Amir Tibon (; born 11 February 1989) is an Israeli journalist and writer. He works for ''

Haaretz ''Haaretz'' (; originally ''Ḥadshot Haaretz'' – , , ) is an List of newspapers in Israel, Israeli newspaper. It was founded in 1918, making it the longest running newspaper currently in print in Israel. The paper is published in Hebrew lan ...

'', but has also worked for

Walla! News Walla! Communications Ltd. () is an Israeli internet company headquartered in Tel Aviv and is fully owned by The Jerusalem Post. Until 2020, it was fully owned by Bezeq. Walla!'s web portal provides news, search (powered by Google Search) and e-m ...

. He has also worked as a diplomatic correspondent.

Biography

Tibon's great-grandfather was a German soldier in World War I, and fled the country after the Nazis came to power. In the early 2000s, Amir Tibon was a resident of

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 ...

. In late 2014, Tibon and his wife (then fiancée), Miri, moved to

Kibbutz A kibbutz ( / , ; : kibbutzim / ) is an intentional community in Israel that was traditionally based on agriculture. The first kibbutz, established in 1910, was Degania Alef, Degania. Today, farming has been partly supplanted by other economi ...

Nahal Oz Nahal Oz (, ''lit.'' "Mighty Stream") is a kibbutz in southern Israel. Located in the northwestern part of the Negev desert close to the border with the Gaza Strip and near the development towns of Sderot and Netivot, it is under the juri ...

, following a journalistic visit in August 2014. The couple has two daughters. On 7 October 2023, Nahal Oz was attacked by Hamas militants while Tibon and his family were at home. They remained in their house's safe room for ten hours until Tibon's father, , a retired general, arrived from Tel Aviv, along with an Israeli soldier he picked up along the way. Following his rescue, Tibon stated in an article on his experience that "the Israeli state failed us". On 9 October 2023, Tibon criticized American senator

Josh Hawley Joshua David Hawley (born December 31, 1979) is an American politician and attorney serving as the Seniority in the United States Senate, senior United States Senate, United States senator from Missouri, a seat he has held since 2019. A member ...

for suggesting that American funding for

Ukraine Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the List of European countries by area, second-largest country in Europe after Russia, which Russia–Ukraine border, borders it to the east and northeast. Ukraine also borders Belarus to the nor ...

be redirected to Israel. Tibon considers himself a "left-leaning"

Zionist Zionism is an Ethnic nationalism, ethnocultural nationalist movement that emerged in History of Europe#From revolution to imperialism (1789–1914), Europe in the late 19th century that aimed to establish and maintain a national home for the ...

. He noted in October 2024 that "Although I supported the war at the beginning...I now prefer an agreement to bring back the hostages and end the conflict". As of September 2024, Tibon and his family are living in Kibbutz

Mishmar HaEmek Mishmar HaEmek () is a kibbutz in northern Israel. Located in the western Jezreel Valley, it falls under the jurisdiction of the Megiddo Regional Council. Mishmar HaEmek is one of the few kibbutzim that have not undergone privatization and stil ...

Journalism and literary career

In 2015, Tibon was one of 15 journalists who signed a letter criticizing a proposed policy that would prevent

Israel Broadcasting Authority The Israel Broadcasting Authority (IBA; ) was Israel's public broadcaster from 1948 to 2017, succeeded by the Israeli Public Broadcasting Corporation. History The Israel Broadcasting Authority was an outgrowth of the radio station '' Kol Yi ...

journalists from expressing their opinions on-air. In 2016, Tibon wrote an article critical of Israeli prime minister

Benjamin Netanyahu Benjamin Netanyahu (born 21 October 1949) is an Israeli politician who has served as the prime minister of Israel since 2022, having previously held the office from 1996 to 1999 and from 2009 to 2021. Netanyahu is the longest-serving prime min ...

for ''Walla''. The Prime Minister's Office unsuccessfully pressured the site to remove Tibon's article. Tibon began working as a Washington correspondent for ''Haaretz'' in early 2017, the week of Donald Trump's inauguration. He continued working as a Washington correspondent through 2020. Tibon co-authored a biography of

Mahmoud Abbas Mahmoud Abbas (; born 15 November 1935), also known by the Kunya (Arabic), kunya Abu Mazen (, ), is a Palestinian politician who has been serving as the second president of Palestine and the President of the Palestinian National Authority, P ...

, entitled ''The Last Palestinian: The Rise and Reign of Mahmoud Abbas'', which was published in 2017. In 2024, Tibon published ''The Gates of Gaza: A Story of Betrayal, Survival and Hope on Israel’s Borderlands'', a non-fiction book about the October 7 attack on Nahal Oz and the events leading up to it.

Awards and recognition

In January 2015, Tibon and fellow journalist Ben Birnbaum were nominated for a

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 ...

for their reporting in ''

The New Republic ''The New Republic'' (often abbreviated as ''TNR'') is an American magazine focused on domestic politics, news, culture, and the arts from a left-wing perspective. It publishes ten print magazines a year and a daily online platform. ''The New Y ...

'', entitled "How Close They Came".

References

External links

Israel is at risk of destroying itself
{{DEFAULTSORT:Tibon, Amir 1989 births Living people 21st-century Israeli journalists 21st-century Israeli male writers Haaretz people Israeli biographers Israeli people of German-Jewish descent Kibbutzniks Israeli people of the Israel–Hamas war People from Southern District (Israel)