The Jerusalem Post
Israel's oldest English-language daily, founded 1932 as The Palestine Post. It survived a 1948 car bombing, a 1990 staff walkout under Hollinger, and a fraud-tainted 2004 sale — emerging as the Azur-owned paper behind JPost.com (1996), describing itself as centrist.
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- Location
- Jerusalem
- Country
- Israel
- What it is
- English-language daily newspaper published in Jerusalem; describes itself as Israel's oldest and largest English daily and the most-read English news website in Israel and the Jewish world
- Founded
- 1 December 1932 as The Palestine Post; renamed The Jerusalem Post in 1950 (Palestine Post Ltd. remains the incorporated name)
- Founder
- Gershon Agron (born Gershon Agronsky, Russia, 1894) with Ted Lurie; first press run 1,200, rising to 4,000
- Owner
- Mirkaei Tikshoret Group (Eli Azur) since November 2004, bought for $13.2 million
- Self-description
- Centrist, with columnists spanning the political spectrum (first-party)
- Products
- Daily print Sunday–Friday; JPost Magazine; In Jerusalem; the biweekly Jerusalem Report (editorially independent); a weekly International Edition; JPost.com (launched 1996)
- Leadership
- CEO Inbar Ashkenazi; editor-in-chief Zvika Klein (per About Us)
Overview
The Jerusalem Post is Israel’s oldest and largest English-language daily, published in Jerusalem — and by its own account the most-read English news website in Israel and the Jewish world (The Jerusalem Post — About Us). It was founded on 1 December 1932 as The Palestine Post by Gershon Agron — born Gershon Agronsky in Russia in 1894, a refugee from pogroms who emigrated to the United States, served in the Jewish Legion in World War I, and worked in the Zionist Commission’s Press Bureau — together with Ted Lurie (The Jerusalem Post). The first press run was 1,200 copies; it soon rose to 4,000 (The Jerusalem Post). A Labor Zionist paper from birth, it was renamed The Jerusalem Post in 1950, though Palestine Post Ltd. remains its incorporated name (The Jerusalem Post).
What distinguishes the paper’s history is how many times it has nearly been destroyed — by bombs, by owners, and by its own staff walking out — and kept publishing anyway.
A car bomb couldn’t stop the presses
On 1 February 1948, during the war surrounding Israel’s founding, Arab terrorists detonated a car bomb that destroyed the paper’s offices — killing a typesetter and wounding 20 people. The Post published the next morning anyway (The Jerusalem Post). The paper’s own history records its defiant line from that era: “The truth is louder than TNT” (The Jerusalem Post). Three and a half months later, on 16 May 1948, its front page carried the headline “State of Israel Is Born” (The Jerusalem Post). Agron left the paper in 1955 to become mayor of Jerusalem, serving until his death in 1959 (The Jerusalem Post).
The Hollinger years and the walkout
The paper’s modern political identity was forged in a hostile takeover. In 1989, after its Histadrut-linked owner Koor put it up for auction, the Post was bought by Hollinger — the company of Conrad Black and David Radler — and shifted sharply to the right (The Jerusalem Post). In November 1989, Prime Minister Yitzhak Shamir publicly attacked the paper; the editor, Frenkel, resigned (The Jerusalem Post). Then, in January 1990, 35 staff members walked out in protest at the paper’s new direction — one of the most dramatic newsroom revolts in Israeli journalism (The Jerusalem Post). New editors were installed — first Gross, then David Bar-Illan — and the paper continued under Hollinger’s rightward line (The Jerusalem Post).
The Hollinger era ended in scandal. In 2003, Black and Radler resigned amid the fraud scandal at Hollinger that led to their convictions in the United States (The Jerusalem Post). In November 2004, the paper was sold for $13.2 million to Eli Azur’s Mirkaei Tikshoret Group; a rival ownership claim by Canada’s CanWest was litigated, and Azur emerged with full ownership — which he holds to this day (The Jerusalem Post; Haaretz/AP).
Azur, JPost.com, and the modern paper
Under Azur, the Post describes itself as centrist, with columnists spanning the political spectrum (The Jerusalem Post — About Us). The print edition appears Sunday through Friday, supplemented by JPost Magazine, the In Jerusalem supplement, the biweekly Jerusalem Report (described as editorially independent), and a weekly International Edition (The Jerusalem Post — About Us). JPost.com, launched in 1996, is the engine of its international reach, and the company runs conferences in Jerusalem and New York, with editions in London, Dubai, and Marrakech (The Jerusalem Post — About Us). The current CEO is Inbar Ashkenazi and the editor-in-chief is Zvika Klein (The Jerusalem Post — About Us).
The newsroom that survived the car bomb and the walkout still breaks the region’s biggest stories in English — including its own October 2024 reporting on the killing of Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar (The Jerusalem Post).
