Zeev Schiff

Zeev Schiff was a Lafer international fellow of The Washington Institute and defense editor of Haaretz, Israel's leading daily newspaper. He was known as "the dean of Israeli defense correspondents" during his long and illustrious career.

Mr. Schiff was the author of several important Washington Institute studies: Israeli Preconditions for Palestinian Statehood, Peace with Security: Israel's Minimal Security Requirements in Negotiations with Syria, and Security for Peace: Israel's Minimal Security Requirements in Negotiations with the Palestinians.

He wrote authoritative articles and books on Israeli defense issues, including A History of the Israeli Army; Fedayeen; Entebbe Rescue; A Lexicon of the Israeli Army and Defense; The Year of the Dove; and La Guerre Israelo-Arabe. He also contributed articles to Foreign Policy, National Interest, Middle East Journal, Midstream, New York Times, Los Angeles Times, and the Washington Post.

Mr. Schiff won numerous awards for journalism. His book October Earthquake and The Yom Kippur War earned Israel's highest journalism award, the Sokolov Prize. Intifada, coauthored with Ehud Yaari, became an international best seller when it was published in 1990.

Mr. Schiff was born in France in 1932. His family emigrated to Israel in 1935. After serving as an officer in the Israel Defense Forces, he studied Middle East affairs and military history at Tel Aviv University. He joined the Haaretz staff in 1955 and became a senior associate of the Carnegie Endowment of International Peace in 1984. For many years, he was the chairman of the Military Writers Association.

Mr. Schiff died in 2007 in Tel Aviv, Israel. He was 74 years old.