Schnitzer, Shmuel
SCHNITZER, SHMUEL
SCHNITZER, SHMUEL (1918–1999), Israeli journalist. Born in The Hague, Schnitzer immigrated to Palestine in 1939. He entered journalism first at Yedioth Aharonoth, but left it for Maariv in 1948 in the so-called "putsch" led by Dr. Azriel *Carlebach. With their sharp analysis, his polemics attracted a loyal readership. He was appointed editor of Maariv in 1980, but his term was marked by a sharp, continuing drop in Maariv's circulation, and in 1985 he was replaced as editor by Iddo Dissentchik but continued to write his column until the day he died. In 1997 the Israel Prize committee canceled its decision to award Schnitzer the prize for journalism after the Press Council ruled that a column Schnitzer had written in 1994 about Ethiopian Jews, which accused the Israeli government of permitting the aliyah of "thousands of apostates carrying dangerous diseases," was racist.
[Yoel Cohen (2nd ed.)]