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

Biography

Ehud Ya'ari was born in 1945 during the Mandate era. He holds a BA in Middle Eastern Studies from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, and an MA in Middle Eastern Studies from

Tel Aviv University Tel Aviv University (TAU) ( he, אוּנִיבֶרְסִיטַת תֵּל אָבִיב, ''Universitat Tel Aviv'') is a public research university in Tel Aviv, Israel. With over 30,000 students, it is the largest university in the country. Locate ...

. In 1968, he was an assistant to

Shlomo Gazit Shlomo Gazit ( he, שלמה גזית; 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 Presid ...

, 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 that engages in coordinating civilian issues between the Government of Israel, the Israel Defense Forces, international organizati ...

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

Davar ''Davar'' ( he, דבר, lit. ''Word'') was a Hebrew-language daily newspaper published in the British Mandate of Palestine and Israel between 1925 and May 1996. It was relaunched in 2016, under the name ''Davar Rishon'' as an online outlet by ...

'' 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 or TWI, also known simply as The Washington Institute) 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, security, economic, religious and cultural issues in Israel, the Middle East and the Jewish world. Founded as an independent weekly publication in 199 ...

''. 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 ( he, מרכז שלם, ''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, archaeolo ...

. Yaari has reported from

Egypt Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a transcontinental country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia via a land bridge formed by the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Med ...

and

Lebanon Lebanon ( , ar, لُبْنَان, translit=lubnān, ), officially the Republic of Lebanon () or the Lebanese Republic, is a country in Western Asia. It is located between Syria to Lebanon–Syria border, the north and east and Israel to Blue ...

, and in 1997, reported from Washington. He interviewed many Arab statesmen and leaders, and also conducted an interview with US President

Bill Clinton William Jefferson Clinton (Birth name, né Blythe III; born August 19, 1946) is an American politician who served as the 42nd president of the United States from 1993 to 2001. He previously served as governor of Arkansas from 1979 to 1981 ...

. 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 ( he, אוניברסיטת אריאל), 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 prece ...

. 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. 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 ( ar, الشرق الأوسط, ISO 233: ) is a geopolitical region commonly encompassing Arabia (including the Arabian Peninsula and Bahrain), Asia Minor (Asian part of Turkey except Hatay Province), East Thrace (Europ ...

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 Mohammed Abdel Rahman Abdel Raouf al-Qudwa al-Husseini (4 / 24 August 1929 – 11 November 2004), popularly known as Yasser Arafat ( , ; ar, محمد ياسر عبد الرحمن عبد الرؤوف عرفات القدوة الحسيني, Mu ...

King Hussein Hussein bin Talal ( ar, الحسين بن طلال, ''Al-Ḥusayn ibn Ṭalāl''; 14 November 1935 – 7 February 1999) was King of Jordan from 11 August 1952 until his death in 1999. As a member of the Hashemite dynasty, the royal family o ...

Jordan Jordan ( ar, الأردن; tr. ' ), officially the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan,; tr. ' is a country in Western Asia. It is situated at the crossroads of Asia, Africa, and Europe, within the Levant region, on the East Bank of the Jordan Ri ...

and his son Abdullah, President Husni Mubarak of

, almost all Israeli prime ministers since

Menachem Begin Menachem Begin ( ''Menaḥem Begin'' (); pl, Menachem Begin (Polish documents, 1931–1937); ''Menakhem Volfovich Begin''; 16 August 1913 – 9 March 1992) was an Israeli politician, founder of Likud and the sixth Prime Minister of Israel. ...

(including

Yitzhak Rabin Yitzhak Rabin (; he, יִצְחָק רַבִּין, ; 1 March 1922 – 4 November 1995) was an Israeli politician, statesman and general. He was the fifth Prime Minister of Israel, serving two terms in office, 1974–77, and from 1992 until ...

), Bashar al-Assad,

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 198 ...

Muammar al-Gaddafi Muammar Muhammad Abu Minyar al-Gaddafi, . Due to the lack of standardization of transcribing written and regionally pronounced Arabic, Gaddafi's name has been romanized in various ways. A 1986 column by ''The Straight Dope'' lists 32 spelling ...

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 ( he, מרכז שלם, ''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, archaeolo ...

. Ya'ari has published articles in ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'', ''

The Wall Street Journal ''The Wall Street Journal'' is an American business-focused, international daily newspaper based in New York City, with international editions also available in Chinese and Japanese. The ''Journal'', along with its Asian editions, is published ...

'', ''

The Washington Post ''The Washington Post'' (also known as the ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'') is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C. It is the most widely circulated newspaper within the Washington metropolitan area and has a large n ...

'', and ''

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

''.

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