Makor Rishon

“Makor Rishon” was founded in July 1997 to create an independent newspaper having the character of a Jewish national media, initiated by opinion leaders in a national camp in Israel ^[2] . The newspaper was the brainchild of its original owner, Rabbi Shmuel Tal. The Listenberg family, a Jewish religious family with major positions in the diamond business, based in Belgium and Tel Aviv, funded the founding of the newspaper. The first collaborator and editor-in-chief of the newspaper was journalist Meir Uziel ^[1] , who was later joined by journalists Michael Rosio and Yoni Ariel. Rosio was a former reporter for Yediot Ahronot and the Second Television and Radio Broadcasting Directorate, as well as one of the founders of the Voice of the Red Sea radio station. Yoni Ariel was the economical editor of The Jerusalem Post . The system was created at the Israel Publications offices in Givat Shaul in Jerusalem and consisted of religious and secular journalists and editors. In the early years, the newspaper’s editorial office was mainly secular, including the journalism of the newspapers Meir Uziel and Ofer Shapira.

From the very beginning, the newspaper fought for economic existence. Revenues were low, and the economic situation worsened until at the end of October 1999 the newspaper closed and the owners declared bankruptcy.

Five weeks later, in December 1999, Makor Rishon was reinstated as a company called “Makor Rishon Ha-Hadash” ( new first source ), which allowed the buyer, Dr. Michael Karish, to enjoy the reputation of the newspaper without bearing the debts of the past. He owned the newspaper for four years, until 2003, when he sold it to businessman Shlomo Ben-Zvi, and the British Jewish philanthropist Conrad Morris stood behind Ben-Zvi. It was the first creation in Israel of a quality newspaper with a Jewish spirit, with a significant increase in the number of pages and applications, a set of respected authors and journalists, and a transition to a wide-spread newspaper (Broadshit).

Until mid-2007, "Makor Rishon" appeared as a weekly. On April 25, 2007, shortly after Ben-Zvi acquired the newspaper Ha-Zofe, the newspapers were merged, and the daily publication began to appear under the logo Makor Rishon-Ha-Zofe. Yoav Sorek was appointed editor of the daily newspaper, and then Ariel Kahane. On September 23, 2014, the latest issue of the daily newspaper was released. From this date, the newspaper is published only once a week on weekends.