Times of Israel reporter Zev Stub was among the recipients of this year’s B’nai B’rith prize recognizing excellence in diaspora reportage, awarded at a ceremony in Jerusalem on Thursday
Times of Israel founding editor David Horovitz gave the keynote address at the award ceremony describing his whirlwind visit to Syria last September.
The annual award, established in 1992 with the goal of helping “strengthen the relationship between Israel and the Diaspora,” is among the most prestigious prizes in Israeli media for Diaspora reportage.
Stub won in the category of written media, B’nai B’rith International said Thursday night. For broadcast media, Tamar Ish Shalom was recognized for her Jewish People Policy Institute podcast, “Jewish Crossroads,” dealing with the effects of the October 7, 2023, Hamas attacks on US Jewry and its relationship to Israel.
A lifetime achievement Award was given to Oren Nahari, anchor and editor of “Shabbat with Oren Nahari” on Kan Reshet Bet radio and the longtime foreign news editor (1985-2016) at the Israel Broadcasting Authority. Musician Hanan Yovel was given a special citation for fostering Israel-Diaspora relations through the arts.
Get The Times of Israel’s Daily Edition
by email and never miss our top stories
By signing up, you agree to the terms
Stub has been The Times of Israel’s diaspora reporter since November 2024. He was recognized for a series of articles on topics including Jewish communities in France and Canada; immigration to Israel; the Birthright program, and Israeli and Jewish academia.
In his acceptance speech, Stub noted that, while growing antisemitism has cast a dark cloud on Diaspora Jewish communities in recent years, many individuals have stepped up to the challenge by working to strengthen Jewish identity.
“In the course of my work, I have seen firsthand the remarkable strength and resilience of countless Jewish heroes who don’t wear capes, defending their communities and adding light when everything seems dark,” he said.
Horovitz, meanwhile, described his 48-hour visit to Syria, which has no diplomatic relations with Israel but has been undergoing a transformation since President Ahmed al-Sharaa deposed longtime ruler Bashar Assad in late 2024. Horovitz called the trip “fascinating and improbable — a rare bright spot amid our routine chaos and frequent despair.”
Everything about his trip, which included visits to several largely abandoned synagogues and viewing the wall paintings of the 2,000-year-old Dura-Europos synagogue in eastern Syria, was “astonishing,” he said.
We can’t do this work alone.
The war with Iran has been draining for all of us in Israel. But when I heard about a high casualty incident – ballistic missile impacts in Arad and Dimona that left nearly 200 people wounded – I drank a cup of coffee, packed a bag, and headed south.
There, I spoke with Shilgit, the head of an after-school program for underprivileged youth. Standing outside her destroyed center, Shilgit said it was a miracle that no children were hurt and spoke about the community coming together in the hours since.
As a Times of Israel reporter, I’m committed to telling stories of resilience like Shilgit’s. But my colleagues and I can’t do this alone. If you value work like this, please consider joining our reader support group, The Times of Israel Community. Your financial support is essential to keep real human reporting like this going.
— Stav Levaton, military reporter
Already a member? Sign in to stop seeing this
You’re a dedicated reader
That’s why we started the Times of Israel – to provide discerning readers like you with must-read coverage of Israel and the Jewish world.
So now we have a request. Unlike other news outlets, we haven’t put up a paywall. But as the journalism we do is costly, we invite readers for whom The Times of Israel has become important to help support our work by joining The Times of Israel Community.
For as little as $6 a month you can help support our quality journalism while enjoying The Times of Israel AD-FREE, as well as accessing exclusive content available only to Times of Israel Community members.
Thank you,
David Horovitz, Founding Editor of The Times of Israel