April 7, 2013

JERUSALEM (JTA) — Amnon Dankner, the former editor in chief of the daily Hebrew newspaper Maariv, has died.

Dankner died last Friday in his Ramat Hasharon home after suffering a heart attack. He was 67.

He led Maariv from 2002 to 2007. Dankner had started began working there in 1997.

At the time of his death, Dankner was writing a regular column for Sof Hashavua, a weekly Hebrew newspaper published by The Jerusalem Post.

In recent years, Dankner played a corrupt politician on the popular political satire television show “Polishuk.” He also appeared on current events television programs such as “Popolitika.”

The Jerusalem native worked as a journalist for several Hebrew-language newspapers. He was a reporter for Haaretz; served as the Washington correspondent for the Histadrut Labor newspaper Davar, which closed in 1996; and was a columnist for the also now-defunct Hadashot.

He was the author of 12 books, fiction and non-fiction.

Dankner received a law degree from the Hebrew University.  In the 1970s, he served as the spokesman of the Education Ministry and later for the Jewish Agency.

ADVERTISEMENT: Visit OneHappyCamper.org to find a Jewish camp and see if your child qualifies for a $1,000 grant.

Click to write a letter to the editor.

This article was made possible by the support of readers like you. Donate to JTA now.