Ronen Bergman ( he, רונן ברגמן; born June 16, 1972) is an

Israeli Israeli may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to the State of Israel * Israelis, citizens or permanent residents of the State of Israel * Modern Hebrew, a language * ''Israeli'' (newspaper), published from 2006 to 2008 * Guni Israeli ...

investigative journalist Investigative journalism is a form of journalism in which reporters deeply investigate a single topic of interest, such as serious crimes, political corruption, or corporate wrongdoing. An investigative journalist may spend months or years rese ...

and author. He is a senior political and military analyst for ''

Yedioth Ahronoth ''Yedioth Ahronoth'' ( he, יְדִיעוֹת אַחֲרוֹנוֹת, ; lit. ''Latest News'') is a national daily newspaper published in Tel Aviv, Israel. Founded in 1939 in British Mandatory Palestine, ''Yedioth Ahronoth'' is the largest paid n ...

'', Israel's largest-circulation daily. Bergman has written for ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'', where he is a staff writer for ''

The New York Times Magazine ''The New York Times Magazine'' is an American Sunday magazine Supplement (publishing), supplement included with the Sunday edition of ''The New York Times''. It features articles longer than those typically in the newspaper and has attracted man ...

'', the ''

Wall Street Journal ''The Wall Street Journal'' is an American business-focused, international daily newspaper based in New York City, with international editions also available in Chinese and Japanese. The ''Journal'', along with its Asian editions, is published ...

'', ''

Foreign Affairs ''Foreign Affairs'' is an American magazine of international relations and U.S. foreign policy published by the Council on Foreign Relations, a nonprofit, nonpartisan, membership organization and think tank specializing in U.S. foreign policy and ...

'', and ''

Newsweek ''Newsweek'' is an American weekly online news magazine co-owned 50 percent each by Dev Pragad, its president and CEO, and Johnathan Davis (businessman), Johnathan Davis, who has no operational role at ''Newsweek''. Founded as a weekly print m ...

'' in the United States, and for ''

The Times ''The Times'' is a British daily national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its current name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its sister paper ''The Sunday Times'' (fou ...

'', ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...

'', the ''

Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung The ''Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung'' (; ''FAZ''; "''Frankfurt General Newspaper''") is a centre-right conservative-liberal and liberal-conservativeHans Magnus Enzensberger: Alter Wein in neuen Schläuchen' (in German). ''Deutschland Radio'', ...

'', and the '' Sueddeutsche Zeitung'' in Europe. He is also interviewed frequently by the media in the United States and Europe, and his work is often quoted in Middle Eastern newspapers in Arabic and

Persian Persian may refer to: * People and things from Iran, historically called ''Persia'' in the English language ** Persians, the majority ethnic group in Iran, not to be conflated with the Iranic peoples ** Persian language, an Iranian language of the ...

. He has published four books in Hebrew, which topped Israeli non-fiction best-seller lists. His books cover corruption in the

Palestinian Authority The Palestinian National Authority (PA or PNA; ar, السلطة الوطنية الفلسطينية '), commonly known as the Palestinian Authority and officially the State of Palestine,

, the 1973

Yom Kippur War The Yom Kippur War, also known as the Ramadan War, the October War, the 1973 Arab–Israeli War, or the Fourth Arab–Israeli War, was an armed conflict fought from October 6 to 25, 1973 between Israel and a coalition of Arab states led by Egy ...

, the Iranian nuclear project, and Israeli POWs and

MIAs MIAS may refer to: * Maryknoll Institute of African Studies, educational institute, see Maryknoll * MIAs, plural of Missing in Action * Moscow International Automobile Salon, auto show in Russia * Montreal International Auto Show The Montreal Int ...

. A translation of his third book, ''The Secret War with Iran'', was published by

Simon & Schuster Simon & Schuster () is an American publishing company and a subsidiary of Paramount Global. It was founded in New York City on January 2, 1924 by Richard L. Simon and M. Lincoln Schuster. As of 2016, Simon & Schuster was the third largest publ ...

in 2008. The book appeared in the ''

Boston Globe ''The Boston Globe'' is an American daily newspaper founded and based in Boston, Massachusetts. The newspaper has won a total of 27 Pulitzer Prizes, and has a total circulation of close to 300,000 print and digital subscribers. ''The Boston Glob ...

