Founded by Gershon Agron in 1932 as The Palestine Post and rebranded in 1950 as The Jerusalem Post, the newspaper predates the State of Israel itself. Over its 93-year history, it has chronicled the birth, evolution, and reinvention of the modern Jewish homeland.
While the names and faces at the Post have changed over the decades, its core mission – to provide accurate, timely reporting in English – has remained constant. In one of the world’s most dynamic and often volatile regions, it may not be an overstatement to say that the Post has helped shape history as much as it has documented it.
To celebrate the Post’s anniversary on December 1, several of our reporters have shared the articles they believe left the strongest mark on public conversation, policy, society, and more.
Zvika Klein: Editor-in-chief
Zvika Klein, the epitome of the Post’s journalistic talent, said that his most consequential article in the paper was not about Israel but about Russia and its orders to halt the operations of the Jewish Agency.
“In July 2022, a few months into the Russia-Ukraine war, I obtained an exclusive about an order by Russian authorities instructing the local branch of the Jewish Agency to shut down its operations. The story ran under the headline ‘Russia orders Jewish Agency to stop all operations in country,’” Klein said.
“The agency initially denied the report, but within days it became one of the most talked-about stories in Israel and the wider Jewish world and was later picked up by Reuters.
“The scoop triggered widespread panic among Russian Jews, for whom the Jewish Agency has been a central symbol of Jewish life in the post-Soviet era.
“At the peak of the drama, the Russian Foreign Ministry even claimed that our report was a ‘provocation,’ telling Russian media that ‘the article is a provocation, as was stated to the Israeli side.’ This showed me the power and influence the Post has on world events.”
Alex Winston: News Editor
During his tenure at the Post, Alex Winston, devoted Leeds United soccer fan, has affected the lives of millions with his work. From sharp analyses on Iran and the Middle East to his thought-provoking comment pieces, Winston’s work speaks for itself.
However, the article Winston holds closest to his heart is one that wasn’t about affecting millions; it was about one family.
“This story is meaningful to me because it helped bring to attention an individual fallen soldier’s story, his life, showing that he’s not just a statistic,” Winston said.
“The family built a home in Safed to help recuperating soldiers, and if in any way we helped bring attention to that, helped with funding or helped soldiers find a supportive place, then we have succeeded,” he explained.
Beyond Winston’s desire to highlight this individual as a way to show that every life is a whole world, the article was particularly special to him due to a personal connection.
“The soldier’s uncle was my history teacher in school,” Winston said, “a man I still consider myself close to, so I was happy to do it.”
Joanie Margulies: Desk reporter
Joanie Margulies, former Breaking News Desk manager and a graduate of the University of Oregon School of Journalism and Communication, is approaching the third anniversary of her joining the Post. She said that there is a divide in her mind between the stories she wrote before and after October 7, 2023, when Hamas’s massacre and the resulting war changed life in Israel beyond recognition.
After the Hamas invasion, when information about survivors and the kidnapped was scarce, Margulies threw herself into her work. She was the first at our publication to speak to a survivor of the Supernova music festival, and one of many of our journalists to focus efforts on sharing the details of the missing, abducted, and murdered.
“It may not be the most unique of stories, because everyone eventually had that information, but I think it really ended up being the most impactful because it was information that was needed,” she said.
Pinpointing a single article not about that day, Margulies said that she wrote a story during the recent 12-day war with Iran about women giving birth under fire.
Detailing the personal stories of “women who had to change their birth plans, women who had to change the hospital they were giving birth in, women having to give birth in a shelter,” Margulies “felt it was very important to give attention to that subject. Even amid death, there is life.”
She was inspired to write the article based on loved ones in her own life who were experiencing the war while pregnant.
Michael Starr: Diaspora affairs correspondent
During his five years at the Post, Michael Starr has worn many hats. Those who have been at the paper longer may remember him as a Breaking News Desk manager, while others will remember his articles as the legal correspondent or Diaspora affairs correspondent.
