The Times of Israel

The Times of Israel
Type Online newspaper
Founder(s) David Horovitz
Seth Klarman
Editor
  • Suha Halifa (Arabic)
  • Stephanie Bitan (French)
  • Avi Davidi (Persian)
Editor-in-chief David Horovitz (founding editor)
Deputy editor
  • Joshua Davidovich
  • Elie Leshem
Opinion editor Miriam Herschlag
Launched February 2012 (2012-02)
Political alignment Independent
Language English, Arabic, French, Persian
Headquarters Jerusalem
OCLC number 969749342
Website www.timesofisrael.com

The Times of Israel is an Israeli-based online newspaper launched in 2012. It was co-founded by journalist David Horovitz, who is also the founding editor, and US hedge fund manager Seth Klarman. The online English website covers "developments in Israel, the Middle East and around the Jewish world," according to the site's nameplate. It also covers news related to the American Jewish community. The website also publishes Arabic, French and Persian editions.

In addition to publishing news reports and analysis, the website hosts a multi-author blog platform.[1]

In February 2014, two years after its launch, The Times of Israel claimed a readership of two million.[2] In March 2016, The Times of Israel partnered with The Jewish Week.[3] In 2017, readership increased to 3.5 million unique monthly users.[4]

History

The Times of Israel was launched in February 2012. Its co-founders are David Horovitz, formerly the editor-in-chief of The Jerusalem Post and The Jerusalem Report, and a veteran journalist who has covered the Middle East and the Arab–Israeli peace process for thirty years,[5][6] and Seth Klarman, founder of the Baupost Group and chairman of The David Project. Klarman has no role in the site's editorial operation.[7]

Several Times of Israel editors had previously worked for the Haaretz English edition, including Joshua Davidovich and Raphael Ahren, and Haaretz Arab affairs correspondent Avi Isaacharoff joined as Middle East analyst.[8]

The Times of Israel launched its Arabic edition, edited by Suha Halifa, on 4 February 2014,[9][10] its French edition, edited by Stephanie Bitan, on 25 February 2014,[11] and its Persian edition, edited by Avi Davidi, on 7 October 2015.[12]

Both the Arabic and French editions combine translations of English content with original material in their respective languages, and also host a blog platform.[2] 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."[10] In order "to 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.[10]

In February 2014, two years after its launch, The Times of Israel claimed a readership of two million.[2] In 2017, readership increased to 3.5 million.[4]

Since 2016, the Times of Israel has hosted the websites of Jewish newspapers in several countries. The first was The Jewish Week (New York) in March 2015. As of November 2017, the Times of Israel was also hosting Britain's Jewish News, the New Jersey Jewish Standard, The Atlanta Jewish Times and The Jewish Chronicle of Pittsburgh.[13][14][15]

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.[14] Responding to the attack, David 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."[16]

Editorial orientation

According to co-founder David Horovitz, The Times of Israel is intended to be independent and not "have any political leanings."[17][18]

The paper's editorial board is composed of Sharon Ashley, a former editor of The Jerusalem Report; Irwin Cotler, a former Canadian justice minister; Efraim Halevy, a former director of the Mossad; Saul Singer, the author of Start-Up Nation; and Ehud Yaari, a senior Israeli journalist and political commentator. Yehuda Avner, a former Israeli ambassador and adviser to several Israeli prime ministers, was a member of the editorial board until his death in March 2015.[19]

We are independent; we're not attached or affiliated with any political party. [The Times of Israel is] an independent, fair-minded journalistic venture, and I think it's incredibly important to give people a sense of the options that Israel faces and create an informed and constructive debate.

— David Horovitz, The Forward[20]

Coverage issues

A series of investigative articles, starting with a March 2016 piece by Simona Weinglass entitled "The wolves of Tel Aviv: Israel’s vast, amoral binary options scam exposed," helped shed light on the multi-billion dollar global scam in Israel. As a direct result of The Times of Israel’s investigative reporting on the fraud, the Israeli parliament, the Knesset, unanimously passed a law on 23 October 2017, to ban Israel’s binary options industry. The law gives all binary options firms in Israel three months since the law was passed to cease operations. After that, anyone involved in binary options is punishable with up to two years in jail.

