Shlomi Eldar is an Israeli journalist, author, and documentary filmmaker. He is a senior correspondent for the Israeli daily newspaper Haaretz, and a columnist for Israeli TV Channel 13. He is the author of several books, including the award-winning "Gaza: A Gaping Wound" and "Wounded Spirit, Palestinians in the Promised Land".
Eldar was born and raised in the small Israeli farming town of Givatayim. After completing his military service, he studied international relations at Tel Aviv University. He began his career in journalism in the mid-1980s, working as a radio and television correspondent.
In the early 1990s, Eldar began working for Haaretz and TV Channel 13, covering a variety of topics including the first Palestinian intifada, the Oslo peace process, and the second intifada. During this period, he also wrote a series of articles about the harsh economic and social conditions in the Palestinian territories.
In the late 1990s, Eldar began producing documentaries for Israeli TV. His first documentary, "Haya and the Others", was about the lives of five Palestinian women living in the West Bank. It won the top prize at the Jerusalem International Film Festival and was aired on Israeli television in 2000.
Eldar's second documentary, "Gaza: A Gaping Wound", was released in 2003 and was an international success. It was awarded the prestigious Robert F. Kennedy Journalism Award, and was screened at numerous international film festivals, including the Cannes Film Festival. The film examines the effects of the Israeli occupation on the lives of Palestinians living in the Gaza Strip.
In 2006, Eldar was awarded the Sokolov Prize, Israel's highest journalism award, for his coverage of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. He is the author of four books, including "Gaza: A Gaping Wound" (2004) and "Wounded Spirit, Palestinians in the Promised Land" (2009).
Eldar continues to work as a journalist for Haaretz and TV Channel 13. He is also an outspoken advocate for peace and coexistence between Israelis and Palestinians. He is a member of the board of directors of the Peres Center for Peace, and a frequent lecturer both in Israel and abroad.
