Ehud Yaari (; born 1 March 1945) is an Israeli journalist, author, television personality and political commentator.

Biography

Ehud Ya'ari was born in 1945 Palestine during the Mandate era. He holds a BA in Middle Eastern Studies from the

Hebrew University of Jerusalem The Hebrew University of Jerusalem (HUJI; ) is an Israeli public university, public research university based in Jerusalem. Co-founded by Albert Einstein and Chaim Weizmann in July 1918, the public university officially opened on 1 April 1925. ...

, and an MA in Middle Eastern Studies from

Tel Aviv University Tel Aviv University (TAU) is a Public university, public research university in Tel Aviv, Israel. With over 30,000 students, it is the largest university in the country. Located in northwest Tel Aviv, the university is the center of teaching and ...

. In 1968, he was an assistant to

Shlomo Gazit Shlomo Gazit (; 22 October 1926 – 8 October 2020) was an Israeli military officer and academic. A Major General in the Israel Defense Forces, he headed Israel's Military Intelligence Directorate. He later served as president of Ben-Gurion Univ ...

, the

Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories The Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories (COGAT; ) is a unit in the Israeli Ministry of Defense tasked with overseeing civilian policy in the West Bank, as well as facilitating logistical coordination between Israel and the ...

. From 1969 to 1975, he was the Arab affairs correspondent for the newspaper ''

Davar ''Davar'' (, lit. ''Speech, Word'') was a Hebrew-language daily newspaper published in the British Mandate of Palestine and Israel between 1925 and May 1996. A similarly named website was launched in 2016, under the name ''Davar Rishon'' as an ...

'' and Israel Army Radio. From 1975 to 2000, he was a commentator on Middle Eastern affairs on Channel 1. In 1987, he became a fellow at the

Washington Institute for Near East Policy The Washington Institute for Near East Policy (WINEP), also known simply as The Washington Institute (TWI), is a pro-Israel American think tank based in Washington, D.C., focused on the foreign policy of the United States in the Near East. WINE ...

, and in 1990, he became a columnist for ''

The Jerusalem Report ''The Jerusalem Report'' is a fortnightly print and online news magazine that covers political, military, economic, religious and cultural issues in Israel, the Middle East, and the Jewish world. Founded as an independent weekly publication in 1 ...

''. He became a commentator on Arab affairs on Channel 2 in 2000. In 2008, he joined the Adelson Institute for Strategic Studies of the

Shalem Center The Shalem Center (, ''Merkaz Shalem'') was a Jerusalem research institute that supported academic work in the fields of philosophy, political theory, Jewish and Zionist history, Bible and Talmud, Middle East Studies, archaeology, economics, and ...

. Yaari has reported from

Egypt Egypt ( , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a country spanning the Northeast Africa, northeast corner of Africa and Western Asia, southwest corner of Asia via the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to northe ...

and

Lebanon Lebanon, officially the Republic of Lebanon, is a country in the Levant region of West Asia. Situated at the crossroads of the Mediterranean Basin and the Arabian Peninsula, it is bordered by Syria to the north and east, Israel to the south ...

, and in 1997, reported from

Washington Washington most commonly refers to: * George Washington (1732–1799), the first president of the United States * Washington (state), a state in the Pacific Northwest of the United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A ...

. He interviewed many Arab statesmen and leaders, and also conducted an interview with US President

Bill Clinton William Jefferson Clinton (né Blythe III; born August 19, 1946) is an American politician and lawyer who was the 42nd president of the United States from 1993 to 2001. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, ...

. He was married to Hava Yaari, who worked as a foreign securities adviser at a bank, and they had a son and a daughter, Tzahi and Ephrat. In 1985 Hava and her friend, pharmacy owner Aviva Granot, embezzled funds from Mala Malavsky, a Jewish-American tourist and Holocaust survivor, and later murdered her by striking her over the head with a rolling pin and running her over with a car. Their trial was conducted amid heavy publicity and media attention, and was considered the most highly sensational murder case in Israel's history at the time. In 1987, they were convicted and sentenced to life imprisonment, but their sentences were later reduced for good behavior, and they were released in 2000. Ehud Yaari divorced his wife following her conviction. His brother Yehuda Yaari is a journalist and lecturer at

Ariel University Ariel University (), previously a public college known as the Ariel University Center of Samaria, is an Israeli university located in the urban Israeli settlement of Ariel in the West Bank. The college preceding the establishment of Ariel Unive ...

. His son Tzahi gained attention in the Israeli media for his conversion to Christianity. In 2005, Tzahi was investigated for harassing Israeli news anchor

Miki Haimovich Miki Haimovich ( ; born 15 June 1962) is an Israeli television presenter, former politician and veganism activist. She served as a member of the Knesset for Blue and White from 2019 to 2021. Biography Michal (Miki) Haimovich earned a BA i ...

