The Times of Israel is an Israeli multi-language online newspaper that was launched in 2012 and has since become the largest English-language Jewish and Israeli news source by audience size. It was co-founded by Israeli journalist David Horovitz, who is also the founding editor, and American billionaire investor Seth Klarman.[8] Based in Jerusalem, it "documents developments in Israel, the Middle East and around the Jewish world."[9] Along with its original English site, The Times of Israel publishes in Hebrew (via its own edition, Zman Yisrael), Arabic, French, and Persian. In addition to publishing news reports and analysis, the website hosts a multi-author blog platform.[10]
In February 2014, two years after its launch, The Times of Israel claimed a readership of two million.[11] In 2017, readership increased to 3.5 million unique monthly users.[12] By 2021, the paper had on average over nine million unique users each month and over 35 million monthly page views, while the paper's blog platform had 9,000 active bloggers.[13][14]
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 Issacharoff–co-creator of the popular Israeli television series Fauda–joined as its Middle East analyst.[18] 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;[19][20] its French edition, edited by Stephanie Bitan, on 25 February 2014;[21] and its Persian edition, edited by Avi Davidi, on 7 October 2015.[22] It launched its Hebrew site, Zman Yisael, on 1 May 2019, edited by Biranit Goren.[23]
Both the Arabic and French editions combine translations of English content with original material in their respective languages, and also host a blog platform.[11] 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."[20] "[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.[20]
In February 2014, two years after its launch, The Times of Israel claimed a readership of 2 million.[11] In 2017, readership increased to 3.5 million.[12] 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.[13]
In November 2023, the site saw web visits increase 604% year-on-year to 64.2 million and entered the Press Gazette's top-50 ranking for the first time in 42nd place, according to digital intelligence platform, Similarweb.[24] The increase is likely linked to the increase in demand for news about the Middle East following the outbreak of the Israel-Hamas war on 7 October 2023.
On 2 November 2017, hackers in Turkey took down the website of The Times of Israel for three hours, replacing the homepage with anti-Israel propaganda.[27] 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."[30]
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.[31][32] 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".[31]
According to editor David Horovitz, The Times of Israel is intended to be independent, without any political leanings.[33][34] 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.[9] Horovitz said in 2012: "We are independent; we're not attached or affiliated with any political party."[35]
However, Haaretz reported that a Times of Israel co-founder gave $1.5 million in 2012 to CAMERA, a right-wing group that criticises news outlets over their coverage of Israel.[36]Haaretz stated that Times of Israel owner Seth Klarman "supports other conservative, media-related organizations and groups that seek to counter anti-Israel bias or have a right-wing agenda".[36]
Controversies
Times of Israel Blogging Platform
Times of Israel has offered a third-party blogging platform since 2012 which allows writers who are not affiliated with the news site to publish online. The articles on this platform are clearly marked as such, and Times of Israel staff does not oversee or edit the content from outside users published on the blogging platform. Times of Israel at times has removed content that has violated the site's policies. This platform has occasionally brought about controversy for the newspaper with inflammatory and controversial blog pieces that were later removed.[37] These pieces written by 3rd party users have often been misrepresented as or confused for the endorsed original work of Times of Israel, leading to accusations about the newspapers' bias[38][39] For example, on May 18, 2023, a third party user of the site's blog platform named Jeffrey Camras published an op-ed titled "Moving Forward on Palestine". Camras proposed that "in order to right a wrong, in order to make peace and move forward, Palestine must be obliterated." Although Camras was not affiliated with Times of Israel, sites like Palestine Chronicle and others presented his article as if it were a Times of Israel staff written editorial.[40] Times of Israel apparently removed the article. Times of Israel amends the following to every blog post by 3rd party users: "Please note that the posts on The Blogs are contributed by third parties. The opinions, facts and any media content in them are presented solely by the authors, and neither The Times of Israel nor its partners assume any responsibility for them. Please contact us in case of abuse."[41]
Additional media
In addition to written journalism, The Times of Israel produces and publishes three podcasts; it also produces video content:[42]
Haaretz is an Israeli newspaper. It was founded in 1918, making it the longest running newspaper currently in print in Israel. The paper is published in Hebrew and English in the Berliner format, and is also available online. In North America, it is published as a weekly newspaper, combining articles from the Friday edition with a roundup from the rest of the week. Haaretz is Israel's newspaper of record. It is known for its left-wing and liberal stances on domestic and foreign issues.
The Jerusalem Post is an English language Israeli broadsheet newspaper based in Jerusalem, founded in 1932 during the British Mandate of Palestine by Gershon Agron as The Palestine Post. In 1950, it changed its name to The Jerusalem Post. In 2004, the paper was bought by Mirkaei Tikshoret, a diversified Israeli media firm controlled by investor Eli Azur. The Jerusalem Post is published in English. Previously, it also had a French edition.