''’s recommended reading list for summer 2009. Bergman lectures frequently to academic and military audiences, as well as to the general public. He has been a guest lecturer at academic forums at major universities in Israel and abroad, including

Princeton Princeton University is a private research university in Princeton, New Jersey. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and one of the ni ...

Yale Yale University is a private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. Established in 1701 as the Collegiate School, it is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and among the most prestigious in the wor ...

, Columbia,

New York University New York University (NYU) is a private research university in New York City. Chartered in 1831 by the New York State Legislature, NYU was founded by a group of New Yorkers led by then-Secretary of the Treasury Albert Gallatin. In 1832, the ...

Oxford Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the ...

, and

Cambridge Cambridge ( ) is a university city and the county town in Cambridgeshire, England. It is located on the River Cam approximately north of London. As of the 2021 United Kingdom census, the population of Cambridge was 145,700. Cambridge bec ...

, and at military and intelligence forums in Israel, the United States and England.

Biography

Bergman was born in 1972, and grew up in

Kiryat Bialik Kiryat Bialik ( he, קִרְייַת בְּיַאלִיק, also Qiryat Bialik) is a city in the Haifa District in Israel. It is one of the five Krayot suburbs to the north of Haifa. In it had a population of . The city was named after the poet H ...

. His mother was a teacher and his father was an accountant. He is the youngest of three children. As a boy, he was a reporter for a youth television show. His parents were both

Holocaust survivors Holocaust survivors are people who survived the Holocaust, defined as the persecution and attempted annihilation of the Jews by Nazi Germany and Axis powers, its allies before and during World War II in Europe and North Africa. There is no unive ...

. He did his military service in the

Israel Defense Forces The Israel Defense Forces (IDF; he, צְבָא הַהֲגָנָה לְיִשְׂרָאֵל , ), alternatively referred to by the Hebrew-language acronym (), is the national military of the Israel, State of Israel. It consists of three servic ...

in the intelligence unit of the Military Police Corps. After his military service, he studied law at the

University of Haifa The University of Haifa ( he, אוניברסיטת חיפה Arabic: جامعة حيفا) is a university located on Mount Carmel in Haifa, Israel. Founded in 1963, the University of Haifa received full academic accreditation in 1972, becoming Is ...

, graduated ''

cum laude Latin honors are a system of Latin phrases used in some colleges and universities to indicate the level of distinction with which an academic degree has been earned. The system is primarily used in the United States. It is also used in some Sou ...

'', and was admitted to the

Israel Bar Association Israel Bar Association (; IBA) is the bar association for all Israeli lawyers. History The Israel Bar Association is organized as a corporation, with a Central Committee, a National Assembly and five districts. Membership is mandatory for lawy ...

. He later studied history and international relations at

Corpus Christi College, Cambridge Corpus Christi College (full name: "The College of Corpus Christi and the Blessed Virgin Mary", often shortened to "Corpus"), is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. From the late 14th century through to the early 19th century ...

in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...

, and was awarded an

M.Phil. The Master of Philosophy (MPhil; Latin ' or ') is a postgraduate degree. In the United States, an MPhil typically includes a taught portion and a significant research portion, during which a thesis project is conducted under supervision. An MPhil ...

degree in international relations and a PhD (for his dissertation on the Israeli

Mossad Mossad ( , ), ; ar, الموساد, al-Mōsād, ; , short for ( he, המוסד למודיעין ולתפקידים מיוחדים, links=no), meaning 'Institute for Intelligence and Special Operations'. is the national intelligence agency ...

) by the

University of Cambridge , mottoeng = Literal: From here, light and sacred draughts. Non literal: From this place, we gain enlightenment and precious knowledge. , established = , other_name = The Chancellor, Masters and Schola ...

. He is a member of the

Körber Foundation The Körber Foundation (German: ''Körber-Stiftung'') is a nonprofit organization, established in 1959 by German businessman Kurt A. Körber. It provides a platform to discuss present political topics and develops operational projects on social an ...

