David Frank, recently appointed editor of the Jerusalem Post international edition and a former leader in Jewish journalism in the United States, was fatally injured in a car accident near here on Wednesday. He died en route to the hospital.
Police said that Frank’s car swerved into the path of an oncoming truck on the Jerusalem-Tel Aviv highway. The truck driver was held for questioning and released. He was not injured.
Frank, 47, who last lived in Tsur Hadassah in central Israel, had a full and varied life as a journalist and editor, moving between continents and holding diverse, rewarding positions wherever he lived.
He had returned to Israel last summer after serving since 1988 as editor of the MetroWest Jewish News in New Jersey. He was responsible for revamping and modernizing the paper.
He came to MetroWest from the Miami Jewish Tribune, where he had been managing editor. Prior to that, he was marketing representative for North America for the Jerusalem Post Foreign Service.
“David Frank made a lasting contribution to the MetroWest community. He set an intellectual direction, a standard of journalistic integrity, and exhibited a profound interest in our community, as well as the Jewish community in Israel and throughout the world,” said Jerry Harwood, president of Metrowest Jewish News.
‘CARED DEEPLY ABOUT THIS NEWSPAPER’
“Everything David did, he did with tremendous passion and feeling,” said Debra Rubin, managing editor of MetroWest, who worked closely with him. “He cared deeply about this newspaper, our staff and the community.”
During his tenure at MetroWest, the weekly paper won several awards from the American Jewish Press Association and the New Jersey Press Association. He was honored by both organizations for his editorials.
Frank was born in Durban, South Africa, but spent 12 years in Zimbabwe, then called Rhodesia, before making aliyah in 1961. He studied at the Hebrew University in Jerusalem, where he received a bachelor’s degree in psychology and English literature.
He subsequently received a master’s degree in English literature at the University of York in Toronto and another master’s degree in broadcast journalism at Syracuse University in Syracuse, N.Y.
Frank was a journalist at the Israel Economist and the Jerusalem Post. He served as an editor and feature writer at the Post and was the paper’s Beirut correspondent during the war in Lebanon.
For many years, Frank had his own communications company in Jerusalem, making audiovisual programs and brochures for export companies. He also produced material for the Israeli Foreign Ministry.
He also was director of public relations for Hadassah in Israel, and he edited Keshet (“rainbow”), a monthly magazine on Israeli culture.
Frank was scheduled to be buried Friday at the Nes Harim cemetery, near his home.
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