. The case was dropped after he was deemed unfit to stand trial. Ehud later married Dagmar Strauss, who now goes by the name of Dagmar Strauss Yaari.

Media career

Ehud Yaari is an expert on

Middle East The Middle East (term originally coined in English language) is a geopolitical region encompassing the Arabian Peninsula, the Levant, Turkey, Egypt, Iran, and Iraq. The term came into widespread usage by the United Kingdom and western Eur ...

ern affairs. He is the author of eight books on the Arab-Israeli conflict, some in collaboration with Ze'ev Schiff. He has interviewed

Yasser Arafat Yasser Arafat (4 or 24 August 1929 – 11 November 2004), also popularly known by his Kunya (Arabic), kunya Abu Ammar, was a Palestinian political leader. He was chairman of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) from 1969 to 2004, Presid ...

King Hussein Hussein bin Talal (14 November 1935 – 7 February 1999) was King of Jordan from 1952 until his death in 1999. As a member of the Hashemite dynasty, the royal family of Jordan since 1921, Hussein was traditionally considered a 40th-generati ...

Jordan Jordan, officially the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, is a country in the Southern Levant region of West Asia. Jordan is bordered by Syria to the north, Iraq to the east, Saudi Arabia to the south, and Israel and the occupied Palestinian ter ...

and his son Abdullah, President Husni Mubarak of

, almost all Israeli prime ministers since

Menachem Begin Menachem Begin ( ''Menaḥem Begin'', ; (Polish documents, 1931–1937); ; 16 August 1913 – 9 March 1992) was an Israeli politician, founder of both Herut and Likud and the prime minister of Israel. Before the creation of the state of Isra ...

(including

Yitzhak Rabin Yitzhak Rabin (; , ; 1 March 1922 – 4 November 1995) was an Israeli politician, statesman and general. He was the prime minister of Israel, serving two terms in office, 1974–1977, and from 1992 until Assassination of Yitzhak Rabin, his ass ...

Bashar al-Assad Bashar al-Assad (born 11September 1965) is a Syrian politician, military officer and former dictator Sources characterising Assad as a dictator: who served as the president of Syria from 2000 until fall of the Assad regime, his government ...

Bachir Gemayel Bachir Pierre Gemayel (, ; 10 November 1947 – 14 September 1982) was a Lebanese militia commander who led the Lebanese Forces, the military wing of the Kataeb Party, in the Lebanese Civil War and was elected President of Lebanon in 1982. ...

Muammar al-Gaddafi Muammar Muhammad Abu Minyar al-Gaddafi (20 October 2011) was a Libyan military officer, revolutionary, politician and political theorist who ruled Libya from 1969 until his assassination by Libyan rebel forces in 2011. He came to power ...

and others. Today, Ya'ari is a political commentator for Israel's Channel 2 news. Yaari is an associate editor of

and the

. He is also Senior Fellow at the

Adelson Institute for Strategic Studies The Shalem Center (, ''Merkaz Shalem'') was a Jerusalem research institute that supported academic work in the fields of philosophy, political theory, Jewish and Zionist history, Bible and Talmud, Middle East Studies, archaeology, economics, and ...

. Ya'ari has published articles in ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

'', ''

The Wall Street Journal ''The Wall Street Journal'' (''WSJ''), also referred to simply as the ''Journal,'' is an American newspaper based in New York City. The newspaper provides extensive coverage of news, especially business and finance. It operates on a subscriptio ...

'', ''

The Washington Post ''The Washington Post'', locally known as ''The'' ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'' or ''WP'', is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C., the national capital. It is the most widely circulated newspaper in the Washington m ...

'', and ''

Atlantic Monthly ''The Atlantic'' is an American magazine and multi-platform publisher based in Washington, D.C. It features articles on politics, foreign affairs, business and the economy, culture and the arts, technology, and science. It was founded in 1857 ...

''.

Awards

* Israeli Press Editors-in-Chief prize for coverage of the peace process with Egypt * Sokolov Prize for coverage of the Lebanon War * Israel Broadcasting Award for coverage of the Gulf War

Published works

* "Fatah" (Sabra Books, 1971) * "Egypt's Policy Towards Israel in the Fifties" (1974) * "A Guide to Egypt" (1982) * "The Year of the Dove", co-authored with Ze'ev Schiff (Bantam, 1979) * "Israel's Lebanon War" (Simon and Schuster, 1984) * "Intifada", co-authored with Ze'ev Schiff (Simon and Schuster, 1990) * "Toward Israeli-Palestinian Disengagement" and “Peace by Piece: A Decade of Egyptian Policy”.

References

External links