Senior staff changes at the Israel Hayom Group
Asher Baharav, the publisher of the Israel Hayom group, and Zippi Koren, the CEO of the group, announced their departure this week, after having been at the helm of the group from its very beginning, 12 years ago.
Dr. Miriam Adelson has been named the new publisher in Baharav's place.
Amir Finkelstein will replace Koren. In his new role, he will continue being in charge of the group's operations and distribution in addition to his new duties.
Finkelstein's deputy in managing the paper will be Riki Roob, who will also continue her current duties overseeing financial matters.
Finkelstein, 46, is married and a father of three daughters. Finkelstein has an MBA from Ben-Gurion University. He has been the COO of the group and was previously the COO at Teldor.
Roob, 49, is married and a mother of three. She has a master's degree in economics from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and has been the group's CFO. She was previously the chief economist at Teldor.
Asher Baharav and Zippi Koren were named to their current positions 12 years ago, at the request of Dr. Miriam and Sheldon Adelson.
The two built and ran the group, which includes the Israel Hayom newspaper, the most widely read paper in Israel, and Makor Rishon, which was bought in 2014.
The group has its own printing house, which prints the group's papers and other publications, as well as an independent distribution operation.
The group employs hundreds of people directly, as well as several thousand other workers indirectly. Baharav and Koren led an extensive overhaul of the group over the past year, which saw the merging of the news portal NRG with Israel Hayom's digital operation.
Dr. Miriam Adelson, the publisher of the group:
"We would like to thank Asher and Zippi for the dedication they showed in founding and running Israel Hayom in such a professional and responsible manner from the very beginning.
"I am delighted and excited to assume the role of publisher of Israel Hayom, a paper that created a revolution and made the media discourse in Israel more balanced and diverse."
Editor-in-Chief Boaz Bismuth:
"I want to thank Asher and Zippi for their exceptional contribution, which helped make this group a success story. I would also like to thank them for the productive collaboration we had over many years."
Asher Baharav and Zippi Koren:
"Having successfully completed the overhaul and reorganization of the group, we are proud and excited to have the opportunity to hand over the baton to the next generation.
"We would like to express our most heartfelt thanks to Dr. Miriam and Sheldon Adelson for giving us the privilege of spearheading their efforts to realize their vision of redefining the Israeli media landscape by creating real pluralism of thought in Israel.
"The trust, the backing and the support we received from the group's owners made it possible to turn this dream into reality through close collaboration with the paper's editors, while handling various challenges, including administrative and regulatory, for the past 12 years."
