Joseph Finklestone
Polish-born British journalist; foreign editor of The Jewish Chronicle from 1971 and later its diplomatic editor
| Joseph Finklestone
| |
|---|---|
| Born | 25 September 1924 Chełm, Poland |
| Died | 1 January 2002 London |
| Nationality | British |
| Occupation | Journalist; author; broadcaster; editor of Zionist Review (by 1997) |
| Known for | Foreign editor (1971–1989) and diplomatic editor of The Jewish Chronicle; Chairman of the Guild of Jewish Journalists (1985–94); Editor of Zionist Review (by 1997); biographer of Anwar Sadat |
| Parents | Rabbi Beresh Finklestein |
| Spouse(s) | Hadassah Rivlin (m. 1951) |
Joseph Finklestone OBE (25 September 1924 – 1 January 2002) was a Polish-born British journalist who spent his career on The Jewish Chronicle, which he joined in 1946, and was its foreign editor from 1971 to 1989 and then its diplomatic editor. He interviewed Said Hammami of the Palestine Liberation Organisation in 1974 and Anwar Sadat, and wrote a biography of Sadat, Anwar Sadat: Visionary Who Dared (1996). He chaired the Guild of Jewish Journalists from 1985 to 1994 and, by 1997, was editor of the Zionist Federation's journal Zionist Review.[1][2][3]
Early life
Finklestone was born in Chełm, Poland, the son of Rabbi Beresh Finklestein, a Hasidic leader who sought asylum in Britain in 1937; he arrived in England aged 13 and the family settled in Gateshead, where he studied at a Talmudic seminary.[3][2] He began in local journalism on the Carlisle Journal after a school essay was noticed by its editor. In August 1945, aged 20, he covered the arrival in the Lake District of the first group of young Holocaust survivors flown to Britain, an assignment he described in Martin Gilbert's Holocaust history Never Again.[2]
The Jewish Chronicle
Finklestone joined The Jewish Chronicle in 1946, as the paper returned to London after its wartime evacuation to High Wycombe, and stayed for about 45 years. The Guardian lists his posts as sports editor, chief sub-editor, home news editor and assistant editor, before he became foreign editor in 1971.[2] He was also London correspondent of the Israeli daily Ma'ariv and a Middle East contributor to BBC Radio 4 and the BBC World Service.[3] Contemporary Authors gives his years on the paper as 1946–1996.[4]
Foreign editor
David Cesarani records that in April 1974, as foreign editor, Finklestone secured an interview with Said Hammami, the PLO's first representative in London, in which Hammami suggested that two states, one Jewish and one Palestinian, could be a basis for settlement.[5] The Guardian reports that he wrote to Sadat in 1977 and that Sadat later invited him to Cairo for an interview, the first given by the Egyptian president to a Jewish journalist according to The Independent.[2][3] In 1981 he accompanied a mission of the International Council of Christians and Jews to Rome and asked Pope John Paul II why the Vatican did not recognise Israel.[2]
Cesarani records that Finklestone was the paper's foreign editor when he was refused a visa to cover the 1980 Moscow Olympics and the situation of Soviet Jews.[6] He won the David Holden Award for journalism in 1981, according to Cesarani and The Guardian (The Independent gives 1991).[5][2][3] Contemporary Authors also records an Award for Excellence from the Guild of Jewish Journalists in 1980.[4]
Diplomatic editor
Finklestone retired as foreign editor in 1989 and continued to write for the paper as diplomatic editor until 1992.[2]
Other writing and roles
He contributed to The Guardian in the 1980s and 1990s and later wrote on the Middle East, particularly obituaries, for The Independent, the London Evening Standard and The Guardian; he was London correspondent of The Jerusalem Report and a member of the Middle East Group of the Royal Institute of International Affairs (Chatham House).[2][3] The Jewish Year Book 1997 contributor note describes him as Chairman of the Guild of Jewish Journalists from 1985 to 1994.[1] The Independent also records that he chaired the Guild.[3]
In 1990 he published Dangers, Tests and Miracles, on the Chief Rabbi of Romania, Moshe Rosen.[2] His other writing includes Anwar Sadat: Visionary Who Dared (Frank Cass, 1996), which drew on material supplied by Sadat's widow, Jehan Sadat.[2][4] He also contributed the essay "Zionism and British Jews" (pp. ix–xxx) to The Jewish Year Book 1997, edited by Stephen Massil (Vallentine Mitchell); a 1997 Institute for Jewish Policy Research report cites it.[7]
Zionist Review
The contributor note to the essay describes Finklestone as "an author, journalist and broadcaster", a former assistant editor of The Jewish Chronicle and Chairman of the Guild of Jewish Journalists (1985–94), and states that he "is Editor of the Zionist Review", the journal of the Zionist Federation; it gives no start or end date for the editorship.[1] In the essay itself he wrote that "So meagre are the resources of the Zionist Federation that it is unable to publish regularly its famous journal, Zionist Review."[8]
Jon Kimche and the Jewish Observer
Finklestone wrote The Guardian obituary of Jon Kimche, "Scooping the Middle East", on 19 March 1994. It describes Kimche's editorship of the Jewish Observer and Middle East Review from 1952 to 1967, the paper's publisher the Zionist Federation assigning an official to read every proof before publication, and Kimche's dismissal in 1967.[9]
Personal life
In 1950 Finklestone met Hadassah Rivlin, who worked at the Israeli consulate in London, and they married in 1951; they had two daughters. He was appointed OBE in 1998 and died in London on 1 January 2002, aged 77.[3][2]
Company appointments
A search of the Companies House officer register on 10 November 2026 found no officer record that could be matched to Joseph Finklestone.
Notes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 Joseph Finklestone, "Zionism and British Jews", in Stephen Massil (ed.), The Jewish Year Book 1997 (London: Vallentine Mitchell, 1997), p. ix (contributor note).
- ↑ 2.00 2.01 2.02 2.03 2.04 2.05 2.06 2.07 2.08 2.09 2.10 2.11 Rebecca Raven, Joseph Finklestone The Guardian, 15 March 2002, accessed 10 November 2026.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 3.5 3.6 3.7 Gloria Tessler, Joseph Finklestone The Independent, 7 March 2002, accessed 10 November 2026.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 Finklestone, Joseph 1924–2002 in Contemporary Authors (via Encyclopedia.com), accessed 10 November 2026.
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 David Cesarani, The Jewish Chronicle and Anglo-Jewry, 1841–1991 (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1994), p. 230.
- ↑ David Cesarani, The Jewish Chronicle and Anglo-Jewry, 1841–1991 (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1994), p. 246.
- ↑ Institute for Jewish Policy Research, The attachment of British Jews to Israel (JPR report no. 5, 1997), reference list: Finklestone, Joseph (1997) "Zionism and British Jews" in The Jewish Year Book, London: Vallentine Mitchell, pp. ix–xxx, https://archive.jpr.org.uk/download?id=1441, accessed 10 November 2026.
- ↑ Joseph Finklestone, "Zionism and British Jews", in Stephen Massil (ed.), The Jewish Year Book 1997 (London: Vallentine Mitchell, 1997), p. xxx.
- ↑ Joseph Finklestone, "Scooping the Middle East; Obituary: Jon Kimche", The Guardian, 19 March 1994.