Ari Rath

Ari Rath (b. 1925 in Vienna) is an Austrian-Israeli journalist and writer.

Rath grew up in Vienna. After the "Anschluss" he came through a "Kindertransport" (transportation of children) as a thirteen-year-old boy to Israel. In Israel he lived on a "kibbutz" and studied contemporary history and economics. After turning to journalism he became editor and later chief editor of the "Jerusalem Post." In this capacity he belonged together with Shimon Peres and Yitzhak Rabin to the inner circle of friends of David Ben Gurion. After finishing work at the "Jerusalem Post" he was a freelance writer and taught at the University of Potsdam. Ari is now news editor of the on-line journal "Partners for Peace" [http://www.PforP.net] . Ari is a founding member of the Next Century Foundation, a second track group working for peace and reconciliation.

Rath is still an advocate for a peaceful coexistence of Israelis and Palestinians.

For his merits of Israeli-German/Austrian dialog he was awarded several honors among others: in 2005 he won the German Bundesverdienstkreuz; his latest award for his "dialog between Vienna and Israel" was the "Goldenes Ehrenzeichen" (golden badge of honor) of the city of Vienna. Ari was also awarded the first "Peace through Media" award in 2005 at the House of Lords in London. The prize-winners of the Peace through Media Awards are chosen for distinguished contribution to the coverage and consideration of developments concerning the Middle East by the International Media Council (part of the International Council for Press and Broadcasting).

Works

* Ari Rath, "Auf dem Weg zum Frieden. Artikel und Essays aus fünf Jahrzehnten." Berlin 2005.
* "Front page Israel. Major events 1932-1986 as reflected in the front pages of the Jerusalem Post". The Jerusalem Post, Jerusalem 1986, ISBN 0-933503-09-1 (together with Erwin Frenkel)