Ehud Yaari


Ehud Yaari is an Israeli journalist, author, television personality and political commentator.

Biography

Ehud Ya'ari was born in 1945 during the Mandate era. He holds a BA in Middle Eastern Studies from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, and an MA in Middle Eastern Studies from Tel Aviv University.
In 1968, he was an assistant to Shlomo Gazit, the Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories. From 1969 to 1975, he was the Arab affairs correspondent for the newspaper Davar and Israel Army Radio. From 1975 to 2000, he was a commentator on Middle Eastern affairs on Channel 1. In 1987, he became a fellow at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy, and in 1990, he became a columnist for The Jerusalem Report. He became a commentator on Arab affairs on Channel 2 in 2000. In 2008, he joined the Adelson Institute for Strategic Studies of the Shalem Center.
Yaari has reported from Egypt and Lebanon, and in 1997, reported from Washington. He interviewed many Arab statesmen and leaders, and also conducted an interview with US President Bill Clinton.
He was married to Hava Yaari, who worked as a foreign securities adviser at a bank, and they had a son and a daughter, Tzahi and Ephrat. In 1985 Hava and her friend, pharmacy owner Aviva Granot, embezzled funds from Mala Malavsky, a Jewish-American tourist and Holocaust survivor, and later murdered her by striking her over the head with a rolling pin and running her over with a car. Their trial was conducted amid heavy publicity and media attention, and was considered the most highly sensational murder case in Israel's history at the time. In 1987, they were convicted and sentenced to life imprisonment, but their sentences were later reduced for good behavior, and they were released in 2000. Ehud Yaari divorced his wife following her conviction.
His brother Yehuda Yaari is a journalist and lecturer at Ariel University. His son Tzahi gained attention in the Israeli media for his conversion to Christianity. In 2005, Tzahi was investigated for harassing Israeli news anchor Miki Haimovich. The case was dropped after he was deemed unfit to stand trial. Ehud later married Dagmar Strauss, who now goes by the name of Dagmar Strauss Yaari.

Media career

Ehud Yaari is an expert on Middle Eastern affairs. He is the author of eight books on the Arab-Israeli conflict, some in collaboration with Ze'ev Schiff. He has interviewed Yasser Arafat, King Hussein of Jordan and his son Abdullah, President Husni Mubarak of Egypt, almost all Israeli prime ministers since Menachem Begin, Bashar al-Assad, Bachir Gemayel, Muammar al-Gaddafi and others. Today, Ya'ari is a political commentator for Israel's Channel 2 news. Yaari is an associate editor of The Jerusalem Report and the Washington Institute for Near East Policy. He is also Senior Fellow at the Adelson Institute for Strategic Studies. Ya'ari has published articles in The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, The Washington Post, and Atlantic Monthly.

Awards