Beyond being a dedicated reporter, Starr is one of hundreds of thousands of reservists who have disrupted their lives to fight in Israel’s multi-front war.
It is this experience that led him to write what he believes is his most significant article, “An IDF reservist’s top 10 takeaways after returning from Gaza.”
Written after his second stint in Gaza, “it gave people a taste of the experience and perspective of a reservist soldier in English, something people don’t usually have access to.”
Yonah Jeremy Bob: Senior military correspondent, intelligence analyst, and co-author of the award-winning book Target Tehran. A 14-year veteran at the Post, Yonah Jeremy Bob has delivered a large number of military exclusives, establishing the paper as one of the most reliable and informative media sources to cover the region.
To Bob, his most significant article was about the massive explosion in July 2020 at the Natanz nuclear facility in Iran. While Iran denied that there was any damage, Bob was able to confirm with sources that 75% of the facility was destroyed.
Beyond exposing Tehran’s lies, Bob’s exclusive proved that the Post was a source to be reckoned with, reporting on the story hours before The New York Times, despite the disparity in the papers’ sizes. With international papers citing the Post, Bob helped bring new attention to the paper and its extensive, in-depth reporting.
Keshet Neev: Knesset ‘Post’ political correspondent
After living in the Jewish state for more than 10 years, Keshet Neev has developed a deep understanding of Israel’s political system and the country’s people – knowledge that has aided her greatly as she moved from her role on the Breaking News Desk to her current position as the Knesset and political correspondent.
While over the last two years her role at the Post has seen her regularly surrounded by the country’s leadership, Neev feels that her most significant article was highlighting the resilience of Rachel Goldberg-Polin, the mother of murdered American-Israeli hostage Hersh Goldberg-Polin.
Rachel, who became the face of numerous efforts to see the hostages returned even after the recovery of her son’s remains, made a deep impression on Neev. She had interviewed the mother in honor of International Women’s Day, and the two had spoken about Rachel’s efforts to bring Hersh home.
“She also spoke about the importance of hope and remaining grateful despite incredibly difficult challenges in life,” Keshet recounted. “The conversation we had impacted me deeply, and it was an honor to share it through my writing, allowing for others to be impacted as well.”
Herb Keinon: Four decades of powerful analyses
After more than 40 years at the Post, it is impossible to imagine the paper without Herb Keinon, a senior contributing editor and analyst who has enlightened readers all over the world with his critical understanding of complex political and diplomatic issues.
“In my four decades of reporting at The Jerusalem Post, I have had my share of scoops, from reporting in the early ’90s that the Jewish Agency had taken the Western Wall off the itinerary for Jewish groups because of terror threats during the First Intifada; to an exclusive interview with then-prime minister Ariel Sharon the day after 9/11; to breaking news of various diplomatic developments during the past decade,” Keinon said. “These types of scoops mattered in an inside baseball sort of way: policy-makers learned something they hadn’t known before and adjusted accordingly.
“But impact is measured in another way as well – by what resonates with the reader. And in that sense, it’s been my personal columns, far more than the hard breaking-news stories, that have had the greatest effect. These are the pieces some readers remember long after they were written, long after yet another interview with the prime minister or US speaker of the House. The most impactful of these, gauged by reader response, was a column published on the front page on January 23, 2009, under the headline 'First person: A father’s story of his son at war.'”
Keinon said that his article “captured the relief” he felt after receiving a phone call from his oldest son, confirming his safe return after fighting in Operation Cast Lead.
“I received more feedback on that article – from readers ranging from political leaders and diplomats to friends on the street – than on anything else I’ve written. Why? Because it touched on something universal – parental love, concern, worry, relief – something that everyone can relate to.
“The most impactful articles are those that resonate with the readers, that they can finish and say, ‘Hey, I can identify with that, I recognize the truth in that; that is real.’”