Citing “excessive interference” by the owners, Dan Margalit has resigned as editor of Israel’s second-largest newspaper.
Margalit is leaving Ma’ariv six months after being appointed to the post by the Nimrodi family, which purchased the paper from the estate of the late British magnate Robert Maxwell.
In an interview Tuesday with Israel Radio, he blamed excessive intervention in the daily running of the paper by Ofer Nimrodi, who holds the posts of executive editor and Ma’ariv board chairman.
Staffers have complained that the business activities of the Nimrodi family are given excessive prominence in the columns of the newspaper.
The paper was purchased last February by Ofer’s father, Ya’acov Nimrodi, an Israeli arms dealer and a business associate of Saudi arms merchant Adnan Khashoggi.
Nimrodi served for 10 years as Israel’s military attache in Teheran at the time of the shah, and played a pivotal role in the Iran-Contra arms deal.
Margalit, who has been a popular television talk show host, said he would focus on radio and television work and continue contributing articles to the paper.
Ma’ariv became a livelier publication under the aegis of the Nimrodi family and Margalit, making gains in both circulation and advertising revenues. The paper is currently engaged in a fierce circulation battle with its main rival, Yediot Achronot.
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