Previously, he was the Foreign Affairs Editor and senior analyst at the paper. Mr. Bismuth served as Israel’s Ambassador to Mauritania (2004 to 2008). He also served as the Paris correspondent for the Israeli daily “Yedioth Ahronoth,” where he specialized in war reporting and coverage from Arab countries. He is the only Israeli journalist to have personally interviewed Iranian President Mohammad Khatami (1999), Libyan President Muammar Gadhafi (2003), Syrian President Bashar al-Assad (2003) and Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad (2010).
Bismuth was an eyewitness to the drama of “Operation Solomon” which brought thousands of Jews to Israel from Ethiopia in 1991. He also reported on his visits to the Jewish community in Yemen.
In addition, Mr. Bismuth covered Israel’s Operation “Grapes of Wrath” from inside Lebanon, including a visit to Hezbollah headquarters. He also filed reports from the wars in Kosovo (1999), Iraq (2003), and Afghanistan (2010). Amid the “Arab Spring,” Mr. Bismuth tracked developments on the ground in Tunis, Egypt, Libya, and Yemen.
Mr. Bismuth was the only Israeli journalist to have interviewed President Donald Trump while in office (February 2017, May 2017, February 2018), having covered his campaign extensively during 2015-2016. In July 2017, Bismuth interviewed Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Mr. Bismuth’s book, “Beyond Borders” describes large-scale developments in the Arab world with a personal flair. He holds a BA in Political Science from Bar-Ilan University and an MA in International Relations from the Sorbonne.
Mr. Bismuth is married with four children.