What this profile does not claim
This profile does not present the car-bomb and early-history narrative as an independent account — it comes from the paper’s own historical feature and is presented as the paper’s telling of its story. It does not develop the 1977 “Likud shock” or the 1980s anti-settlement editorials, which the historical feature mentions only in passing. Readership claims and the centrist self-description are first-party statements, reported as such rather than verified independently. No current circulation figure is asserted. And nothing here characterizes the paper’s current editorial line beyond what its own About Us page says.
Timeline
- 1932
- The Palestine Post founded 1 December by Gershon Agron with Ted Lurie; a Labor Zionist paper with a first press run of 1,200, soon rising to 4,000.
- 1948
- On 1 February a car bomb planted by Arab terrorists destroyed the paper's offices, killing a typesetter and wounding 20; the Post published the next morning. On 16 May its front page read "State of Israel Is Born."
- 1950
- The paper was renamed The Jerusalem Post; Palestine Post Ltd. remains its incorporated name.
- 1955
- Agron left the paper and became mayor of Jerusalem, serving until his death in 1959.
- 1989
- Put up for auction by Koor/Histadrut and bought by Hollinger, the company of Conrad Black and David Radler; the paper shifted to the right.
- 1990
- In January, 35 staff members walked out in protest at the new direction; new editors (first Gross, then David Bar-Illan) took over.
- 1996
- JPost.com was launched.
- 2004
- In November the paper was sold for $13.2 million to Eli Azur's Mirkaei Tikshoret Group after Black and Radler resigned amid the fraud scandal that led to their U.S. convictions; Azur defeated a rival ownership claim by CanWest and owns the paper to this day.
What we could not verify
These claims came up in research and could not be confirmed. They are recorded here rather than published as fact or quietly dropped. If you hold a source that settles one, please tell us.
- The car-bomb account (1 February 1948, one typesetter killed, 20 wounded, paper published the next morning) and the "The truth is louder than TNT" line come from the paper's own historical feature — a first-party history, not an independent account.
- The 1977 "Likud shock" and 1980s anti-settlement editorials are mentioned only in passing in the historical feature; this profile does not develop them.
- Readership claims ("most-read English news website in Israel and the Jewish world") and the centrist self-description are the paper's own first-party statements, presented as such.
- Circulation figures for the modern paper are not asserted; no reliable current figure was found in the sources read.
Sources
4 sources (1 tier 1, 3 first-party), each opened and read against the claim it supports. Statements the subject makes about itself are marked as such and are not treated as independent evidence. See the source policy.
This profile is built from four sources read in full: the Jerusalem Post's own historical feature on its first decades, the paper's first-party About Us page, a 2004 Haaretz/AP report on the Azur sale, and the Post's own October 2024 reporting on the Sinwar killing. It leads with the 1948 bombing, the 1990 walkout, and the Hollinger fraud fallout — the episodes page-one SERP summaries skip.
- Supports: November 2004 sale to Mirkaei Tikshoret Group (Eli Azur); competing CanWest claim; Azur's path to full ownership Open original source
- The story behind the headlines First-partySupports: 1 Dec 1932 founding as The Palestine Post by Gershon Agron (b. Gershon Agronsky, Russia 1894; fled pogroms to US; WWI Jewish Legion; Zionist Commission Press Bureau) with Ted Lurie; 1,200 to 4,000 press run; Labor Zionist; 1950 rename (Palestine Post Ltd. incorporated name); 1 Feb 1948 car bomb, typesetter killed, 20 wounded, published next morning; 16 May 1948 "State of Israel Is Born"; Agron left 1955, Jerusalem mayor till death 1959; 1977 Likud shock; 1980s anti-settlement editorials; 1989 auction to Hollinger (Conrad Black, David Radler) after Koor/Histadrut sale; shift right; Nov 1989 Shamir attack; Frenkel resigned; Jan 1990 35 staff walked out; Gross then Bar-Illan; 2003 Black/Radler resigned, US fraud convictions; Nov 2004 $13.2M sale to Mirkaei Tikshoret (Eli Azur); CanWest dispute, Azur won full ownership Open original source
- About Us First-partySupports: Oldest/largest English daily in Israel; most-read English news website in Israel and Jewish world; centrist self-description, columnists span spectrum; print Sun–Fri; JPost Magazine, In Jerusalem, Jerusalem Report (biweekly, editorially independent), weekly International Edition; JPost.com launched 1996; conferences Jerusalem/NY (+London, Dubai, Marrakech); purchased by Azur 2004, owns to this day; CEO Inbar Ashkenazi, editor-in-chief Zvika Klein Open original source
- Supports: The paper's own newsroom reporting on the October 2024 killing of Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar — the in-body anchor for the Hamas backlink Open original source
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