David Witzthum
Encyclopedia
David Witzthum is an Israel
Israel
The State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...

i television presenter and editor and lecturer on German history and culture. He is mostly known in Israel as one of the main presenters of the nightly news program MeHayom LeMahar
MeHayom LeMahar
MeHayom LeMahar is an Israeli current affairs news show, broadcast since 1994 on Channel 1, half an hour before midnight.The show presents the daily news and current affairs from varied point of views and in a serene form...

.

Biography

David Witzthumin was born in Petah-Tikva, Israel. His father emigrated from Berlin
Berlin
Berlin is the capital city of Germany and is one of the 16 states of Germany. With a population of 3.45 million people, Berlin is Germany's largest city. It is the second most populous city proper and the seventh most populous urban area in the European Union...

, his mother from Chernivtsi
Chernivtsi
Chernivtsi is the administrative center of Chernivtsi Oblast in southwestern Ukraine. The city is situated on the upper course of the River Prut, a tributary of the Danube, in the northern part of the historic region of Bukovina, which is currently divided between Romania and Ukraine...

. He grew up (with his sister Orna) in Haifa
Haifa
Haifa is the largest city in northern Israel, and the third-largest city in the country, with a population of over 268,000. Another 300,000 people live in towns directly adjacent to the city including the cities of the Krayot, as well as, Tirat Carmel, Daliyat al-Karmel and Nesher...

, where he matriculated from the Hebrew Reali School
Hebrew Reali School
The Hebrew Reali School of Haifa , located in Haifa, Israel, is one of the country's oldest private schools.-History:...

 in 1966. After military service (as a meteorologist – 1966-1969) he got his B.A.
Bachelor of Arts
A Bachelor of Arts , from the Latin artium baccalaureus, is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate course or program in either the liberal arts, the sciences, or both...

 in Political Science
Political science
Political Science is a social science discipline concerned with the study of the state, government and politics. Aristotle defined it as the study of the state. It deals extensively with the theory and practice of politics, and the analysis of political systems and political behavior...

 and International Relations
International relations
International relations is the study of relationships between countries, including the roles of states, inter-governmental organizations , international nongovernmental organizations , non-governmental organizations and multinational corporations...

 at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem
Hebrew University of Jerusalem
The Hebrew University of Jerusalem ; ; abbreviated HUJI) is Israel's second-oldest university, after the Technion – Israel Institute of Technology. The Hebrew University has three campuses in Jerusalem and one in Rehovot. The world's largest Jewish studies library is located on its Edmond J...

 (1969–1972).
A year later, he won a scholarship for Graduate studies at the Collège d'Europe, in Bruges
Bruges
Bruges is the capital and largest city of the province of West Flanders in the Flemish Region of Belgium. It is located in the northwest of the country....

, Belgium, on European Integration, (Promotion "Mazzini", 1974), and then went to Oxford University, England (political philosophy
Political philosophy
Political philosophy is the study of such topics as liberty, justice, property, rights, law, and the enforcement of a legal code by authority: what they are, why they are needed, what, if anything, makes a government legitimate, what rights and freedoms it should protect and why, what form it...

, 1974–1977, at Wolfson College). Later, he received his M.A.
Master of Arts (postgraduate)
A Master of Arts from the Latin Magister Artium, is a type of Master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. The M.A. is usually contrasted with the M.S. or M.Sc. degrees...

 Degree from the Hebrew University (Political Science) and started research towards Ph.D.
Ph.D.
A Ph.D. is a Doctor of Philosophy, an academic degree.Ph.D. may also refer to:* Ph.D. , a 1980s British group*Piled Higher and Deeper, a web comic strip*PhD: Phantasy Degree, a Korean comic series* PhD Docbook renderer, an XML renderer...

 at the Hebrew University (2nd and final stage – of actual writing the dissertation on “the image of Germany in Israeli television, 1970–1995”).

Witzthum is married and has two children and one granddaughter. His wife Tsipora works for the classical music department of Israel Radio. The family lives near Jerusalem, in Mevaseret Zion
Mevaseret Zion
Mevaseret Zion is a suburb of Jerusalem, Israel. Mevaseret Zion is composed of two distinct townships, Maoz Zion and Mevaseret Yerushalayim—under the jurisdiction of one local council. The newer neighborhoods of Mevaseret Zion were not part of either settlement.Mevaseret Zion is located on a...

.

