Israel Hayom

History

Israel Hayoms print edition, "financed by the American casino billionaire Sheldon Adelson," was launched on 30 July 2007, competing directly with Israeli, another free daily. That same year, Maariv editor Dan Margalit left the newspaper to write for Israel Hayom. A weekend edition was launched in October 2009. In 2014, Israel Hayom bought Israeli media outlets Makor Rishon and nrg מעריב.

In May 2014 the name מעריב (Maariv) was removed from nrg log, and it was rebranded as nrg. Following the acquisition, an antitrust complaint was filed against Israel Hayom, which resulted in a court order that requested the transfer of the maariv domain name to Maariv weekly.{{cite news

Later that year, it is believed, was when Sheldon Adelson invested at least $50 million in Israel Hayom. Critics of Adelson's involvement claimed that the distribution of free newspapers hurt free enterprise and targeted Israel's print newspaper industry, as Israel Hayom was then Israel's only free-of-charge national newspaper. The bill passed the first reading in the Knesset, but not subsequent ones. In 2016, Adelson's attorney announced that although it was commonly believed that Adelson owned the newspaper, it was owned by a relative of his.

In January 2021, Saudi-American independent academic researcher, Najat Al-Saied, became the first person from the Arab states of the Persian Gulf to join Israel Hayom.

In June 2024, Israel Hayom announced a significant partnership with the tabloid Bild, Germany's biggest Springer news outfit. It involves joint articles and investigations that are published simultaneously in both countries.

Political leaning

Israel Hayom has been described as having a center-right to right-wing political alignment since its establishment in 2007. From its inception, the paper has reflected conservative and national-liberal ideologies, focusing on national security and economic policy. Early analyses suggested that Israel Hayom frequently aligned with conservative values, advocating for a robust national defense and skepticism toward diplomatic concessions, especially during major political events, such as national elections.

By 2016, Israel Hayom extended its influence beyond Israel, endorsing the presidential campaign of Donald Trump, marking a notable alignment with conservative movements on a global scale. This endorsement reinforced the perception of the paper as a supporter of right-wing ideologies not only in Israel but also internationally.

Market share

Being distributed for free, Israel Hayom has an advantage over other daily newspapers in Israel. In July 2010, Israel Hayom surpassed Yedioth Ahronoth in weekday exposure rate in the semi-annual Target Group Index (TGI) survey.

As of January 1, 2024, a TGI survey indicated that Israel Hayom, distributed for free, is Israel's most read newspaper, with a 27.4% weekday readership exposure, followed by Yedioth Ahronoth, with 22.4%, Haaretz with 5.4%, Maariv with 3.5%, and Globes with 3.2%.{{Cite web |title=סקר TGI: ישראל היום או ידיעות אחרונות - זה העיתון החזק בישראל

As of July 31, 2023, a TGI survey had indicated that Israel Hayom, was Israel's most read newspaper, with a 29.4% weekday readership exposure, followed by Yedioth Ahronoth, with 22.3%, Haaretz with 4.8%, Globes with 4% and Maariv with 3.9%.{{Cite web |title=סקר TGI: דרמה בצמרת הפרינט והפתעה בעיתונות סוף השבוע

In January 2016, citing internal records from Israel Hayom, Haaretz revealed that between 2007 and 2014, the newspaper lost about 730 million shekels ($190 million), approximately equal to a shekel per copy printed.

Employees

;Senior management

• Miriam Adelson – Publisher
• Omer Lachmanovitch – editor-in-chief
• Amir Finkelstein – CEO
• Uri Dagon – news director
• Nir Vitlem – chief technology officer
• Moriya Idan – chief financial officer

;Staff

• Shlomo Cohen – editorial cartoonist

• Gideon Alon – parliamentary correspondent

• Ran Reznick – health correspondent

• Dan Margalit – senior commentator

• Naama Lanski – magazine correspondent

• Eli Sahar – sports editor

• Shir Ziv – television critic

• Shlomo Cesana – diplomatic correspondent

• Aviad Hacohen – legal affairs commentator

• Ronen Dorfan – sports commentator

• Yoav Kutner – music critic

• Lilach Shoval – military correspondent

• Mati Tuchfeld – political correspondent

• Shlomo Scharf – sports commentator

References

References

1. (2016). "Historical Dictionary of Israel". Rowman & Littlefield Publishers.
2. (4 March 2015). "Israel and the Middle East News Update". S. Daniel Abraham Center for Middle East Peace.
3. (31 January 2022). "ישראל היום או ידיעות? זה העיתון הנקרא בישראל | סקר TGI". {{Ill.
4. Ronen, Gil. (30 April 2014). "Israel Hayom Buys Makor Rishon, NRG Website".
5. Stewart, Catrina. (23 October 2011). "The press baron who's making news in Israel". [[The Independent]].
6. Yaakov, Yifa. (30 March 2014). "Bennett lashes Israel Hayom over Makor Rishon bid". [[The Times of Israel]].
7. (March 17, 2016). "Meet the Israelis praying for a Trump win". [[The Los Angeles Times]].
8. (December 3, 2018). "Netanyahu's Obsession With Image Could Be His Downfall". [[The New York Times]].
9. "סיומה של תקופה: לאחר עשור - המילה 'מעריב' הוסרה הערב מהלוגו של NRG".
10. Pfeffer, Anshel. (12 November 2014). "Everything You Need to Know About the Israel Hayom (Or anti-Sheldon Adelson) Law". Haaretz.
11. Harkov, Lahav. (12 November 2014). "Israel Hayom bill 'shames the Knesset,' PM says". The Jerusalem Post.
12. (9 February 2016). "Adelson's attorney says billionaire doesn't own Israel Hayom | The Times of Israel".
13. Yaakov, Yifa. (30 March 2014). "Bennett lashes Israel Hayom over Makor Rishon bid".
14. Hauenstein, Hanno. (2024-09-19). "Axel Springer profitiert von illegalen Siedlungen". [[WOZ Die Wochenzeitung]].
15. Sterman, Adiv. (17 March 2016). "Donald Trumps the Hebrew media".
16. [https://www.jpost.com/Israel-News/Politics-And-Diplomacy/Herzog-calls-on-Netanyahu-to-disavow-allies-who-support-Trump-471912 "Herzog calls on Netanyahu to disavow allies who support Trump"], Lahav Harkov, 11/07/2016, ''The Jerusalem Post''
17. Averbach, Li-or. (28 July 2015). "After decades, 'Yediot' no longer top newspaper". [[Globes (newspaper).
18. Uri Blau. (January 10, 2017). "Adelson's pro-Netanyahu Free Daily Newspaper Lost $190 Million in Seven Years". Haaretz.
19. "Senior Management". Israel Hayom.
20. "Our team leaders - Editorial team". Israel Hayom.