CELEBRATING 75 : HA-AREC

105 years ago that is 4th. in April 1918, the first issue of the oldest Israeli printed newspaper ha-Arec (literally “Earth”, meaning Land of Israel) was published.

At the beginning of its existence, it went under the name ha-Chadashot me-ha-Arec ha-kdosha (Holy Land Newspaper) and was basically a modified Hebrew version of The Palestine News British military crew.

The first issues of ha-Arec newspaper were printed in Cairo.

In 1919, the British military administration offered The Palestine News for sale to the Zionist movement. Therefore, the future First President of the State of Israel Chajim Weizmann turned to Jewish entrepreneur, philanthropist Jicchak Leib Goldberg (1860-1932), whose generous contribution could have led to the purchase of the newspaper.

However, the turning point in the history of the oldest Israeli periodical came in 1935, when it was bought by businessman Salman Schocken (1877-1959). Before the onset of the criminal Nazi regime, Salman Schocken owned a network of stores in Germany and in 1931, founded the publishing house Schocken Verlag, which published, among other things, books by Franz Kafka, Martin Buber or the future Nobel Prize winner for literature by Smuel Josef Agnon.

In 1939, Salman’s son Gersham Schocken was named editor-in-chief of the newspaper ha-Arec, who served this function until his death in 1990, i.e. for 51 years. Gersham’s contribution not only to the daily ha-Arec, from which he created one of the most read newspapers in Israel, but to the entire Israeli journalism, was huge. The ha-Arec diary is still owned by the Schocken family.

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WE ARE CELEBRATING 75: HA-ARETZ

105 years ago, on April 4, 1918, the first issue of Israel’s oldest printed newspaper Ha-Aretz (literally “The Land”, meaning the Land of Israel) was published.

At the beginning of its existence, it was published under the name ha-Hadashot me-ha-Aretz ha-Kdosha (Newspaper from the Holy Land) and it was essentially a modified Hebrew version of the newspaper The Palestine News of the British military garrison.

The first issues of Ha-Aretz were printed in Cairo.

In 1919, the British Military Administration offered The Palestine News for sale to the Zionist movement. The future first President of the State of Israel, Chaim Weizmann, therefore turned to the Jewish businessman, patron and philanthropist Yitzchak Leib Goldberg (1860-1932), whose generous contribution enabled the newspaper to be purchased.

However, the turning point in the history of the oldest Israeli periodical came in 1935, when it was bought by businessman Salman Schocken (1877-1959). Before the criminal Nazi regime took power, Salman Schocken owned a network of department stores in Germany and in 1931 founded the Schocken Verlag publishing house, which published, among others, books by Franz Kafka, Martin Buber, and the future winner of the Nobel Prize for Literature, Shmuel Josef Agnon.

In 1939, Salman’s son Gershom Schocken was appointed editor-in-chief of the Ha-Aretz newspaper, who held this position until his death in 1990, i.e. for 51 years. Gershom’s contribution not only to Ha-Aretz, which he turned into one of the most widely read newspapers in Israel, but to Israeli journalism as a whole was enormous. Today, Ha-Aretz is still owned by the Schocken family.