The Forward, formerly known as The Jewish Daily Forward, is an American news media organization for a Jewish American audience. Founded in 1897 as a Yiddish-language daily socialist newspaper, The New York Times reported that Seth Lipsky "started an English-language offshoot of the Yiddish-language newspaper" as a weekly newspaper in 1990.
Maariv is a Hebrew-language daily newspaper published in Israel.
Yediot Achronot is an Israeli daily newspaper published in Tel Aviv. Founded in 1939, when Tel Aviv was part of Mandatory Palestine, Yedioth Ahronoth is Israel's largest paid newspaper by sales and circulation and has been described as "undoubtedly the country's number-one paper." It is published in the tabloid format.
The Arab citizens of Israel form the country's largest ethnic minority. Their community mainly consists of former Mandatory Palestine citizens who continued to inhabit the territory that was acknowledged as Israeli by the 1949 Armistice Agreements. Notions of identity among Israel's Arab citizens are complex, encompassing civic, religious, and ethnic components. Some sources report that the majority of Arabs in Israel prefer to be identified as Palestinian citizens of Israel, while recent surveys indicate that most name "Israeli", "Israeli-Arab", or "Arab" as the most important components of their identity, reflecting a shift of "Israelization" among the community.
Yair Lapid is an Israeli politician of the centrist Yesh Atid party, and a former journalist. He has been the Leader of the Opposition since January 2023, having previously served in that role from 2020 to 2021. He served as the 14th Prime Minister of Israel from 1 July to 29 December 2022. He previously served as the Alternate Prime Minister of Israel and Minister of Foreign Affairs from 2021 to 2022. He served as Minister of Finance from 2013 to 2014. Lapid is the chairman of Yesh Atid.
Kadima was a centrist and liberal political party in Israel. It was established on 24 November 2005 by moderates from Likud largely following the implementation of Ariel Sharon's unilateral disengagement plan in August 2005, and was soon joined by like-minded Labor politicians.
Israel Horovitz was an American playwright, director, actor and co-founder of the Gloucester Stage Company in 1979. He served as artistic director until 2006 and later served on the board, ex officio and as artistic director emeritus until his resignation in November 2017 after The New York Times reported allegations of sexual misconduct.
The Jewish Press is an American weekly newspaper based in Brooklyn, New York City. It serves the Modern Orthodox Jewish community.
David Horovitz is a British-born Israeli journalist, author and speaker. He is the founding editor of The Times of Israel, a current affairs website based in Jerusalem that launched in February 2012. Previously, he had been the editor-in-chief of The Jerusalem Post and The Jerusalem Report.
There are over ten different languages in the Israeli media, with Hebrew as the predominant one. Press in Arabic caters to the Arab citizens of Israel, with readers from areas including those governed by the Palestinian National Authority. During the eighties and nineties, the Israeli press underwent a process of significant change as the media gradually came to be controlled by a limited number of organizations, whereas the papers published by political parties began to disappear. Today, three large, privately owned conglomerates based in Tel Aviv dominate the mass media in Israel.
Seth Andrew Klarman is an American billionaire investor, hedge fund manager, and author. He is a proponent of value investing. He is the chief executive and portfolio manager of the Baupost Group, a Boston-based private investment partnership he founded in 1982.
Israel State Archives is the national archive of Israel, located in Jerusalem. The archive houses some 400 million documents, maps, stamps, audio tapes, video clips, photographs and special publications.
Tikun Olam is a Seattle-based political blog that regularly reports on Israeli security matters. The blog was created in 2003 by Richard Silverstein and covers the Arab–Israeli conflict. Silverstein describes it as a "liberal Jewish blog" that "focuses on exposing the excesses of the Israeli national security state".
Yesh Atid is a centrist political party in Israel. It was founded in 2012 by former TV journalist Yair Lapid, the son of the former Shinui party politician and Israeli Justice Minister Tommy Lapid.
Early legislative elections were held in Israel on 17 March 2015 to elect the 120 members of the twentieth Knesset. Disagreements within the governing coalition, particularly over the budget and a "Jewish state" proposal, led to the dissolution of the government in December 2014. The Labor Party and Hatnuah formed a coalition, called Zionist Union, with the hope of defeating the Likud party, which had led the previous governing coalition along with Yisrael Beiteinu, Yesh Atid, The Jewish Home, and Hatnuah.
Hatnua was a liberal political party in Israel formed by former Israeli Foreign Minister and Vice Prime Minister Tzipi Livni to present an alternative to voters frustrated by the stalemate in the Israeli–Palestinian peace process.
Kulanu was a centrist political party in Israel founded by Moshe Kahlon that focused on economic and cost-of-living issues.
↑ Klarman, Seth (12 February 2012). "A note from the chairman". The Times of Israel. Archived from the original on 17 February 2012. Retrieved 22 March 2018.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply. Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.
