Ron Ben Yishay

Ron Ben-Yishai
Ben-Yishai in Givatayim Theater, 2008.
Born	(1943-10-26) October 26, 1943 (age 74) Jerusalem, British Mandate of Palestine
Education	B.A. in economics and geography from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem
Occupation	Journalist, commentator, lecturer
Notable credit(s)	Israel Army Radio Channel 1 (Israel) Time Yediot Aharonot
Family	Divorced with three children

Ron Ben-Yishai (Hebrew: רון בן-ישי‬, born October 26, 1943) is an award winning Israeli journalist. A veteran war correspondent, Ben-Yishai has covered many military conflicts in several different regions. In 2018, he won the Israel Prize, the Israel's most prestigious civic honor.

Ben-Yishai was born in Jerusalem in 1943. He graduated from the military boarding school near the Hebrew Reali School in Haifa in 1961. He joined the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) and served in the Paratroopers Brigade and the Golani Brigade. He finished an infantry officers course and platoon commanders course, in addition to several command courses. He served in paratroopers field units as a reservist. He received a B.A. in economics and geography from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem in 1967. He is divorced with three children and lives in Tel Aviv. He is a lecturer on media and journalism at Tel Aviv University. In 2008, he was cast in Israeli filmmaker Ari Folman's animated film Waltz with Bashir, to retell his role in the 1982 Lebanon War. He speaks Hebrew, English and German, and partly Arabic and French.

In June 1966 he began working as a financial reporter for Kol Yisrael, a position he held until June 1967. During that time he also produced various radio programs. During the War of Attrition he was Kol Yisrael's military correspondent. During that period he was injured while covering an IDF raid on a Fatah camp in Petra, after which he edited Kol Yisrael's current affairs programs. In December 1969 he joined the Israeli Television. In June 1970 he was wounded in an IDF raid in the Golan Heights, after which he became secretary of the Israeli Television's news board. From 1972 to 1976 he also reported for radio and television from Europe. He produced and edited various documentaries. In 1973 he covered the Yom Kippur War. On October 22, he accompanied an Israeli battalion near Ismailia. As he was leaving, the force was heavily bombarded and dozens of soldiers were wounded, including the paramedics. Under fire, he took the paramedics' equipment and attended the wounded. For that, he was awarded the Chief of Staff Citation by the Israeli Chief of Staff, Mordechai Gur, in September 1975.