Amotz Asa-El
Encyclopedia
Amotz Asa-El, the former Executive Editor of the Jerusalem Post, is an Israeli journalist and media developer.
He is the Jerusalem Post's senior columnist, a staff columnist for the Wall Street Journal/MarketWatch
, and a leading commentator on Israeli, Middle Eastern and Jewish affairs.
Having originally joined the Jerusalem Post as its Business Editor in 1995, Asa-El was later the Post's News Editor and Editor-in-Chief of its overseas edition, the International Jerusalem Post, before serving as the Jerusalem Post's Executive Editor.
In these positions, Asa-El led the Post's editorial
line that blended economic conservatism, diplomatic pragmatism, political reform and cultural pluralism
. At the same time, he oversaw the redesign of the daily Jerusalem Post, the remodeling of its weekend magazines and supplements, and the reinvention of the International Jerusalem Post as an independent news weekly.
Prior to joining the Post, Asa-El was a Foreign Correspondent
for the San Francisco Chronicle
, and the Foreign Editor of the Hebrew-language financial daily Telegraph. In 2006-2008 Asa-El led the launch of McGraw/Hill's Hebrew edition of BusinessWeek
, and in 2010 he founded the Shalom Hartman Institute
's Hebrew-language journal of thought Dorsheni.
A co-founder of the Hebrew opinion journal Eretz Aheret, Asa-El is also a lecturer at the Shalem Center
's Institute for Philosophy, Politics and Religion, focusing on the theory and practice of expository writing
. At the same time, Asa-El continues as the Jerusalem Post's "Middle Israel" columnist.
"Middle Israel" (www.MiddleIsrael.com) appears regularly in the Jerusalem Post for the 16th year now, and is a unique attempt to present in English the average Israeli's view on anything, from politics and religion to business and culture. Asa-El and his column have been quoted or published along the years by the New York Times, the Washington Post, the Economist
, the New Republic
, Le Figaro
, the Daily Telegraph
, L'Express
, Azure
, Harvard Political Review
, the Wall Street Journal/MarketWatch, the Australian
, the Australia Financial Review, Jornal do Brasil
, the India Times, Politiken
, and others.
Author of The Diaspora and the Lost Tribes of Israel, a history of the Jewish people's wanderings, Asa-El's writing on Diaspora
affairs has been awarded twice (1998 and 2004) by Bnai Brith. His book was reviewed by the Wall Street Journal as "an engaging history of the Jewish experience" that "vividly captures the creativity and nomadic quality of the Jewish people." Asa-El is also an executive-board member of the Paris-based Alliance Israelite, the oldest international Jewish organization in the world, and an editorial-board member of the "Encyclopedia of the Diaspora," alongside Nathan Sharanski, Sir Martin Gilbert and Professors Jehuda Reinharz, Jonathan Sarna and Sergio DellaPergola.
Amotz Asa-El is a highly demanded speaker who has been invited on lecture tours to the US, Canada, Brazil, Australia and New Zealand where he addressed business leaders, diplomats, legislators, journalists, clergy and academic forums on issues relating to Middle Eastern, international and Jewish affairs. His lectures were sponsored among others by AIPAC, JNF, ADL
, the American Jewish Committee
, the Canada Israel Committee, the Australia Israel Jewish Affairs Council, United Israel Appeal, Hadassah
and Bnai Brith, as well as a variety of universities from Harvard and Columbia
to the University of Melbourne
and the Royal Military College of Canada
.
Asa-El holds advanced degrees in journalism and history from Columbia University in New York and the Hebrew University in Jerusalem.
He lives in Jerusalem with his wife and their three children.
He is the Jerusalem Post's senior columnist, a staff columnist for the Wall Street Journal/MarketWatch
MarketWatch
MarketWatch operates a financial information website that provides business news, analysis and stock market data to some 6 million people. MarketWatch offers personal finance news and advice, tools for investors and access to industry research. Along with its flagship website, the company operates...
, and a leading commentator on Israeli, Middle Eastern and Jewish affairs.
Having originally joined the Jerusalem Post as its Business Editor in 1995, Asa-El was later the Post's News Editor and Editor-in-Chief of its overseas edition, the International Jerusalem Post, before serving as the Jerusalem Post's Executive Editor.
