Haim Yavin, the most trusted voice in Israeli news broadcasting, who was among the founders of Channel 1 and the first anchor of its news program, died Wednesday at the age of 93.
Yavin, who was known as “Mr. Television,” anchored the evening news broadcast, during which much of Israeli life came to a halt as viewers tuned in to learn what was happening in the country and the world, beginning in 1968, when Israeli news television started up, until 2008.
Much like Walter Cronkite in the US, who personified credibility and authority for many, Yavin was a trusted voice whose opinions, whenever he chose to express them, carried real weight.
“With profound sorrow, we part from our husband, our father, and our grandfather, who reached a ripe old age,” his family said.
His funeral is set to take place at the Givat Hashlosha Cemetery on Friday at 11 a.m.
Yavin's career from radio to the birth of Israeli television
He was always humble about his achievements.
“I didn’t give myself that nickname. I regard it with an indulgent smile. You could say it is embarrassing, but flattering,” he said in a 2010 interview with Ynet.
But veteran broadcaster Ya’akov Ahimeir said Yavin had fully earned the title “Mr. Television.”
“He truly was Mr. Television,” Ahimeir told Walla Culture.
“He always found the right words and expressions. His eloquence was unparalleled. We worked together for many years, and I was in his shadow, like many others who work in broadcasting.”
He received many honors throughout his career, including the Israel Prize for Communications, awarded in 1997.
President Isaac Herzog eulogized him in a statement released on social media.
“For over four decades, Haim accompanied Israel's citizens during the pivotal moments of our national lives: with professionalism, responsibility, and statesmanship that became an inseparable part of Israel's media landscape," the president wrote.
"His voice and face were synonymous with key chapters in the state's history, and he left a profound mark on Israeli media and public culture.”
In addition to news anchoring, Yavin worked in radio, was a producer and director of news documentaries and news magazine programs. He also wrote several books, including an autobiography and recorded albums of stories for children.
Yavin was born in 1932 as Heinz Kluger in northern Silesia, which was once part of Germany and is now in Poland. He moved with his parents to Mandatory Palestine at the age of one, growing up in Kiryat Binyamin and attending high school in Kiryat Motzkin.
After leaving school, he worked in a glass factory and later took his exams after his military service. After his service, he played soccer for Hapoel Jerusalem and studied Hebrew and English literature at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, planning for a career in teaching.
But he began working at Kol Yisrael, the government radio station, in 1965. He was among the founders of the entertainment broadcaster, HaGal HaKal, which was later renamed Reshet Bet.
He also worked in Kol Yisrael’s documentary section and was among the founders of Channel 1, originally called Israeli Television, in 1968. He anchored the first Israeli news broadcast, Mabat LaHadashot, on July 23 of that year; the lead story that night was about an El Al plane hijacked to Algeria.
In 1986, he became director of Israeli Television, a post he held until 1990, during which he worked on many current-affairs programs and documentaries and served as editor of the news programs Mabat and Mabat Sheni.
He reported on virtually every critical event in the country’s history during his tenure, and was well known for using the word “mahapach” to denote the political upheaval of Menachem Begin and the Likud’s 1977 electoral victory. Begin later responded sharply to Yavin, raising an eyebrow after interviewing the newly minted prime minister, and the exchange was discussed in the Knesset. But for the two men, it was all in good fun, and they publicly buried the hatchet soon afterward.
His documentaries included Hanivharim ’81, which followed the bitter 1981 election campaign; Gahelet Loheshet, about Soviet Jewry during the collapse of the Soviet Union; Eretz Hamitnahalim, examining the settlement movement; Te’uda Kehula, about Israel’s Arab citizens; and Tzva Ha’am, which explored changes in relations between the IDF and Israeli society.
Among Yavin’s documentaries was the film, Land of the Settlers, a controversial work that was shown on Telad in 2005, in which he contended that the Israeli settlements in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip were endangering the future of Israel.
“Since 1967, [the Israelis] have been brutal conquerors, occupiers, suppressing another people,” he said, calling for Israel to withdraw from these areas and provoking a public outcry.
In 2003, he was the first recipient of the Israeli Academy of Film and Television’s lifetime achievement award.
In 2016, he was accused of sexual harassment by five women. He denied the allegations.
MK Ahmad Tibi (Hadash-Ta'al) remembered him in a post on X/Twitter.
“Haim Yavin z"l, one of the legends of Israeli television, journalist, presenter and creator, passed away today. He was a professional, honest and fair journalist who did not succumb to populism or extremism, and showed empathy for the distress of the minority," he wrote.
"I knew him and admired his integrity and his professional honesty. May his memory be a blessing.”
But many ordinary Israelis who simply enjoyed listening to his calm voice and knowledgeable reporting took to social media to bid goodbye to a broadcaster who had been a part of their lives for decades.