Donald Lloyd Neff (October 15, 1930 – May 10, 2015) was an American author and journalist. Born in
York, Pennsylvania
York is a city in York County, Pennsylvania, United States, and its county seat. Located in South Central Pennsylvania, the city's population was 44,800 at the time of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, making it the List of cities in ...
, he spent 16 years employed by ''Time'', and was their bureau chief in
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 ...
. He also worked for ''
The Washington Star
''The Washington Star'', previously known as the ''Washington Star-News'' and the ''Washington'' ''Evening Star'', was a daily afternoon newspaper published in Washington, D.C., between 1852 and 1981. The Sunday edition was known as the ''Sunday ...
''.
Neff served in the army from 1948 until 1950. After college studies he became a journalist in 1954, and, after a number of positions, joined the ''
Los Angeles Times
The ''Los Angeles Times'' is an American Newspaper#Daily, daily newspaper that began publishing in Los Angeles, California, in 1881. Based in the Greater Los Angeles city of El Segundo, California, El Segundo since 2018, it is the List of new ...
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 ...
'', May 14, 2014. (where he covered the Apollo Moon landing). He worked as ''Time''s Jerusalem bureau chief before leaving the magazine in 1979. He wrote a retrospective piece in 1995 detailing the change in his pro-Zionist perspective during his years as correspondent in the Middle East.
Neff thereafter wrote mainly for ''
Middle East International
''Middle East International'' was a bimonthly magazine published in London from 1971 until 2005, reaching a total of 761 issues. It was established by Christopher Mayhew and a group of senior British politicians and diplomats. The original publish ...
'' and the ''
Washington Report on Middle East Affairs
The ''Washington Report on Middle East Affairs'' (also known as ''The Washington Report'' and WRMEA) is an American foreign policy magazine that focuses on the Middle East and U.S. policy in the region.York, Pennsylvania
York is a city in York County, Pennsylvania, United States, and its county seat. Located in South Central Pennsylvania, the city's population was 44,800 at the time of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, making it the List of cities in ...
on May 10, 2015 of heart disease and diabetes, aged 84.
His ''Warriors Against Israel'', according to Archibald B. Roosevelt, argued that
Henry Kissinger
Henry Alfred Kissinger (May 27, 1923 – November 29, 2023) was an American diplomat and political scientist who served as the 56th United States secretary of state from 1973 to 1977 and the 7th National Security Advisor (United States), natio ...
moved the United States from a role as neutral broker in the Middle East, to one in which it was a partner in a strong alliance with Israel.
Awards
In 1980 he received the O.P.C.'s ''Mary Hemingway Award'' for best magazine reporting from abroad.
Published work
*Donald Neff:'' Warriors at Suez: Eisenhower Takes America Into the Middle East'', Simon And Schuster, New York, 1981.
*Donald Neff: ''Warriors for Jerusalem: The Six Days That Changed the Middle East'', Linden Press / Simon & Schuster. 1984.
*Donald Neff: ''Warriors Against Israel: How Israel Won the Battle to Become America's Ally'', 1988. Brattleboro T
*Donald Neff: ''Fifty Years of Israel'', American Educational Trust, Paperback, 1998 (A collection of 54 articles he has published in the ''Washington Report'' over the past several year)
*Donald Neff: Fallen Pillars: U.S. Policy towards Palestine and Israel since 1945 ',
Institute for Palestine Studies
The Institute for Palestine Studies (IPS) is the oldest independent nonprofit public service research institute in the Arab world. It was established and incorporated in Beirut, Lebanon, in 1963 and has since served as a model for other such ins ...
, in Washington, DC, 1995 (reprinted 2002) West Bank Crackdown ''Time'', Apr. 3, 1978
* Reprinted from ''Middle East International'', 31 March 1995. ''
Washington Report on Middle East Affairs
The ''Washington Report on Middle East Affairs'' (also known as ''The Washington Report'' and WRMEA) is an American foreign policy magazine that focuses on the Middle East and U.S. policy in the region.Ex-Terrorist Shamir Becomes the Likud's New Leader of Israel ''WRMEA'', October 1996, p. 87 ''WRMEA'', June/July 1997, pp. 70–72 ''WRMEA'', March 1998, pp. 87–88 ''WRMEA'', April 1998, p. 78–79 ''WRMEA'', May/June 1998, pp. 80, 82 ''WRMEA'', October/November 1998, pp. 83–85 ''WRMEA'', June 1999, pp. 87–88 ''WRMEA'', May/June 2005, p. 14