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.[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]
 | |
 Head office in Jerusalem (2012) | |
| Type | Online newspaper |
|---|---|
| Founder(s) | |
| 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 |
| Political alignment | Centre[1][2][3][4][5][6][7] |
| Language | English, Hebrew, Arabic, French, Persian |
| Headquarters | Jerusalem |
| ISSN | 0040-7909 |
| OCLC number | 1076401854 |
| Website | timesofisrael |
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]
History
The Times of Israel was launched in February 2012. Its co-founders are journalist David Horovitz,[15][16] and American billionaire Seth Klarman, founder of the Baupost Group and chairman of The David Project. Klarman is the chairman of the website.[17]
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.
Since 2016, The Times of Israel 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.[25] It also hosts Britain's Jewish News, the New Jersey Jewish Standard, The Atlanta Jewish Times, and Pittsburgh Jewish Chronicle.[26][27][28] In October 2019, The Australian Jewish News became the seventh local partner.[29]
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]
Editorial orientation
Most sources describe The Times of Israel as "centrist".[1][2][3][4][5][6][7]
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]
- The Daily Briefing, a daily news podcast.
- Times Will Tell, a long-form weekly revue.
- Paralyzed Nation, a deep look into the Israeli political system.
Notable writers
Analysts and journalists
Competition
The Times of Israel competes for readership with The Jerusalem Post, Arutz Sheva's Israel National News, Haaretz daily English edition, Israel Hayom, and The Forward.[35]
See also
References
External links
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