Work

During studies, he started work as News reporter and editor at the Israel Radio, and became chief foreign editor in 1972 and rejoined Israel Radio in 1977 upon return from England. In summer 1982 he was sent to Europe as Bureau Chief and Correspondent in Europe for IBA
Israel Broadcasting Authority
Israel Broadcasting Authority is Israel's state broadcasting network.It grew out of the radio station Kol Yisrael, which made its first broadcast as an independent station on . The name of the organisation operating Kol Yisrael was changed to Israel Broadcasting Service in 1951...

 Television and Radio, stationed in Bonn
Bonn
Bonn is the 19th largest city in Germany. Located in the Cologne/Bonn Region, about 25 kilometres south of Cologne on the river Rhine in the State of North Rhine-Westphalia, it was the capital of West Germany from 1949 to 1990 and the official seat of government of united Germany from 1990 to 1999....

, Federal Republic of Germany (till 1985). In 1987 he moved to television as Chief Foreign Editor, Israel Public Television (Channel 1
Channel 1 (Israel)
Channel 1 is one of the oldest television channels in Israel and one of five terrestrial channels in the country...

) and in 1988 became the first Moderator and Editor of the weekly foreign newsmagazine Roim Olam which started on 20 August 1988. In 1991 he joined Yedioth Aharonoth, Israel's largest daily newspaper, as commentator on Foreign Affairs. As of 1994 – he serves as chief editor, commentator on foreign affairs and moderator of news and culture programs at the News division, Israeli Television (Channel 1) with responsibility to the nightly news program MeHayom LeMahar
MeHayom LeMahar
MeHayom LeMahar is an Israeli current affairs news show, broadcast since 1994 on Channel 1, half an hour before midnight.The show presents the daily news and current affairs from varied point of views and in a serene form...

(From Today to Tomorrow), along with Emanuel Halperin
Emanuel Halperin
Emanuel Halperin is an Israeli journalist, Television Presenter, and editor. Likewise, a Lecturer, and a Theatre and Television Actor. Halperin is best known in Israel for his role as one of the main presenters of the nightly News program MeHayom LeMahar, earning the reputation of a news and...

, and as moderator of the weekly news and culture program Globus.

He is Director, author and moderator of various documentary films, among others: The Nahariyade (2004) German-Jewish History (1996), (both in Hebrew and German versions), From Bittburg to Berlin (1985), The German Green Movement (1984), Germany and Its Past (1983), and many others on Jewish history (e.g. Po-Lan-Ya – the 1000-year history of Polish Jewry, a 7 parts television documentary, 1999), German history and politics, and classical music.

As of 1995 - teaching at the Hebrew university, Jerusalem (depts. German History and Communication studies), as well as at Tel Aviv University
Tel Aviv University
Tel Aviv University is a public university located in Ramat Aviv, Tel Aviv, Israel. With nearly 30,000 students, TAU is Israel's largest university.-History:...

 (dept.: Political Science and Communication Studies)' as well as at the Open University
Open University of Israel
The Open University of Israel is a distance-education university in Israel. , the Open University taught around 39,000 students.The Open University of Israel has more students than any other academic institution in Israel. The administration is based in the city of Ra'anana. Students from all over...

 and various other institutions in Israel and abroad.

Publications

His recently published book is Breaking News – Television news in hard times (Hebrew), Keter Publishing House
Keter Publishing House
Keter Publishing House is one of the largest publishers in Israel. It was formed in 2005 through a merger of Keter Publishing and Steimatzky. Keter has a large book marketing and distribution network, as well print services and book production for the Israeli domestic and export market. Keter is...

, Jerusalem 2006.

