Reporters recognized in annual awards ceremony for Diaspora journalism
B’nai Brith-organized ceremony honors Judah Ari Gross for his work at The Times of Israel; Yedioth Ahronoth’s Itamar Eichner receives top prize
The B’nai B’rith World Center handed down awards to four journalists Tuesday at its annual ceremony recognizing excellence in Diaspora reporting, held in Jerusalem.
Yedioth Ahronoth’s diplomatic affairs correspondent Itamar Eichner was this year’s award winner.
Judah Ari Gross and Josh Aronson received certificates of merit for their work — the former for his reporting at The Times of Israel.
Izhak Hildesheimer received the organization’s Lifetime Achievement Award for his 70 years covering world Jewry.
Over the past year, Eichner has reported extensively on Ukraine’s Jewish community since the Russian invasion in 2022, and has been covering Jewish communities across Europe and North America since 1990.
“Our role [as journalists] is to inform, educate and include the public, to encourage dialogue and advance understanding,” Eichner said in a speech after receiving his award.
Gross worked at The Times of Israel from 2015 to 2023, serving as the military affairs reporter and later as the Diaspora affairs and religion correspondent. He has since moved on to covering the Jewish philanthropic sector for EJewishPhilanthropy as its news editor.
In his acceptance speech, Gross spoke of how the current fight over Israeli democracy has upended the traditional relationship between Israel and the Jewish Diaspora.
“Suddenly mainstream Jewish organizations have something to say about Israel,” he said. “The question now is: Have we crossed a rubicon, are we living in a brave new world? Or is this a one-off event?”
Ya’akov Ahimeir, a member of the judge’s panel and longtime news anchor, praised Gross and expressed his hope that “Israeli journalism could learn something about quality, professionalism and credibility in journalism” from his work.
The Israel Philharmonic Orchestra was also recognized in a special citation for strengthening Israel-Diaspora relations through the arts, and received commendation for its visit to Abu Dhabi in 2022, which marked the first time the national orchestra was invited to perform in an Arab country.
The B’nai B’rith World Center Award has been awarding journalists for their Diaspora reportage for over 30 years in an effort to promote high-quality reporting on Israel-Diaspora relations.
