the Jewish world."[23]
In 2020, Reuters reported that The Times of Israel, along with The Jerusalem Post, Algemeiner, and Arutz Sheva, published op-eds sent to them by someone using a falsified identity.[24][25] The op-eds were removed as soon as the problem was discovered. Opinion editor Miriam Herschlag said that she regretted the scam because it distorted the public discourse and might lead to "barriers that prevent new voices from being heard".[24]
Editorial orientation
According to editor David Horovitz, The Times of Israel is intended to be independent, without any political leanings.[26][27] The paper's editorial board is composed of former Jerusalem Report editor Sharon Ashley, Irwin Cotler, Efraim Halevy, Saul Singer, and Ehud Yaari. Yehuda Avner was a member of the editorial board until his death in March 2015.[2] Horovitz said in 2012: "We are independent; we're not attached or affiliated with any political party."[28]
Additional media
In addition to written journalism, The Times of Israel also produces and publishes three podcasts, it also produces video content.[29]
- The Daily Briefing is Times Of Israel's daily news podcast.
- Times Will Tell is a long form weekly revue.
- Paralyzed Nation is a deep look into the Israeli political system.
Investigative journalism
A series of investigative articles, starting with a March 2016 piece by Simona Weinglass titled "The wolves of Tel Aviv: Israel’s vast, amoral binary options scam exposed,"[30] helped shed light on a multi-billion-dollar global scam in Israel. As a direct result of The Times of Israel’s investigative reporting on the fraud, on 23 October 2017 the Israeli parliament, the Knesset, unanimously passed a law banning Israel’s binary options industry. The law gave binary options firms in Israel three months since the law was passed to cease operations. After that, anyone involved in binary options is punishable by up to two years in jail.
In a Times of Israel blog, Knesset member Karine Elharrar of Yesh Atid credited the paper for bringing the issue to the attention of Israeli lawmakers: "Over the past year The Times of Israel shone a spotlight on Israel’s ugly binary options industry. It was a case of investigative journalism at its best and The Times of Israel should be proud of its journalists and editors."[31]
Notable writers
Analysts and journalists
Competition
The Times of Israel competes for readership with The Jerusalem Post, Arutz Sheva's Israel National News, Haaretz, Israel Hayom, and The Forward.[28]
See also
References
- ^ Forbes: The World's Billionaires: Seth Klarman 1 April 2019 at the Wayback Machine April 2014
- ^ a b "About The Times of Israel | The Times of Israel". The Times of Israel. from the original on 22 November 2016. Retrieved 25 November 2016.
- ^ Grunzweig, Emilie (16 February 2012). "New English-Language Israeli Website Launched". Haaretz. from the original on 17 February 2012. Retrieved 17 March 2012.
- ^ a b c "Times of Israel Adds French Edition". Jewish Telegraphic Agency. 25 February 2014. from the original on 27 March 2014. Retrieved 20 March 2014.
- ^ a b "New York Jewish Week, the Times of Israel's new local partner, launches its new website". Times of Israel. 11 January 2017. from the original on 28 March 2017. Retrieved 27 March 2017.
- ^ a b "Introducing: The Times of Israel Community". Times of Israel. 6 November 2019. from the original on 6 November 2019. Retrieved 6 November 2019.
- ^ "Advertise with the Times of Israel". The Times of Israel. Retrieved 3 September 2021.
- ^ Jodi Rudoren and Michael R. Gordon (30 June 2013). "Kerry Sees Progress in Effort to Revive Mideast Talks". The New York Times. from the original on 18 February 2017. Retrieved 28 February 2017.
- ^ Rudoren, Jodi (20 July 2013). "Palestinian Prisoner Release Is Critical Hurdle in Resuming Peace Talks". The New York Times. from the original on 18 February 2017. Retrieved 28 February 2017.
- ^ Klarman, Seth (12 February 2012). "A note from the chairman". The Times of Israel. from the original on 17 February 2012. Retrieved 22 March 2018.
- ^ "The (Possible) Triumph of Common Sense". The Times of Israel. from the original on 11 April 2014. Retrieved 11 April 2014.