Selected articles

  • "A Political avoidance of Tragedy": Israel-German Relations, in: Shahran Chubin (ed.): Germany and the Middle East: Patterns and Prospects, Pinter, London 1992. (English) pp. 55 – 92.
  • Israeli Media: Engagierte Medien - kämpferische Medien, (German) in: Kultur in Israel; eine Einführung. Anat Feinberg (ed.), Gerlingen: Bleicher Verlag, 1993, pp. 207 – 229.
  • Ernst Nolte, the Holocaust and Today's Extremism, in SoWi-Sozial-Wissenschaftliche Informationen, heft 1/1993, (German).
  • The Israeli Media and Germany, in Zimmermann M. (ed.): Normal Relations: 25 Years of Israeli-German Relations. (Hebrew) Magnes Press, Jerusalem 1994, pp. 103 – 128.
  • Image and Reality: Israeli Media and Germany, (German: Realität und Image; die bilateralen Beziehungen) in H. Lichtenstein, O. R. Romberg (eds.): Füenfzig Jahre Israel: Vision und Wirklichkeit, Bonn 1998, pp. 244–254. Appeared also in Tribüne; Zeitschrift zum Verständnis des Judentums. Frankfurt a.M. no. 146 (1998), pp. 216 – 228, English version in: From Vision to Reality, Bundeszentrale für politische Bildung, Bonn 1998
  • "Conservative Revolutionaries": Composers and Music in the Third Reich, (Hebrew) in M. Zimmermann (ed.): The Third Reich, a Historical Balance, Magnes Press, Jerusalem 1999, pp. 158–177.
  • The Image of Germany in Israel, (in German – “Gegenwaert und Gedaechtnis”), with M. Zimmermann), in Krauts – Fritz – Piefkes…? – in: Deutschland von aussen, Haus der Geschichte der Bundesrepublik Deutschland (ed.) Bonn 1999, pp. 132–139.
  • Die jüdischen Grundpositionen zu Jerusalem und den Heiligen Stätten, (German), In: Provokation Jerusalem; eine Stadt im Schnittpunkt von Religion und Politik: Konkel M. And Schuegraf O. (eds.), Münster: Aschendorff, 2000 pp. 143–155
  • Shifts in Israeli society (English): in Alfred Witttstock (ed.): Israel in Nahost – Deutschland in Europa: Nahstellen. Westdeutscher Verlag, Wiesbaden, Germany 2001, pp. 187–194.
  • The Israeli - Palestinian Conflict: The Role of the Media (English and German), in: Media, Conflict and Terrorism, Die Deutsche Stiftung für internationale Entwicklung (DSE), Bonn 2002. Also in: http://www.dse.de/ef/media/witzthum.htm#top
  • The Television News Report and History, in: History and Cinema – Dangerous Relationships? Bereshit H., Zand S. and Zimmermann M. (eds.), Shazar Center, Jerusalem 2004 (Hebrew), pp. 169–197.
  • Israeli-German Relations: the role of the Media (Hebrew), in M. Zimmermann (ed.): Germany and the land of Israel, a Cultural Encounter, Magnes Press, Jerusalem, Israel 2004, pp. 188–216.
  • The Media, Israel and Europe (English), in Bertelsmann Stiftung Seminar Papers 2004, Guetersloh and Jerusalem (forthcoming).
  • Die israelisch-palästinensische Konfrontation und ihre Widerspiegelung in der öffentlichen Meinung Israels (German), in: Aus Politik und Zeitgeschichte, B 20/2004 Berlin, pp. 29–37. Also in http://www.bpb.de/publikationen/DFO8Y1,0,Die_israelischpal%E4stinensische_Konfrontation_und_ihre_Widerspiegelung_in_der_%F6ffentlichen_Meinung_Israels.html
  • Deutsche Presse in hebräischer Sprache: Drei Wenden und ihre Bedeutung, in: Zimmermann M., Hotam Y., (eds.): Zweimal Heimat: Die Jeckes zwischen Mitteleuropa und Nahost (German), Beerenverlag, Frankfurt a.M. 2005 pp. 287–294. (also in The same book in Hebrew).
  • "Der lange Weg zur politischen Vernunft: Joschka Fischers Welterklärung und deutsche Nahost-Politik" (book review), in Internationale Politik, Berlin, (German) vol. 60 (2005) no.8 pp. 128–130.
  • "Nahariyade": in Gisela Dachs (ed.): Die Jeckes, Jüdischer Almanach des Leo Baeck Instituts: Jüdischer Verlag im Suhrkamp, (German) Frankfurt a.M. 2005, pp. 79–85.
  • "History and the Moving Picture", in Hotam y. Schmidt M. and Zadoff N. (eds.): History as Vocation, a collection of essays in honor of Moshe Zimmermann
    Moshe Zimmermann
    Moshe Zimmermann is an Israeli historian and publicist. Since 1986 he is director of the “Richard-Koebner-Center for German History“ at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem...

     on the occasion of his 60th birthday, Magnes Press (Hebrew), Jerusalem 2006, pp. 57–64.
  • Israels medien in Zeiten der Not, (German), in: Aus Politik Und Zeitgeschichte no. 17/2008, Berlin, also in: http://www.bpb.de/publikationen/SC0B5O,0,Israels_Medien_in_Zeiten_der_Not.html

External links

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