In these positions, Asa-El led the Post's editorial
Editorial
An opinion piece is an article, published in a newspaper or magazine, that mainly reflects the author's opinion about the subject. Opinion pieces are featured in many periodicals.-Editorials:...
line that blended economic conservatism, diplomatic pragmatism, political reform and cultural pluralism
Cultural pluralism
Cultural pluralism is a term used when smaller groups within a larger society maintain their unique cultural identities, and their values and practices are accepted by the wider culture. Cultural pluralism is often confused with Multiculturalism...
. At the same time, he oversaw the redesign of the daily Jerusalem Post, the remodeling of its weekend magazines and supplements, and the reinvention of the International Jerusalem Post as an independent news weekly.
Prior to joining the Post, Asa-El was a Foreign Correspondent
Foreign correspondent
Foreign Correspondent may refer to:*Foreign correspondent *Foreign Correspondent , an Alfred Hitchcock film*Foreign Correspondent , an Australian current affairs programme...
for the San Francisco Chronicle
San Francisco Chronicle
thumb|right|upright|The Chronicle Building following the [[1906 San Francisco earthquake|1906 earthquake]] and fireThe San Francisco Chronicle is a newspaper serving primarily the San Francisco Bay Area of the U.S. state of California, but distributed throughout Northern and Central California,...
, and the Foreign Editor of the Hebrew-language financial daily Telegraph. In 2006-2008 Asa-El led the launch of McGraw/Hill's Hebrew edition of BusinessWeek
BusinessWeek
Bloomberg Businessweek, commonly and formerly known as BusinessWeek, is a weekly business magazine published by Bloomberg L.P. It is currently headquartered in New York City.- History :...
, and in 2010 he founded the Shalom Hartman Institute
Shalom Hartman Institute
Shalom Hartman Institute is a Jewish research and education institute based in Jerusalem, Israel, that offers pluralistic Jewish thought and education to scholars, rabbis, educators, and Jewish community leaders in Israel and North America...
's Hebrew-language journal of thought Dorsheni.
A co-founder of the Hebrew opinion journal Eretz Aheret, Asa-El is also a lecturer at the Shalem Center
Shalem Center
The Shalem Center is a Jerusalem research institute that supports academic work in the fields of philosophy, political theory, Jewish and Zionist history, Bible and Talmud, Middle East Studies, archaeology, economics, and strategic studies...
's Institute for Philosophy, Politics and Religion, focusing on the theory and practice of expository writing
Expository writing
Expository writing is a type of writing where the purpose is to inform, explain, describe, or define the author's subject to the reader. Expository text is meant to deposit information and is the most frequently used type of writing by students in colleges and universities. A well-written...
. At the same time, Asa-El continues as the Jerusalem Post's "Middle Israel" columnist.
"Middle Israel" (www.MiddleIsrael.com) appears regularly in the Jerusalem Post for the 16th year now, and is a unique attempt to present in English the average Israeli's view on anything, from politics and religion to business and culture. Asa-El and his column have been quoted or published along the years by the New York Times, the Washington Post, the Economist
The Economist
The Economist is an English-language weekly news and international affairs publication owned by The Economist Newspaper Ltd. and edited in offices in the City of Westminster, London, England. Continuous publication began under founder James Wilson in September 1843...
, the New Republic
The New Republic
The magazine has also published two articles concerning income inequality, largely criticizing conservative economists for their attempts to deny the existence or negative effect increasing income inequality is having on the United States...
, Le Figaro
Le Figaro
Le Figaro is a French daily newspaper founded in 1826 and published in Paris. It is one of three French newspapers of record, with Le Monde and Libération, and is the oldest newspaper in France. It is also the second-largest national newspaper in France after Le Parisien and before Le Monde, but...
, the Daily Telegraph
The Daily Telegraph
The Daily Telegraph is a daily morning broadsheet newspaper distributed throughout the United Kingdom and internationally. The newspaper was founded by Arthur B...
, L'Express
L'Express
L'Express is the name of:*L'Express , the first news magazine in France*L'Express Airlines, a commuter airline in the southern USA between 1989-1992.*L'Express d'Ottawa, a Canadian weekly newspaper*L'Express de Timmins, a Canadian weekly newspaper...
