The Times of Israel

The Times of Israel
Format Online
Owner(s) Seth Klarman, David Horovitz
Founder(s) David Horovitz
Editor David Horovitz (English)
Suha Halifa (Arabic)
Stephanie Bitan (French)
Li Jingjing 李晶晶 (Chinese)
Avi Davidi (Persian)
Founded February 2012 (2012-02)
Political alignment None
Language English, Arabic, French, Chinese, Persian
Headquarters Jerusalem, Israel
Website www.timesofisrael.com

The Times of Israel is an online newspaper published in English, Arabic, French, Chinese, and Persian which covers "developments in Israel, the Middle East and around the Jewish world", according to the site's nameplate.

In addition to publishing news reports and analysis, The Times of Israel hosts a multi-author blog platform.[1] Its headquarters are in Jerusalem.

Inception

The Times of Israel was launched in February 2012. Its founder and editor is David Horovitz, formerly of The Jerusalem Post and The Jerusalem Report, a veteran journalist who had covered the Middle East and the Arab–Israeli peace process for thirty years.[2][3]

It receives financial support from Boston-based Seth Klarman, founder of Baupost Group and chairman of The David Project, who has said he is opposed to Israel's settlement movement.[4]

Several Times editors had previously worked for Haaretz. Haaretz English edition editors Joshua Davidovich, Raphael Ahren, and Yoel Goldman joined The Times as news editors,[5] and Haaretz Arab affairs correspondent Avi Isaacharoff joined as Middle East analyst.[6]

The Times of Israel launched its Arabic edition, edited by Suha Halifa, on 4 February 2014,[7][8] its French edition, edited by Stephanie Bitan, on 25 February 2014,[9] its Chinese edition, edited by Jingjing Li, on 28 May 2014,[10] and its Persian edition, edited by Avi Davidi, on 7 October 2015.[11]

Both the Arabic and French editions combine translations of English content with original material in their respective languages, and also host a blog platform.[12] In announcing the Arabic edition, Horowitz suggested, The Times 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."[8] 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 newspaper's editions can only be posted by readers identified through their Facebook profiles or equivalent.[8]

In February 2014, two years after its launch, the newspaper claimed a readership of two million.[12]

Editorial orientation

According to founder David Horovitz, The Times of Israel is intended to be apolitical and not "have any political leanings."[13][14]

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.[15]

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[4]

Controversies

In addition to the online newspaper, The Times of Israel hosts an open blog platform for any writer who applies and is approved to become a blogger on the site.[16] The Times generally does not edit blog posts submitted by approved writers, and accordingly, it takes no responsibility for such blogs, which are not necessarily in line with the newspaper's editorial stance.[17]

On 1 August 2014, a blogger posted a piece entitled, "When Genocide Is Permissible"[18] in which he argued that the war between Israel and Gaza was being misunderstood and misrepresented by the global media.[19] He put the nub of his argument, as it related to the headline, this way: "Hamas has stated forthrightly that it idealizes death as much as Israel celebrates life. What other way is there to deal with an enemy of this nature other than obliterate them completely?" Within minutes, The Times reacted by removing the post and discontinuing the writer's blog, saying the post had breached the website's editorial guidelines and that the newspaper "will not countenance blog posts that incite to violence or criminal acts." The writer soon issued a public apology.[20]

On 8 March 2015, an article was posted on The Times of Israel titled "America Desperately Needs a Hate Speech Law", arguing at great length that the United States needed to outlaw "hate speech" in accordance with "international human rights law". The article was posted by an unknown individual using the bogus name "Dinah Silverstein" and a picture of columnist Nancy Goldstein. The article was deleted and the blogger banned, but the incident led to The Times of Israel being criticized for not verifying the identities of its bloggers.[21][22]

On 9 April 2015, an article titled "Understanding the Idea of Israeli Land Under Talmudic Law" was posted on The Times of Israel's blog platform. The article described in great detail how Israel should "exterminate" the Palestinians, who were described as "cockroaches" and "vermin".[23] The article was submitted by a person who had impersonated Australian lawyer Josh Bornstein.[24] The article sparked outrage across social media and, since it was posted under Bornstein's name, it led to him receiving a large amount of abuse and death threats, with at least one of them coming from an individual appearing to be associated with the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIS) militant group.[25][26] The Times of Israel later scrubbed the article and issued an apology.[27][28] Bornstein would later write an article in The Guardian describing the affair.[29] It later emerged that the hoax article was written by Jewish-American alleged troll Joshua Ryne Goldberg, and that the "ISIS threats" were also perpetrated by Goldberg's Australi Witness jihadist online persona.[30]

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.[4]