"Munich Young Leaders 2010" and participated in the 46th

Munich Security Conference The Munich Security Conference (MSC; german: Münchner Sicherheitskonferenz) is an annual conference on international security policy that has been held in Munich, Bavaria, Germany since 1963. Former names are ''Wehrkundetagung'' and ''Münchner ...

. He is a former senior staff feature writer for ''

Haaretz ''Haaretz'' ( , originally ''Ḥadshot Haaretz'' – , ) is an Israeli newspaper. It was founded in 1918, making it the longest running newspaper currently in print in Israel, and is now published in both Hebrew and English in the Berliner f ...

''. Bergman is the recipient of the 1995 Bnai Brith Worlds Center Award for Journalism and the 1996 '' Ha’aretz'' award for Best Story. In 2017 he won the

Sokolov Prize The Sokolov Award, also known as Sokolov Prize, is an Israeli journalism award, awarded by the Tel Aviv municipality, in memory of Nahum Sokolow. The award has been granted since 1956, initially to outstanding print journalists and since 1981 to ...

. In the same year he won the Rotary Paul Harris prize.

Published works

Bergman's articles are often based on classified military and intelligence material to which he has been granted exclusive access. Over the years, he has brought to light numerous issues of considerable public interest, including: the diversion of Palestinian tax revenues to the personal bank account of

Yassir Arafat Mohammed Abdel Rahman Abdel Raouf al-Qudwa al-Husseini (4 / 24 August 1929 – 11 November 2004), popularly known as Yasser Arafat ( , ; ar, محمد ياسر عبد الرحمن عبد الرؤوف عرفات القدوة الحسيني, Mu ...

; the production of fertilizer from the bones of Holocaust victims at an Italian factory during World War II; the sale by an Israeli businessman of

dual-use In politics, diplomacy and export control, dual-use items refers to goods, software and technology that can be used for both civilian and military applications.

chemical raw materials and technology to Iran; the medical file of Prime Minister Rabin compiled on the night of his

assassination Assassination is the murder of a prominent or important person, such as a head of state, head of government, politician, world leader, member of a royal family or CEO. The murder of a celebrity, activist, or artist, though they may not have ...

; the case of “Agent Babylon,” the aide to Egyptian

President Sadat Muhammad Anwar el-Sadat, (25 December 1918 – 6 October 1981) was an Egyptian politician and military officer who served as the third president of Egypt, from 15 October 1970 until his Assassination of Anwar Sadat, assassination by fund ...

who was an Israeli spy; the first interviews ever published with members of the Mossad's special ops unit; medical experiments conducted on

Israeli soldiers The Israel Defense Forces (IDF; he, צְבָא הַהֲגָנָה לְיִשְׂרָאֵל , ), alternatively referred to by the Hebrew-language acronym (), is the national military of the State of Israel. It consists of three service branch ...

as part of joint U.S.-Israeli efforts to develop a vaccine against anthrax; and various institutional corruption scandals in Israel.

Books

*''And The Authority Is Given'' (2002) *''Moment of Truth'' (2003) *''Point Of No Return'' (2007) *''The Secret War With Iran'' (2008) *''By Any Means Necessary'' (2009) *''Ha-Bor'' (The Pit) (2011) with Dan Margalit * special chapters for the Hebrew edition of the ''State Enemy WikiLeaks'' (2011) by

Marcel Rosenbach Marcel Rosenbach (born 1972, Koblenz) is a German journalist. At Hamburg University he studied political science and journalism (1993–1998), and after graduating, he attended the Henri Nannen School of Journalism. Before joining ''Der Spiegel ...

and . *''Operation Red Falcon'' (2015) *'' Rise and Kill First: The Secret History of Israel's Targeted Assassinations'' (Jan 23, 2018)

Awards

* 2018:

National Jewish Book Awards The Jewish Book Council (Hebrew: ), founded in 1944, is an organization encouraging and contributing to Jewish literature.Official website
* Ronen Bergman
The Secret War with Iran
* Ronen Bergman

''

'', September 9, 2008 {{DEFAULTSORT:Bergman, Ronen Israeli journalists Israeli television presenters People from Kiryat Bialik Tel Aviv University faculty Israeli people of Polish-Jewish descent Alumni of Corpus Christi College, Cambridge Living people 1972 births Israeli non-fiction writers University of Haifa alumni Yedioth Ahronoth people