Journalist Oren Nahari received the Center of the World of B'nai B'rith Lifetime Achievement Award on Thursday evening for excellence in coverage of the Jewish Diaspora in Israeli media. Nahari is 70 and said recently that he is living with muscular dystrophy, yet he continues to host his weekly program, "Shabbat with Oren Nahari," on Kan News on Reshet Bet.
Nahari spent more than three decades as head of the foreign desk and foreign news editor at the Israel Broadcasting Authority, and became a familiar and respected voice on global developments and Diaspora affairs. On receiving the prize, he thanked the organizers and said, "Journalism is the first draft of history."
The award, now in its 34th consecutive year, is considered Israel’s leading prize in the field of Diaspora Jewry. Its purpose is to highlight the role of the media in strengthening the connection between Israel and the Jewish world. The judging panel included senior figures from academia and the media, among them Yaron Dekel and Prof. Gabriela Shalev.
Alongside Nahari, other journalists were honored for their work over the past year. Zev Stub of The Times of Israel won in the print category for a series on Jewish communities in France and Canada, and Tamar Ish-Shalom won in broadcast journalism for the podcast "Jewish Crossroads" produced by the Jewish People Policy Institute (JPPI).