See also

References

  1. ↑ Grunzweig, Emilie (16 February 2012). "New English-Language Israeli Website Launched". Haaretz. Retrieved 17 March 2012.
  2. ↑ Jodi Rudoren and Michael R. Gordon (30 June 2013). "Kerry Sees Progress in Effort to Revive Mideast Talks". The New York Times.
  3. ↑ Rudoren, Jodi (20 July 2013). "Palestinian Prisoner Release Is Critical Hurdle in Resuming Peace Talks". The New York Times.
  4. 1 2 3 Nathan-Kazis, Josh (29 February 2012). "The Softspoken Man Behind Times of Israel". The Forward. Retrieved 17 March 2012.
  5. ↑ "Oversimplifying the Complexity of Israel's Security and Its Settlements". Haaretz. 13 February 2012.
  6. ↑ "The (Possible) Triumph of Common Sense". The Times of Israel.
  7. ↑ Wiener, Julie (4 February 2014). "Translating Israel, from English to Arabic". Jewish Telegraphic Agency.
  8. 1 2 3 Horovitz, David (4 February 2014). "From Today, The Times of Israel Is Also in Arabic". The Times of Israel.
  9. ↑ Horovitz, David (25 February 2014). "Bonjour and Welcome to The Times of Israel in French". The Times of Israel. Retrieved 25 February 2014.
  10. ↑ Horovitz, David (28 May 2014). "Huanying and Welcome to The Times of Israel Chinese". The Times of Israel.
  11. ↑ "Khosh Amadid! Welcome to The Times of Israel Persian". The Times of Israel. Retrieved 2016-11-25.
  12. 1 2 "Times of Israel Adds French Edition". Jewish Telegraphic Agency. 25 February 2014.
  13. ↑ "Tycoons Turning Israeli Media into Hasbara Tools". Haaretz.
  14. ↑ . Latitude (blog of The New York Times)
  15. ↑ "About The Times of Israel | The Times of Israel". The Times of Israel. Retrieved 2016-11-25.
  16. ↑ "Become a Times of Israel Blogger". The Times of Israel. Retrieved 10 September 2014.
  17. ↑ "Times of Israel Removes an Unacceptable Blog Post". The Times of Israel. 1 August 2014. Retrieved 10 September 2014.
  18. ↑ "When Genocide Is Permissible Yochanan Gordon – Ops & Blogs – The Times of Israel – Awesome Screenshot". awesomescreenshot.com.
  19. ↑ Koplowitz, Howard (1 August 2014). "'When Genocide Is Permissible' Article Taken Down by The Times of Israel: Yochanan Gordon's Post Sparks Outrage". International Business Times. Retrieved 1 August 2014.
  20. ↑ Gordon, Yochanan. "Apology from Yochanan Gordon". Five Towns Jewish Times. Retrieved 10 September 2014.
  21. ↑ "Dinah Won't You Blow? (Update)". Simple Justice.
  22. ↑ Cole, David. "The 'Monroe Doctrine' to Outlaw Hate Speech". Taki's Magazine.
  23. ↑ "Times of Israel Scrubs Another Pro-Genocide Blog, Blames 'Malicious Imposter'". Mediaite.
  24. ↑ "Attorney Responds to Times of Israel Genocide Post: 'I Didn't Write That S**t'". Talking Points Memo.
  25. ↑ Mastracci, Davide (12 May 2015). "Prominent Jewish Lawyer Threatened by ISIL after Falling Prey to Systemic Neo-Nazi Plot". National Post.
  26. ↑ "Between Neo-Nazis and Jihadis, Melbourne Lawyer Josh Bornstein Won't Be Silenced by Identity Theft". The Age.
  27. ↑ "Times of Israel Apologizes for 'Hoax Blogger' That Published Genocide Post". Talking Points Memo.
  28. ↑ "Hoax Blogger Posts Vile Post". The Times of Israel.
  29. ↑ Bornstein, Josh. "White Supremacists Stole My Identity to Spew Hatred on the Times of Israel". The Guardian.
  30. ↑ "FBI Says 'Australian Is Jihadist' Is Actually a Jewish American Troll Named Joshua Ryne Goldberg". The Age.
  31. ↑ "Writer: Haviv Rettig Gur". The Times of Israel.
  32. ↑ "Peres, at 90, Is Ready to Leave the Israeli Presidency, but Not to Retire". The New York Times.
  33. ↑ "Abbas Meets in London with Israeli Negotiator". The New York Times.
  34. ↑ "Naomi Chazan – Writers – The Times of Israel". The Times of Israel.
  35. ↑ "Author – Irwin Cotler". The Times of Israel.
  36. ↑ "Author – Simcha Jacobovici". The Times of Israel.
  37. ↑ "Author – Yair Lapid". The Times of Israel.
  38. ↑ "Author – Dov Lipman". The Times of Israel.
  39. ↑ "A Dissident Egyptian's Visit to Israel". The Lede (blog of The New York Times).
  40. ↑ "Author – Joseph J. Sherman". The Times of Israel.
  41. ↑ "LinkedIn: Saul Singer". LinkedIn. Retrieved 8 September 2014.
  42. ↑ "Author – Sarah Tuttle-Singer". The Times of Israel.

External links

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