Ethan Bronner

Ethan Shmuel Bronner (b. 1954) was (2005) Deputy Foreign Editor of the New York Times. He was the paper's correspondent in Israel until April 2012. He is married to an Israeli psychologist, Naomi Kehati; they have two sons, Eli and Gabriel. In January 2010, it was revealed that one of his sons had joined the Israeli Army, thus clarifying the conflict of interest that has long afflicted the father.

Previously, he was the education editor for the paper. Before taking up his post in September, 1999, Bronner was national education correspondent for the Times for two years, reporting on trends in both higher education and grades K-12. He was with The Boston Globe for 12 years where he served as Middle East correspondent, based in Jerusalem, and legal affairs and Supreme Court correspondent in Washington. He began his career at Reuters and worked in London, Madrid and Brussels. He is the author of Battle For Justice: How the Bork Nomination Shook America, named by the New York Public Library one of the 25 best books of 1989. Bronner worked for five years for Reuters in Madrid, Brussels and Jerusalem. He is a graduate of Wesleyan University and the Columbia Graduate School of Journalism.

Associated with Israeli PR firm
Max Blumenthal's investigative report into Ethan Bronner's relationship with the Israeli PR firm Lone Star Communications references a photo of Bronner "arm-in-arm" with Charley Levine, the West Bank settler who founded the firm. Bronner used to appear in the PR's speakers' bureau list. Photos and naming of Bronner have since been removed.

Iran War Drummer
A few days after Ehud Barak, the Israeli Defense minister, admitted that Iran was not pursuing a nuclear weapons program, the New York Times ran a series of articles slighting Barak's assertion all the way to confirming the opposite, i.e., that Iran was actually pursuing such weapons program. Bronner was key in the NYT's drum beating, and this is what Ray McGovern, the former CIA senior officer who briefed several US presidents, had to say of Sanger's articles:
 * But That’s Not the Right Line! So, what to do? Not surprisingly, the next day (Jan. 20), the Times ran an article by its Middle East bureau chief Ethan Bronner in which he stated categorically: ”Israel and the United States both say that Iran is pursuing the building of nuclear weapons — an assertion denied by Iran — ...”

Philip Giraldi, the head of the Council for the National Interest and a former CIA officer, commenting on a 26 January article by Bronner:
 * As a former intelligence officer, I am acutely aware of how easy it is to create and spread disinformation. Journalists are frail creatures with big egos who want to get an important story that no one else has. What could be better than to get something fresh from a well-placed, unnamed government source? Who cares if it is phony? Bronner, who has been in Israel for four years, is no doubt a confidant of a number of Israeli officials who perceive value in the careful cultivation of a New York Times journalist willing to hew closely to the Netanyahu government’s line. When Mossad sees Bronner walking their way, it’s like Hanukkah coming early. ... Someone should remind Bronner that while he is promoting an Israeli viewpoint he is writing for an American newspaper and audience and should address the serious question of what Washington’s options might be if Netanyahu does take action. Israeli self-reliance is a wonderful thing, if only it were true. The United States has been tied hand and foot to Israeli policies and would be drawn inexorably into anything that Tel Aviv starts. The confident assertion that Iran would be unable to retaliate effectively might prove as reliable as the claims made in 2002 that there would be a “cakewalk” in Iraq.

Neocon panelist
In November 2011, the Clarion Fund, a neocon Islamophobic, will host a panel on the "threat of a nuclear Iran." The other panelists are notorious neocons, i.e., John Bolton, Richard Perle, Richard Green, and Nazie Eftekhari Iranium, a film purporting to show Iran's threat, will be screened at the event.

Career profile
From his Wesleyan Univ. Alumni profile:
 * April 2012 - : NYT national legal affairs
 * - April 2012: NYT correspondent in West Jerusalem.
 * 2003 - : NYT, deputy Assistant Foreign Editor
 * 2002: NYT, Assistant Editorial Page Editor
 * 2001: NYT, investigative unit
 * 1999 - 2001: NYT, education editor
 * 1997 - 1999: NYT, national education correspondent
 * 1985 - 1997: The Boston Globe, general assignment and urban affairs
 * 1980 - 1985: Reuters reporting from London, Madrid, Brussels and Jerusalem.
 * 1977 - 1979: Masters from Columbia University's School of Journalism
 * 1976: Wesleyan College, graduated from the College of Letters

Affiliations

 * Winner of a 1999 Common Ground Awards
 * Advisory Council, Doha Centre for Media Freedom
 * Clarion Fund – appeared at their events

External Sources

 * PIWP database list of Bronner's articles