Hedda Boshes, pioneering Israeli TV critic, dies at 79

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Former Yedioth Ahronoth and Ha’aretz journalist Hedda Boshes, one of Israel’s first TV critics, died April 15 at 79. (Update – corrects English spelling of her name. Thanks to her friend and colleague Sylvie Keshet (see below) for the heads-up.)

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Boshes was born into one of the founding families of Gedera and later moved to Tel Aviv. She was literary and art critic at the "Keshet" literary quarterly in the 1950s and soon after that she joined Haaretz, where she contributed to Israel’s first TV review column.

Journalist Gideon Samet, who worked with Boshes at Haaretz, said Haaretz owner Gershon Schocken was “fascinated” by two women at the paper, Boshes and Sylvie Keshet, and to hold their interest was not a simple thing. Hedda and Silvie were the sparks that made ​​fires here and there." 

Boshes joined Yedioth in the 1990s as its senior TV critic. Ynet reported that she “ was known for her sharp tongue and pen, and was widely considered a foremost authority in the field.”

Samet said Boshes invented the style Israeli critics use to review TV and “did it with joy and talent even before it became common to the genre."

She skewered Benjamin Netanyahu in a 1992 column in Ha’aretz: "Netanyahu’s polished appearance (involves) significant technical elements…but without doubt…what remains of the person behind the image is a mystery."

Boshes served in the IDF Medical Corps and later studied literature and history at the Tel Aviv University. She published a short story collection, "The Third Mountain," in 1981.

The Eulogizer highlights the life accomplishments of famous and not-so-famous Jews who have passed away recently. Write to the Eulogizer at eulogizer@jta.org. Follow the Eulogizer on Twitter @TheEulogizer

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