Veteran Israeli journalist and broadcaster Oren Nahari died Thursday at age 70 after battling ALS.
Nahari revealed in March that he had been diagnosed with the incurable disease and that his condition was deteriorating rapidly. In an interview on Kan 11’s “Pgisha” with Roni Kuban, he said the disease had begun affecting his limbs and that he was already using a walker. “I am a very clear-eyed person. There is no denial in me,” he said at the time, adding: “The greatest sorrow is that I will not have time with Vered and the grandchildren, because they are young, so they will not remember.”
Oren Nahari’s final broadcast:
The final broadcast of Oren Nahari
(Video: Courtesy of Kan)
Just five days ago, Nahari was forced to say goodbye to his radio work. In his final program, broadcast on Kan Reshet Bet, he announced that he had to stop hosting “Shabbat with Oren Nahari” and working on the podcast “A Year in an Hour” because of the progression of the disease.
“First, a difficult announcement,” Nahari, 70, said on his program. “This is the final program. As many of you know, I have ALS. The disease is progressing quickly. It is already affecting my breathing, walking and speech, and I will not be able to continue broadcasting. I am not saying goodbye to the world for now. I am only saying goodbye to the studio and the microphone, to this frequency that accompanied me for so many years.”
Nahari addressed his listeners, saying: “The stories will continue to be written without me. Remember, the world is wide, complex, and one must look at it with open eyes. That was my mission, and this is my final request of you: Continue to look, to listen, to ask questions, not to take things for granted and to keep being interested. Thank you for being with me all the way.”
After Nahari’s death was announced, President Isaac Herzog paid tribute to him: “With deep sorrow, I received the news of the passing of Oren Nahari, one of Israel’s senior journalists and media figures. Only a few days ago, I greeted him on air during his final program. For decades, Oren opened a window for all of us to the wider world, and he did so with rare talent, curiosity, professionalism and an open heart. Oren leaves behind a rich journalistic and cultural legacy and a unique voice that will be greatly missed. My heartfelt condolences to his family and all who loved him. May his memory be a blessing.”
Former Prime Minister Yair Lapid also eulogized Nahari: “In a world of fast media and instant gratification, Oren Nahari was a voice of culture, sanity, broad knowledge and genuine intellectual curiosity. May his memory be a blessing.” Knesset member Gilad Kariv also paid tribute to Nahari, calling him “a wise and brave journalist. A broad-minded intellectual with vast knowledge. A man of the wider world who loved this country with all his heart and grieved over what was happening in it. A man of public broadcasting. May his memory be a blessing. May he and those like him be a source of inspiration for Israeli media.”
The stories will continue to be written without me. Remember, the world is wide, complex, and one must look at it with open eyes. That was my mission
Nahari was born in Haifa and began his television career in the late 1970s in the sports department. In 1985, he moved to the Channel 1 news department, where he served as a foreign news correspondent and later became foreign news editor. Over the years, he was among the founders of the foreign news programs “Roim Olam” and “Globus,” which became a significant part of Channel 1’s programming for many years, and he covered many of the defining events of the late 20th century and the first decades of the 21st.
Alongside his television work, Nahari worked throughout his career in radio, wrote columns, including for ynet, and edited and wrote books. In recent years, he was especially identified with his current affairs and history program on Kan Reshet Bet, “Shabbat with Oren Nahari,” and with the podcast “A Year in an Hour.” Nahari continued broadcasting in recent months, even after revealing his illness, until the disease forced him to retire.
Oren Nahari in his final broadcast
(Photo: Screenshot/Kan)
In parallel with his journalistic work, Nahari wrote nonfiction books and lectured on history, international relations and current affairs. His broad knowledge and ability to connect current events to wider historical contexts made him over the years one of Israel’s most recognizable and respected media figures in those fields.
In a joint interview with his wife, poet and poetry scholar Vered Ariel-Nahari, published in La’Isha in April, Nahari said that after the diagnosis, he began preparing for the future and even opened a folder on his computer that he called “Oren’s death.”
Nahari is survived by his wife, Vered, his two children and his grandchildren.