In a Times of Israel blog, Israeli 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."[21]

Notable writers

Analysts and journalists

Academics, bloggers, and public figures

Competition

The Times of Israel competes for readership with The Jerusalem Post, Arutz Sheva, Haaretz, Israel Hayom and The Forward.[20]

See also

References

  1. ↑ Grunzweig, Emilie (16 February 2012). "New English-Language Israeli Website Launched". Haaretz. Retrieved 17 March 2012.
  2. 1 2 3 "Times of Israel Adds French Edition". Jewish Telegraphic Agency. 25 February 2014.
  3. ↑ "Jewish Week To Partner With Times Of Israel". The Jewish Week. March 22, 2016. Retrieved 24 January 2017.
  4. 1 2 "New York Jewish Week, the Times of Israel's new local partner, launches its new website". Times of Israel. 11 January 2017. Retrieved 27 March 2017.
  5. ↑ Jodi Rudoren and Michael R. Gordon (30 June 2013). "Kerry Sees Progress in Effort to Revive Mideast Talks". The New York Times.
  6. ↑ Rudoren, Jodi (20 July 2013). "Palestinian Prisoner Release Is Critical Hurdle in Resuming Peace Talks". The New York Times.
  7. ↑ Klarman, Seth (12 February 2012). "A note from the chairman". The Times of Israel.
  8. ↑ "The (Possible) Triumph of Common Sense". The Times of Israel.
  9. ↑ Wiener, Julie (4 February 2014). "Translating Israel, from English to Arabic". Jewish Telegraphic Agency.
  10. 1 2 3 Horovitz, David (4 February 2014). "From Today, The Times of Israel Is Also in Arabic". The Times of Israel.
  11. ↑ Horovitz, David (25 February 2014). "Bonjour and Welcome to The Times of Israel in French". The Times of Israel. Retrieved 25 February 2014.
  12. ↑ "Khosh Amadid! Welcome to The Times of Israel Persian". The Times of Israel. Retrieved 2016-11-25.
  13. ↑ "News Brief Times of Israel website hacked by Turkish group". JYA. 2 November 2017. Retrieved 4 November 2017.
  14. 1 2 Rosenberg, Yair (3 November 2017). "Times of Israel Hack Reveals Major Vulnerability in Jewish Media Infrastructure—and Not Just in Israel". Tablet. Retrieved 4 November 2017.
  15. ↑ "Jewish Week To Partner With Times Of Israel". The Jewish Week. 22 March 2016. Retrieved 24 January 2017.
  16. ↑ TOI staff (2 November 2017). "Times of Israel hit by hack attack". www.timesofisrael.com. Retrieved 7 November 2017.
  17. ↑ "Tycoons Turning Israeli Media into Hasbara Tools". Haaretz.
  18. ↑ . Latitude (blog of The New York Times)
  19. ↑ "About The Times of Israel | The Times of Israel". The Times of Israel. Retrieved 2016-11-25.
  20. 1 2 Nathan-Kazis, Josh (29 February 2012). "The Softspoken Man Behind Times of Israel". The Forward. Retrieved 17 March 2012.
  21. ↑ Elharrar, Karine (24 October 2017). "Defeating binary options shows the system can work". Times of Israel. Retrieved 8 November 2017.
  22. ↑ "Writer: Haviv Rettig Gur". The Times of Israel.
  23. ↑ "Peres, at 90, Is Ready to Leave the Israeli Presidency, but Not to Retire". The New York Times.
  24. ↑ "Abbas Meets in London with Israeli Negotiator". The New York Times.
  25. ↑ "Naomi Chazan – Writers – The Times of Israel". The Times of Israel.
  26. ↑ "Author – Irwin Cotler". The Times of Israel.
  27. ↑ "Author – Simcha Jacobovici". The Times of Israel.
  28. ↑ "Author – Yair Lapid". The Times of Israel.
  29. ↑ "Author – Dov Lipman". The Times of Israel.
  30. ↑ "A Dissident Egyptian's Visit to Israel". The Lede (blog of The New York Times).
  31. ↑ "Author – Joseph J. Sherman". The Times of Israel.
  32. ↑ "LinkedIn: Saul Singer". LinkedIn. Retrieved 8 September 2014.
  33. ↑ "Author – Sarah Tuttle-Singer". The Times of Israel.
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