The Hebrew daily Davar Rishon is expected to close this week, after an unsuccessful attempt to get the financially strapped newspaper back on its feet.
Davar Rishon, which was previously called Davar, was founded by Israel’s Histadrut trade union federation.
The newspaper was taken over by employees last year and renamed after Histadrut officials decided that they could not provide the funds to cover the paper’s growing deficit.
The newspaper, with a circulation of about 20,000, continued to be published under the leadership of veteran journalist Ron Ben Yishai.
But efforts failed to find a private investor who would rescue the paper from its financial difficulties.
“The only thing that could save the paper now would be if by way of a miracle we found a business group that will come up to save the paper,” Ben Yishai told Israel Radio.
He said the paper needed some $2 million to cover its losses.
With Davar no longer on the scene, only three major dailies will be left in Israel: Yediot Achronot, which has a circulation of about 250,000; Ma’ariv, with about 160,000 readers; and Ha’aretz, whose circulation stands at about 65,000.
JTA has documented Jewish history in real-time for over a century. Keep our journalism strong by joining us in supporting independent, award-winning reporting.
The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