- ^ Wiener, Julie (4 February 2014). "Translating Israel, from English to Arabic". Jewish Telegraphic Agency. from the original on 27 November 2018. Retrieved 18 February 2014.
- ^ a b c Horovitz, David (4 February 2014). "From Today, The Times of Israel Is Also in Arabic". The Times of Israel. from the original on 22 February 2014. Retrieved 18 February 2014.
- ^ Horovitz, David (25 February 2014). "Bonjour and Welcome to The Times of Israel in French". The Times of Israel. from the original on 21 May 2019. Retrieved 25 February 2014.
- ^ "Khosh Amadid! Welcome to The Times of Israel Persian". The Times of Israel. from the original on 25 November 2016. Retrieved 25 November 2016.
- ^ Horovitz, David (1 May 2019). "Clear-headed journalism, this time in Hebrew: Introducing Zman Yisrael". The Times of Israel. from the original on 10 May 2019. Retrieved 1 May 2019.
- ^ Bankoff, Caroline. "Israeli Website Deletes Op-ed Suggesting Genocide Is a 'Permissible' Option in Gaza [Updated]". Intelligencer. Retrieved 20 April 2022.
- ^ "Jewish Week To Partner With Times Of Israel". The Jewish Week. 22 March 2016. from the original on 10 October 2017. Retrieved 24 January 2017.
- ^ "News Brief Times of Israel website hacked by Turkish group". JYA. 2 November 2017. from the original on 3 November 2017. Retrieved 4 November 2017.
- ^ a b Rosenberg, Yair (3 November 2017). "Times of Israel Hack Reveals Major Vulnerability in Jewish Media Infrastructure—and Not Just in Israel". Tablet. from the original on 3 November 2017. Retrieved 4 November 2017.
- ^ "Jewish Week To Partner With Times Of Israel". The Jewish Week. 22 March 2016. from the original on 10 October 2017. Retrieved 24 January 2017.
- ^ "Australian Jewish News becomes Times of Israel's seventh local partner". 15 October 2019. from the original on 11 December 2019. Retrieved 30 November 2019.
- ^ TOI staff (2 November 2017). "Times of Israel hit by hack attack". www.timesofisrael.com. from the original on 8 November 2017. Retrieved 7 November 2017.
- ^ a b "Deepfake used to attack activist couple shows new disinformation frontier". Reuters. 15 July 2020. from the original on 26 September 2020. Retrieved 26 September 2020.
- ^ "News outlets covering Israel found, again, to have run fake op-eds". J. The Jewish News of Northern California. 17 July 2020. from the original on 28 September 2020. Retrieved 26 September 2020.
- ^ "Tycoons Turning Israeli Media into Hasbara Tools". Haaretz. from the original on 20 March 2014. Retrieved 20 March 2014.
- ^ Rosner, Shmuel (21 February 2012). "More of the News That's Fit to Print!". from the original on 6 October 2020. Retrieved 10 November 2020.
- ^ a b Nathan-Kazis, Josh (29 February 2012). "The Softspoken Man Behind Times of Israel". The Forward. from the original on 4 February 2015. Retrieved 17 March 2012.
- ^ "Podcasts | The Times of Israel". www.timesofisrael.com. Retrieved 29 October 2022.
- ^ Weinglass, Simona. "The wolves of Tel Aviv: Israel's vast, amoral binary options scam exposed". www.timesofisrael.com. from the original on 2 May 2016. Retrieved 10 November 2020.
- ^ Elharrar, Karine (24 October 2017). "Defeating binary options shows the system can work". Times of Israel. from the original on 4 November 2017. Retrieved 8 November 2017.
- ^ "Writer: Haviv Rettig Gur". The Times of Israel. from the original on 30 August 2014. Retrieved 8 September 2014.
- ^ "Peres, at 90, Is Ready to Leave the Israeli Presidency, but Not to Retire". The New York Times. from the original on 18 September 2016. Retrieved 28 February 2017.
- ^ "Abbas Meets in London with Israeli Negotiator". The New York Times. from the original on 25 February 2017. Retrieved 28 February 2017.
External links
- Official website