Haim Yavin

Haim Yavin (; 10 September 1932 – 22 July 2026) was an Israeli television anchor and documentary filmmaker. He was one of Israel's leading news presenters, associated with the job for so many decades that he was known in Israel as "Mr. Television".

Early life and education Heinz Kluger (later Haim Yavin) was born on 10 September 1932, in Beuthen, Upper Silesia, Prussia, Germany (now Bytom, Poland). His family immigrated to Mandatory Palestine in 1933, settling in Kiryat Bialik. Their original surname "Kluger", which in German means "clever one", was later Hebraized to Yavin , meaning "will understand". The rest of his family was killed at the Auschwitz concentration camp during the Holocaust. Yavin went to high school in Kiryat Motzkin, but moved to Haifa before graduating to work at the Phoenicia glass factory. After mandatory military service and completing his matriculation exams, he studied English and Hebrew literature at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem.

Media career

Yavin interviewing Yisrael Galili in an IDF base as part of the Israeli TV show Kaleidoscope on 16 July 1969.

In 1958, while studying at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, he worked as an anchor and music presenter for the Kol Yisrael radio station. After founding the radio service Hagel Hakal (later known as Reshet Bet), he joined Kol Yisrael's documentary department, where he remained until the establishment of Channel 1, the first television channel in Israel. One of his documentaries, "A Smoldering Ember," involved travel to the Soviet Union in its final days. His coverage of the 1977 Israel elections marked the first time exit polls were broadcast live on Israeli television. After the electoral victory of Menachem Begin's Likud, Yavin coined the Hebrew phrase "mahapach" (, with his legendary announcement: "Ladies and gentlemen – a turnabout!" . It would go on to receive widespread usage outside of Israeli politics, including in sports. At the time, Ariel Sharon's disengagement plan had not yet been implemented, and the series was viewed as propaganda in support of it. The chairman of the Yesha Council, , called on Channel One to fire Yavin, saying "his continued serving in the objective newscaster's position constitutes a blow to media ethics and professional integrity".

Personal life and death After marrying Yosefa, he lived with her in Jerusalem's Talbiya neighborhood. They lived in Tel Aviv. They had three sons, including author Jonathan Yavin,

In 2016 and 2017, four women, including Haaretz journalist , accused him of sexual assault, allegations he denied. In 2003, he became the first recipient of the Israeli Academy of Film and Television's Lifetime Achievement Award. In 2009, he was awarded an honorary doctorate from Ben-Gurion University of the Negev.