Zev Chafets (; born 1947) is an American-Israeli author and

columnist A columnist is a person who writes for publication in a series, creating an article that usually offers commentary and opinions. Column (periodical), Columns appear in newspapers, magazines and other publications, including blogs. They take the ...

Biography

Zev Chafets was born in 1947 in

Pontiac, Michigan Pontiac ( ') is a city in and the county seat of Oakland County, Michigan, Oakland County in the U.S. state of Michigan. Located roughly northwest of downtown Detroit, Pontiac is part of the Metro Detroit, Detroit metropolitan area, and is vari ...

, and raised there. He graduated from the

University of Michigan The University of Michigan (U-M, U of M, or Michigan) is a public university, public research university in Ann Arbor, Michigan, United States. Founded in 1817, it is the oldest institution of higher education in the state. The University of Mi ...

. In 1966-67 Chafets was president of the National Federation of Temple Youth. He immigrated to

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 ...

after the

Six-Day War The Six-Day War, also known as the June War, 1967 Arab–Israeli War or Third Arab–Israeli War, was fought between Israel and a coalition of Arab world, Arab states, primarily United Arab Republic, Egypt, Syria, and Jordan from 5 to 10June ...

in 1967. He spent a decade in the army, government service and politics. In 1977, he was appointed director of the Government Press Office, a post he held for five years during the administration of Prime Minister

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 ...

. Chafets was an active participant in the Egyptian-Israeli peace process and a delegate to the first Israeli-Egyptian peace negotiations. He is the author of fourteen books of fiction, media criticism, and social and political commentary, three of which have been named Notable Books of the Year by ''

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 ...

''. A review in ''The New York Times'' of his book ''Heroes and Hustlers'' called him "an Israeli Tocqueville." He is also the recipient of the 2008 Wilbur Award for his book ''A Match Made In Heaven''. His book on

Detroit Detroit ( , ) is the List of municipalities in Michigan, most populous city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is situated on the bank of the Detroit River across from Windsor, Ontario. It had a population of 639,111 at the 2020 United State ...

, ''Devil's Night,'' earned him admission to the Michigan Monthly's Detroit Hall of Fame. Chafets was the founding managing editor and staff columnist of '' The Jerusalem Report'' magazine. During an extended stay in the United States he was a staff columnist at the ''

New York Daily News The ''Daily News'' is an American newspaper based in Jersey City, New Jersey. It was founded in 1919 by Joseph Medill Patterson in New York City as the ''Illustrated Daily News''. It was the first U.S. daily printed in Tabloid (newspaper format ...

'' (beginning in 2000) and a frequent contributor to '' The New York Times Sunday Magazine''. In 2008, his ''New York Times Magazine'' cover story on

Mike Huckabee Michael Dale Huckabee (, born August 24, 1955) is an American diplomat, political commentator, Baptist minister, and politician serving as the 29th United States Ambassador to Israel, United States ambassador to Israel since 2025. A member of ...

was a finalist for the

National Magazine Award The National Magazine Awards, also known as the Ellie Awards, honor print and digital publications that consistently demonstrate superior execution of editorial objectives, innovative techniques, noteworthy enterprise and imaginative design. Or ...

. In 2011, he received a Lifetime Achievement Award from the City of Pontiac, his American hometown. Following his return to Israel in 2012, Chafets was a contributing columnist to Fox News Online (2013–2016) and Bloomberg Online (2017–2022). Many of his Bloomberg columns were reprinted in ''

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 ...

''. In 2016 he was the co-host of The Presidential Podcast (Hebrew) on Radio Tel Aviv. Chafets is a strong supporter of Israel. He has been a vocal critic of Arab dictatorships, Islamic radicalism, extremist groups such as

Hezbollah Hezbollah ( ; , , ) is a Lebanese Shia Islamist political party and paramilitary group. Hezbollah's paramilitary wing is the Jihad Council, and its political wing is the Loyalty to the Resistance Bloc party in the Lebanese Parliament. I ...

and

Hamas The Islamic Resistance Movement, abbreviated Hamas (the Arabic acronym from ), is a Palestinian nationalist Sunni Islam, Sunni Islamism, Islamist political organisation with a military wing, the Qassam Brigades. It has Gaza Strip under Hama ...

, and what he asserts is a pro-Palestinian bias in academia and parts of the mainstream media. He is also known for his opposition to ultra-orthodox religious political parties. In 2016, as the co-host of The Presidential Podcast (Hebrew) on Radio Tel Aviv, he opposed

Donald Trump Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who is the 47th president of the United States. A member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party, he served as the 45 ...

's candidacy but predicted, a few days before the election, that Trump would win. Chafets resides 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 ...

, Israel. He has four children and five grandchildren. He is married to Leah Greenspan.

Published works

Non-fiction

* ''Double Vision: How America's Press Distorts Our View of the Middle East'' (1985) * ''Heroes and Hustlers, Hard Hats and Holy Men: Inside the New Israel'' (1986) * ''Members of the Tribe'' (Bantam Hardcover) (1988) * ''Devil's Night: And Other True Tales of Detroit'' (1990) * ''A Match Made in Heaven: American Jews, Christian Zionists, and One Man's Exploration of the Weird and Wonderful Judeo-Evangelical Alliance'' (HarperCollins Hardcover - Jan 9, 2007) * ''Cooperstown Confidential: Heroes, Rogues and the Inside Story of the Baseball Hall of Fame'' (2009, Bloomsbury USA) * ''Rush Limbaugh: An Army of One'' (2010) * ''Roger Ailes: Off Camera'' (2013) * ''Remembering Who We Are: A Treasury of Conservative Commencement Addresses '' (2015) * ''The Bridge Builder'' (2015)

Fiction

* ''Inherit the Mob'' (Random House) (1993) * ''The Bookmakers'' (Random House) (1995) * ''The Project'' (Warner Books) (1997) * ''Whacking Jimmy'' (as William Wolf) ((Villard)) * ''Hang Time'' (Warner Books) (1996)

Selected articles in magazines and newspapers

'' * The Tragedy of Detroit * "Lives; No Regrets", * A letter to the editor correcting the story, *The two referenced versions of ''No Regrets,'' sung by Jimmy Barnes * Little Willie John * ''The Sy Empire'' * A subsequent article correction * ''Obama's Rabbi''

Biography

Published works

Non-fiction

Fiction

Selected articles in magazines and newspapers

See also

References

External links