''Davar'' (, lit. ''Speech, Word'') was a Hebrew-language daily newspaper published in the British Mandate of Palestine and

Israel Israel, officially the State of Israel, is a country in West Asia. It Borders of Israel, shares borders with Lebanon to the north, Syria to the north-east, Jordan to the east, Egypt to the south-west, and the Mediterranean Sea to the west. Isr ...

between 1925 and May 1996. A similarly named website was launched in 2016, under the name ''Davar Rishon'' as an online outlet by the

Histadrut Histadrut, fully the New General Workers' Federation () and until 1994 the General Federation of Labour in the Land of Israel (, ''HaHistadrut HaKlalit shel HaOvdim B'Eretz Yisrael''), is Israel's national trade union center and represents the m ...

History

Newspaper (1925–1996)

''Davar'' was established by Moshe Beilinson and

Berl Katznelson Berl Katznelson (; 25 January 1887 – 12 August 1944) was one of the intellectual founders of Labor Zionism and was instrumental to the Israeli Declaration of Independence, establishment of the modern state of Israel. He was also the editor of ' ...

, with Katznelson as its first editor, as the newspaper of the Histadrut. The first edition was published on 1 June 1925 under the name ''Davar – Iton Poalei Eretz Yisrael (lit. ''Davar – Newspaper of

Eretz Yisrael The Land of Israel () is the traditional Jewish name for an area of the Southern Levant. Related biblical, religious and historical English terms include the Land of Canaan, the Promised Land, the Holy Land, and Palestine. The definitions ...

Workers''). The paper was successful, and published several supplements, including ''Davar HaPoelet'' ('' emaleWorker's Davar'', a women's paper), ''HaMeshek HaShitufi'' (''Co-operative Economy''), ''Davar HaShvua'' (''Davar This Week'') and ''Davar LeYeldim'' (''Davar for Children''), as well as the union newsletter ''Va'adken'' (''Update''). By 1950 it had around 400 employees and had an extensive distribution system. Upon Katznelson's death in 1944

Zalman Shazar Zalman Shazar (; November 24, 1885 – October 5, 1974) was an Israeli politician, author and poet. Shazar served as the president of Israel for two terms, from 1963 to 1973. Biography Shazar was born Shneur Zalman Rubashov to a Hasidic family o ...

, later

President of Israel The president of the State of Israel (, or ) is the head of state of Israel. The president is mostly, though not entirely, ceremonial; actual executive power is vested in the Cabinet of Israel, cabinet led by the Prime Minister of Israel, pr ...

, took over as editor.

Hana Zemer Hannah Semer (; October 2, 1924 – March 6, 2003) was an Israeli journalist. She was Editor in Chief of '' Davar'' from 1970 until 1990, the first female editor in chief of a major Israeli daily newspaper. Biography Hannah Haberfeld (later Sem ...

edited the paper between 1970 and 1990. After the formation of the Labor Party by the merger of

Mapai Mapai (, an abbreviation for , ''Mifleget Poalei Eretz Yisrael'', ) was a Labor Zionist and democratic socialist political party in Israel, and was the dominant force in Israeli politics until its merger into the Israeli Labor Party in January ...

Ahdut HaAvoda Ahdut HaAvoda () was the name used by a series of List of political parties in Israel, political parties in Israel. Ahdut HaAvoda in its first incarnation was led by David Ben-Gurion. It was first established during the period of Mandatory Pales ...

and Rafi in 1968, ''

LaMerhav ''LaMerhav'' () was a Hebrew language daily newspaper published in Israel between 1954 and 1971.Yoram Peri Yoram Peri (; born 1944) is a professor emeritus at the University of Maryland, College Park, in the U.S., where he held the Abraham and Jack Kay Chair in Israel Studies, and established and directed the Joseph and Alma Gildenhorn Institute for Is ...

and Daniel Bloch. The paper was renamed ''Davar Rishon'' and

Ron Ben-Yishai Ron Ben-Yishai (; born October 26, 1943) is an Israeli journalist. A veteran war correspondent, Ben-Yishai has covered many military conflicts in several different regions. In 2018, he won the Israel Prize, Israel's most prestigious civic honor ...

took over as editor. However, the Histadrut closed the newspaper in 1996. Its building on the corner of Melchett and Shenkin streets in

Tel Aviv Tel Aviv-Yafo ( or , ; ), sometimes rendered as Tel Aviv-Jaffa, and usually referred to as just Tel Aviv, is the most populous city in the Gush Dan metropolitan area of Israel. Located on the Israeli Mediterranean coastline and with a popula ...

was demolished and replaced by an apartment block.

