 | |
 Head office in Jerusalem (2012) | |
| Type | Online newspaper |
|---|---|
| Founders | |
| Editor-in-chief | David Horovitz |
| Editor |
|
| Deputy editor |
|
| Opinion editor | Miriam Herschlag |
| Launched | February 2012; 13 years ago (2012-02) |
| Political alignment | Centre[1][2][3][4][5][6][7] |
| Language | English,Hebrew, Arabic, French,Persian |
| Headquarters | Jerusalem |
| ISSN | 0040-7909 |
| OCLC number | 1076401854 |
| Website | timesofisrael |
The Times of Israel (ToI) is an Israeli multi-languageonline newspaper that was launched in 2012 and has since become the largest English-language Jewish and Israeli news source by audience size. It was co-founded by Israeli journalistDavid Horovitz, who is also the founding editor, and American billionaire investorSeth Klarman.[8] Based inJerusalem, it "documents developments in Israel, the Middle East and around theJewish world."[9] Along with its original English site,The Times of Israel publishes inHebrew (via its own edition,Zman Yisrael),Arabic,French, andPersian. In addition to publishing news reports and analysis, the website hosts a multi-authorblog platform.[10]
In February 2014, two years after its launch,The Times of Israel claimed a readership of two million.[11] In 2017, readership increased to 3.5 million unique monthly users.[12] By 2021, the paper had on average over nine million unique users each month and over 35 million monthlypageviews, according to itspress kit, while the paper's blog platform had 9,000 active bloggers.[13] In 2025, the press kit listed an audience of 8 millionunique monthly users, comprising 25 million monthly visits and 75 million monthly pageviews.[14] Website ranking companySimilarweb listed the site's traffic as 45 million visits in June 2025, with more than half the traffic originating in the United States.[15]
The Times of Israel was launched in February 2012. Its co-founders are journalistDavid Horovitz,[16][17] and American billionaireSeth Klarman, founder of theBaupost Group and chairman ofThe David Project. Klarman is the chairman of the website.[18]
SeveralTimes of Israel editors had previously worked for theHaaretz English edition, including Joshua Davidovich and Raphael Ahren, and formerHaaretz Arab affairs correspondentAvi Issacharoff – co-creator of the popular Israeli television seriesFauda – joined as its Middle East analyst.[19] Amanda Borschel-Dan, who was the Magazine Editor ofThe Jerusalem Post, is currentlyThe Times of Israel's Deputy Editor, responsible for the Jewish world and archaeology. She also hosts the paper's weekly podcast.
The Times of Israel launched its Arabic edition, edited by Suha Halifa, on 4 February 2014;[20][21] its French edition, edited by Stephanie Bitan, on 25 February 2014;[22] and its Persian edition, edited by Avi Davidi, on 7 October 2015.[23] It launched its Hebrew site,Zman Yisael, on 1 May 2019, edited by Biranit Goren.[24]
Both the Arabic and French editions combine translations of English content with original material in their respective languages, and also host a blog platform.[11] In announcing the Arabic edition, Horovitz suggested,The Times of Israel may have created the first Arabic blog platform that "draw[s] articles from across the spectrum of opinion. We're inviting those of our Arabic readers with something of value that they want to say to blog on our pages, respecting the parameters of legitimate debate, joining our marketplace of ideas."[21] "[T]o avoid the kind of anonymous comments that can reduce discussion to toxic lows", comments on news articles and features in all of the site's editions can only be posted by readers identified through theirFacebook profiles or equivalent.[21]
In February 2014, two years after its launch,The Times of Israel claimed a readership of 2 million.[11] In 2017, readership increased to 3.5 million.[12] By 2021, the paper had on average over 9 million unique users each month and over 35 million monthly page views. It also maintains a blog platform, on which some 9,000 bloggers post.[13]
In November 2023, the site saw web visits increase 604% year-on-year to 64.2 million and entered thePress Gazette's top-50 ranking for the first time in 42nd place, according to digital intelligence platform, Similarweb.[25] The increase is likely linked to the increase in demand for news about the Middle East following the outbreak of the Israel-Hamas war on 7 October 2023.
Since 2016,The Times of Israel has hosted the websites of Jewish newspapers in several countries, known as "local partners". In March 2016, it began hosting New York'sThe Jewish Week.[26] It also hosts Britain'sJewish News, the New JerseyJewish Standard,The Atlanta Jewish Times, andPittsburgh Jewish Chronicle.[27][28][29] In October 2019,The Australian Jewish News became the seventh local partner.[30]
On 2 November 2017,hackers in Turkey took down the website ofThe Times of Israel for three hours, replacing the homepage with anti-Israel propaganda.[28] Responding to the attack, Horovitz said: "We constantly work to improve security on the site, which is subjected to relentless attacks by hackers. How unfortunate, and how badly it reflects on them that the hackers seek to prevent people from reading responsible, independent journalism on Israel, the Middle East and the Jewish world."[31]
In 2020,Reuters reported thatThe Times of Israel, along withThe Jerusalem Post,Algemeiner, andArutz Sheva, published op-eds sent to them by someone using a falsified identity.[32][33] The op-eds were removed as soon as the problem was discovered. Opinion editor Miriam Herschlag said that she regretted the scam because it distorted the public discourse and might lead to "barriers that prevent new voices from being heard".[32]
Most sources describeThe Times of Israel as "centrist".[1][2][3][4][5][6][7]
According to editorDavid Horovitz,The Times of Israel is intended to be independent, without any political leanings.[34][35] Horovitz said in 2012: "We areindependent; we're not attached or affiliated with any political party."[36]
The Times of Israel has offered a third-party blogging platform since 2012 which allows writers who are not affiliated with the news site to publish online. The articles on this platform are clearly marked as such, andTimes of Israel staff does not oversee or edit the content from outside users published on the blogging platform.The Times of Israel has at times removed content that has violated the site's policies. This platform has occasionally brought about controversy for the newspaper with inflammatory and controversial blog pieces that were later removed.[37] These pieces written by third-party users have sometimes been confused for or misrepresented as the endorsed original work ofThe Times of Israel, leading to criticism of the newspaper itself.[38][39] As of 2013, it was estimated thatThe Times of Israel hired more than 1,500 bloggers.[40]
In May 2023, Jeffrey Camras wrote a blog in which he stated "Palestine must be obliterated" because its existence is "an afront to society, morality, humanity... It represents lies and antisemitism, oppression and terror. Nothing more." He also claimed that Palestinian nationality was "a lie". Genocide scholarRaz Segal cited this as an example of genocidal rhetoric in the Israeli discourse.[41] The blog was subsequently removed.[42]
In addition to written journalism,The Times of Israel produces and publishes three podcasts; it also produces video content:[43]
The Times of Israel competes for readership withThe Jerusalem Post,Arutz Sheva'sIsrael National News,Haaretz daily English edition,Israel Hayom, andThe Forward.[36]
David Horovitz, the founding editor of the centrist Times of Israel
the centrist Times of Israel
the politically centrist Times of Israel
The centrist Times of Israel
The centrist Times of Israel
the centrist Times of Israel
the centrist Times of Israel news website
Media related toThe Times of Israel at Wikimedia Commons
