''Davar'' ( he, דבר, lit. ''Word'') was a

Hebrew-language Hebrew (; ; ) is a Northwest Semitic language of the Afroasiatic language family. Historically, it is one of the spoken languages of the Israelites and their longest-surviving descendants, the Jews and Samaritans. It was largely preserved th ...

daily newspaper published in the

British Mandate of Palestine British Mandate of Palestine or Palestine Mandate most often refers to: * Mandate for Palestine: a League of Nations mandate under which the British controlled an area which included Mandatory Palestine and the Emirate of Transjordan. * Mandatory P ...

and

Israel Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...

between 1925 and May 1996. It was relaunched in 2016, under the name ''Davar Rishon'' as an online outlet by the Histadrut.

History

''Davar'' was established by Moshe Beilinson and Berl Katznelson, 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 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 ( he, זלמן שז"ר; born Shneur Zalman Rubashov; be, Шнэер За́льман Рубашо́ў; russian: Шне́ер За́лмен Рубашо́в; November 24, 1889 – October 5, 1974) was an Israeli politician, author ...

, later

President of Israel The president of the State of Israel ( he, נְשִׂיא מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, Nesi Medinat Yisra'el, or he, נְשִׂיא הַמְדִינָה, Nesi HaMedina, President of the State) is the head of state of Israel. The posi ...

, took over as editor.

Hana Zemer Hannah Semer ( he, חנה זמר, 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 Habe ...

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

Mapai Mapai ( he, מַפָּא"י, an acronym for , ''Mifleget Poalei Eretz Yisrael'', lit. "Workers' Party of the Land of Israel") was a democratic socialist political party in Israel, and was the dominant force in Israeli politics until its merger in ...

Ahdut HaAvoda Ahdut HaAvoda ( he, אַחְדוּת הַעֲבוֹדָה, lit. ''Labour Unity'') was the name used by a series of political parties. Ahdut HaAvoda in its first incarnation was led by David Ben-Gurion. It was first established during the perio ...

and Rafi in 1968, '' LaMerhav'', the Ahdut HaAvoda-affiliated newspaper merged into ''Davar''. Its last edition published on 31 May 1971 with ''Davar'' officially renamed "''Davar – Meuhad Im LaMerhav''" (lit. ''Davar – United with LaMerhav''). By the 1980s the paper was in severe financial difficulties. After Zemer retired in 1990, the paper had joint editors

Yoram Peri Yoram ( or ) is a name derived from Jehoram (), meaning "Jehovah is exalted" in Biblical Hebrew, which was the name of several individuals in the Tanakh; the female version of this name is Athaliah. Notable people with the name include: *Yoram A ...

and Daniel Bloch. The paper was renamed ''Davar Rishon'' and Ron Ben-Yishai 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 ( he, תֵּל־אָבִיב-יָפוֹ, translit=Tēl-ʾĀvīv-Yāfō ; ar, تَلّ أَبِيب – يَافَا, translit=Tall ʾAbīb-Yāfā, links=no), often referred to as just Tel Aviv, is the most populous city in the ...

was demolished and replaced by an apartment block. 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 but 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 ( he, שמואל יוסף עגנון; July 17, 1888 – February 17, 1970) was one of the central figures of modern Hebrew literature. In Hebrew, he is known by the acronym Shai Agnon (). In English, his works are published und ...

Natan Alterman Nathan Alterman ( he, נתן אלתרמן, 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 Socialist Zionist politics, ...

Yossi Beilin Yosef "Yossi" Beilin ( he, יוסף "יוסי" ביילין, 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 Pa ...

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

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

* Haim Gouri (born 1923), poet, novelist, journalist, and documentary filmmaker *

Uri Zvi Greenberg Uri Zvi Greenberg ( he, אוּרִי צְבִי גְּרִינְבֵּרְג; September 22, 1896 – May 8, 1981; also spelled Uri Zvi Grinberg) was an acclaimed Israeli poet, journalist and politician who wrote in Yiddish and Hebrew. Widely re ...

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

Dov Sadan Dov Sadan ( he, דב סדן, 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 ...

* 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 mid 19th Century t ...

* {{Authority control 1925 establishments in Mandatory Palestine 1996 disestablishments in Israel Publications established in 1925 Hebrew-language newspapers Publications disestablished in 1996 Defunct newspapers published in Israel Histadrut Mass media in Tel Aviv Internet properties established in 2016 Daily newspapers published in Israel