Isabel Kershner is a British-born Israeli journalist and author, who began reporting from

Jerusalem Jerusalem is a city in the Southern Levant, on a plateau in the Judaean Mountains between the Mediterranean Sea, Mediterranean and the Dead Sea. It is one of the List of oldest continuously inhabited cities, oldest cities in the world, and ...

for ''

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 ...

'' in 2007. Kershner had previously worked as senior Middle East editor for '' The Jerusalem Report'' magazine. She has also written for ''

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 ...

'' and has provided commentary on Middle East affairs on

BBC Radio BBC Radio is an operational business division and service of the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) which has operated in the United Kingdom under the terms of a royal charter since 1927. The service provides national radio stations cove ...

and elsewhere. Her latest book is ''"The Land of Hope and Fear: Israel's Battle for its Inner Soul"'', published in 2023.

Career

Kershner was born in

Manchester Manchester () is a city and the metropolitan borough of Greater Manchester, England. It had an estimated population of in . Greater Manchester is the third-most populous metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, with a population of 2.92&nbs ...

, England. She completed a degree in Oriental Studies from the

University of Oxford The University of Oxford is a collegiate university, collegiate research university in Oxford, England. There is evidence of teaching as early as 1096, making it the oldest university in the English-speaking world and the List of oldest un ...

. In April 1992, she married author Hirsh Goodman, a fellow immigrant to Israel; the couple have two children, Gavriel and Lev. Kershner speaks Hebrew and Arabic.

Criticism

In her role reporting on Israeli-Palestinian issues, she has been accused of

conflict of interest A conflict of interest (COI) is a situation in which a person or organization is involved in multiple wikt:interest#Noun, interests, financial or otherwise, and serving one interest could involve working against another. Typically, this relates t ...

, as her son has served in the

Israel Defense Forces The Israel Defense Forces (IDF; , ), alternatively referred to by the Hebrew-language acronym (), is the national military of the State of Israel. It consists of three service branches: the Israeli Ground Forces, the Israeli Air Force, and ...

, and her husband is an employee of the Institute for National Security Studies, which is involved in promoting a positive image of Israel, and which Kershner often relies on as a source.

Bibliography

* ''Barrier: The Seam of the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict.'' London: Palgrave Macmillan, 2005.

Notes

Year of birth missing (living people) Living people Writers from Manchester British journalists British writers British magazine editors The New York Times journalists {{UK-journalist-stub