Ari Rath, former Jerusalem Post editor, Dies at 92
Image by naomi zeveloff
By Josefin Dolsten January 13, 2017
(JTA) — Ari Rath, a prominent Austrian-Israeli journalist who served as editor-in-chief at the Jerusalem Post, has died.
Rath died Friday in Vienna, a week after turning 92, The Jerusalem Post reported. In recent years, he suffered from heart problems.
Born in 1925 in Vienna, Rath came to pre-state Palestine as a 13-year-old, following Nazi Germany’s annexation of Austria in 1938. He lived in Israel until the age of 82 and worked at The Jerusalem Post for over 20 years, including serving as its editor-in-chief with Erwin Frenkel from 1975 to 1989.
In 2007, he returned to live in Austria. He continued to work as a journalist, writing for a variety of international publications.
Rath counted important public figures — both in Israel and abroad — among his friends, including former Israeli prime ministers David Ben Gurion, Moshe Sharett, Shimon Peres and Yitzhak Rabin, as well as former German statesman Willy Brandt and German publishing giant Axel Springer, according to The Jerusalem Post.
In 2005, he received Germany’s highest state honor, the Merit Cross of the Federal Republic. In presenting the award, Rudolf Dressler, who was then Germany’s ambassador to Israel, said Rath’s has been a life “beyond comparison,” from his escape from the Nazis to his experiences in pre-state Palestine to his career in journalism.
Rath acknowledged that it wasn’t a simple choice to accept an award from the German government.
Many Jews “have rejected the Merit Cross, but I have decided after a lot of consideration and with all my heart and full understanding to accept it” in the name of “the triumph of the good and righteous over the worst of humanity,” he said.
Rath was a strong believer in the Palestinian people’s right to self-determination and was involved in peace movements, according to The Jerusalem Post.
I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning journalism this Passover.
In this age of misinformation, our work is needed like never before. We report on the news that matters most to American Jews, driven by truth, not ideology.
At a time when newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall. That means for the first time in our 126-year history, Forward journalism is free to everyone, everywhere. With an ongoing war, rising antisemitism, and a flood of disinformation that may affect the upcoming election, we believe that free and open access to Jewish journalism is imperative.
Readers like you make it all possible. Right now, we’re in the middle of our Passover Pledge Drive and we need 500 people to step up and make a gift to sustain our trustworthy, independent journalism.
Make a gift of any size and become a Forward member today. You’ll support our mission to tell the American Jewish story fully and fairly.
— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO
Join our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.
Our Goal: 500 gifts during our Passover Pledge Drive!
