ToI’s Lidor, Channel 12’s Simchayoff receive B’nai B’rith Diaspora coverage awards
Canaan Lidor honored for his reporting on Jewish communities in the Netherlands, Tunisia, US
The B’nai B’rith World Center in Jerusalem gave awards to two Israeli journalists on Sunday evening at an annual ceremony recognizing excellence in reporting on Diaspora Jewry.
Amid a sharp rise in anti-Israel sentiment across the world as the war in Gaza drags on, B’nai B’rith’s panel of judges chose to honor reporters much of whose work has focused on the impact on Diaspora Jewish communities.
The two reporters recognized were Canaan Lidor, The Times of Israel’s Jewish World reporter, and Channel 12’s Europe correspondent Elad Simchayoff.
Former Israeli government spokesman Eylon Levy gave a keynote address at the event, encouraging the audience of several hundred people to view Jewish communities outside Israel as potential partners in strengthening Israel’s international standing.
“The Diaspora is not an afterthought. It is a force multiplier. Israel is a democratic nation-state, but the task of sustaining it must be a partnership between the Jews who dwell in Zion and the Jews who dwell abroad,” Eylon said, in a speech proposing a new framework for Israel’s public diplomacy strategy.
Lidor, The Times of Israel’s Jewish World correspondent, who focuses on religious and Diaspora affairs, received the award in the written media category for his coverage of Jewish communities in Tunisia, the Netherlands and the United States.
Judges highlighted his reporting on last year’s terror attack on the El Ghriba synagogue in Tunisia, and tracking the uptick of antisemitism in Europe since the outbreak of the war on October 7.
“The current explosion of antisemitism and isolation affecting European Jewry, at least, compounds some serious preexisting issues impacting Western societies as a whole: Demographic stagnation or decline, assimilation, moral confusion and demoralization,” Lidor told the audience. “October 7 demonstrated that Diaspora Jews are unwanted, even unheard, in academia, the media and some other places that have ensured their post-Holocaust golden age.”
Lidor urged Diaspora Jews to immigrate to Israel and bring with them their ability to stay unified and work across the aisle, which he fears Israel lacks severely.
“This [unity] is every bit as Jewish as pilpul, tikkun olam, tolerance or any of the other values we sanctify,” he said, using Jewish terms that roughly mean “in-depth study” and “repairing of the world,” respectively.
Simchayoff, who won the award for Diaspora reportage in the field of broadcast journalism, reported for Channel 12 on college campus protests as well as on this year’s Eurovision Song Contest from its location in Malmo, Sweden.
Before Simchayoff spoke, a brief montage of his news segment clips was screened to the audience, showing him reporting from crowds of protesters, several of whom engaged in overt displays of antisemitism before the camera.
Also honored with a citation was the singer Ilanit, the first to represent Israel in Eurovision, in 1973. She received a special citation for strengthening Israel-Diaspora relations through the arts, and closed out the night with a performance of her Eurovision hit “Ey Sham.”