, Azure
Azure
In heraldry, azure is the tincture with the colour blue, and belongs to the class of tinctures called "colours". In engraving, it is sometimes depicted as a region of horizontal lines or else marked with either az. or b. as an abbreviation....
, Harvard Political Review
Harvard Political Review
The Harvard Political Review is a quarterly, nonpartisan American magazine and website on politics and public policy founded in Cambridge, Massachusetts, in 1969 at Harvard University. It is published by the Harvard Institute of Politics, an undergraduate student organization...
, the Wall Street Journal/MarketWatch, the Australian
The Australian
The Australian is a broadsheet newspaper published in Australia from Monday to Saturday each week since 14 July 1964. The editor in chief is Chris Mitchell, the editor is Clive Mathieson and the 'editor-at-large' is Paul Kelly....
, the Australia Financial Review, Jornal do Brasil
Jornal do Brasil
Jornal do Brasil, widely known as JB, is a daily newspaper published by Editora JB in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. It was founded in 1891 and is the third oldest existent Brazilian paper, after the Diário de Pernambuco and O Estado de São Paulo....
, the India Times, Politiken
Politiken
Politiken is a Danish daily broadsheet newspaper, published by JP/Politikens Hus.The newspaper comes third among Danish newspapers in terms of both number of readers and circulated copies ....
, and others.
Author of The Diaspora and the Lost Tribes of Israel, a history of the Jewish people's wanderings, Asa-El's writing on Diaspora
Diaspora
A diaspora is "the movement, migration, or scattering of people away from an established or ancestral homeland" or "people dispersed by whatever cause to more than one location", or "people settled far from their ancestral homelands".The word has come to refer to historical mass-dispersions of...
affairs has been awarded twice (1998 and 2004) by Bnai Brith. His book was reviewed by the Wall Street Journal as "an engaging history of the Jewish experience" that "vividly captures the creativity and nomadic quality of the Jewish people." Asa-El is also an executive-board member of the Paris-based Alliance Israelite, the oldest international Jewish organization in the world, and an editorial-board member of the "Encyclopedia of the Diaspora," alongside Nathan Sharanski, Sir Martin Gilbert and Professors Jehuda Reinharz, Jonathan Sarna and Sergio DellaPergola.
Amotz Asa-El is a highly demanded speaker who has been invited on lecture tours to the US, Canada, Brazil, Australia and New Zealand where he addressed business leaders, diplomats, legislators, journalists, clergy and academic forums on issues relating to Middle Eastern, international and Jewish affairs. His lectures were sponsored among others by AIPAC, JNF, ADL
ADL
Adl is an Arabic word meaning justice.The abbreviation ADL may refer to:*Activities of daily living, a term used in medicine and nursing, especially in the care of the elderly...
, the American Jewish Committee
American Jewish Committee
The American Jewish Committee was "founded in 1906 with the aim of rallying all sections of American Jewry to defend the rights of Jews all over the world...
, the Canada Israel Committee, the Australia Israel Jewish Affairs Council, United Israel Appeal, Hadassah
Hadassah
Hadassah, the Women's Zionist Organization of America is an American Jewish volunteer women's organization. Founded in 1912 by Henrietta Szold, it is one of the largest international Jewish organizations, with around...
and Bnai Brith, as well as a variety of universities from Harvard and Columbia
Columbia University
Columbia University in the City of New York is a private, Ivy League university in Manhattan, New York City. Columbia is the oldest institution of higher learning in the state of New York, the fifth oldest in the United States, and one of the country's nine Colonial Colleges founded before the...
to the University of Melbourne
University of Melbourne
The University of Melbourne is a public university located in Melbourne, Victoria. Founded in 1853, it is the second oldest university in Australia and the oldest in Victoria...
and the Royal Military College of Canada
Royal Military College of Canada
The Royal Military College of Canada, RMC, or RMCC , is the military academy of the Canadian Forces, and is a degree-granting university. RMC was established in 1876. RMC is the only federal institution in Canada with degree granting powers...
.
Asa-El holds advanced degrees in journalism and history from Columbia University in New York and the Hebrew University in Jerusalem.
He lives in Jerusalem with his wife and their three children.