Online publication (2016–)

In 2016, ''Davar Rishon'' was relaunched as a web-only news publication. In April, 2019 the website was closed for several weeks in a labor dispute. It reopened with a new editorial desk. In October 2019 it started to publish also an English edition. In January 2020 it started to publish an Arabic edition.

Notable journalists

Shmuel Yosef Agnon Shmuel Yosef Agnon (; August 8, 1887 – February 17, 1970) was an Austro-Hungarian-born Israeli novelist, poet, and short-story writer. He was one of the central figures of modern Hebrew literature. In Hebrew, he is known by the pseudonym Shai A ...

Natan Alterman Nathan Alterman (; August 14, 1910 – March 28, 1970) was an Israeli poet, playwright, journalist, and translator. Though never holding any elected office, Alterman was highly influential in Labor Zionist politics, both before and after the es ...

Yossi Beilin Joseph "Yossi" Beilin (; born 12 June 1948) is an Israeli politician who has served in multiple ministerial and leadership positions in the Israeli government. Much of his political career was in the Labour Party. He also served as chairman of t ...

(born 1948) * Moshe Beilinson * Dan Ben-Amotz (1924–89), radio broadcaster, journalist, playwright, and author *

Amnon Dankner Amnon Dankner (; February 5, 1946 – April 5, 2013) was an Israeli newspaper editor and author. He was the editor of the mass-circulation daily ''Maariv'' for six years. Biography Amnon Dankner was born in Jerusalem. His parents were the owner ...

Leah Goldberg Leah Goldberg or Lea Goldberg (; May 29, 1911, Königsberg – January 15, 1970, Jerusalem) was a prolific Hebrew-language poet, author, playwright, literary translator, illustrater and painter, and comparative literary researcher. Her wri ...

Haim Gouri Haim Gouri (; Gurfinkel; 9 October 1923 – 31 January 2018) was an Israeli poet, novelist, journalist, and documentary film, documentary director (film), filmmaker. He was awarded the Israel Prize for poetry in 1988 and was the #Awards and rec ...

(1923-2018), poet, novelist, journalist, and documentary filmmaker *

Uri Zvi Greenberg Uri Zvi Greenberg (; September 22, 1896 – May 8, 1981; also spelled Uri Zvi Grinberg) was an Israeli poet, journalist and politician who wrote in Yiddish and Hebrew. Widely regarded among the greatest poets in the country's history, he was a ...

* Tali Lipkin-Shahak * Aryeh Navon (cartoonist) *

Dov Sadan Dov Sadan (; 21 February 1902 – 14 October 1989) was an Israeli literary critic and politician who served as a member of the Knesset for the Alignment between 1965 and 1968. Biography Born Dov Berl Stock in Brody in the Galicia region of Aust ...

* Yitzhak Yatziv * David Zakai

References

External links

Searchable archives
at

Historical Jewish Press Historical Jewish Press is an online archive of historical newspapers written and published by Jews. The database enables, through digitization, virtual access to the Hebrew press in most of its years of existence, starting from the late 18th Cent ...

* {{Authority control 1925 establishments in Mandatory Palestine 1996 disestablishments in Israel Daily newspapers published in Israel Defunct daily newspapers Defunct Hebrew-language newspapers Defunct newspapers published in Israel Histadrut Internet properties established in 2016 Mass media in Tel Aviv Newspapers established in 1925 Newspapers disestablished in the 1990s Publications disestablished in 1996 Socialist newspapers Words and phrases in Modern Hebrew