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Outlet profile

Israel Hayom

Israeli right / pro-Netanyahu

Owned byMiriam Adelson (widow of Sheldon Adelson), via the Adelson family holding; Sheldon Adelson founded and financed it from 2007 until his death in January 2021
FundingOwner-subsidized; distributed free of charge across Israel, with operating losses historically covered by Adelson family wealth — reported to have lost roughly $190 million over its first seven years
On the administrationmixed

Background

Israel Hayom ('Israel Today' in Hebrew) launched on July 30, 2007, financed entirely by Sheldon Adelson, an American billionaire casino magnate and major Republican donor. Adelson's stated motive was to counter what he and Benjamin Netanyahu viewed as a hostile mainstream Israeli press; testimony in Netanyahu's corruption trial later alleged that Netanyahu personally enlisted Adelson to create the paper specifically to undermine the competing daily Yedioth Ahronoth. Distributed free of charge at malls, intersections, and transit stops, the paper quickly overtook paid competitors to become Israel's highest-circulation daily. Critics and researchers noted that its business model — immune to advertising revenue pressures because losses were covered by Adelson — allowed it to operate as a political instrument rather than a commercial enterprise. Studies of its election coverage found consistent bias in favor of Netanyahu and Likud, and the paper's cheerleading for Netanyahu was so overt that Israeli commentators dubbed it 'Bibiton,' a portmanteau of Netanyahu's nickname 'Bibi' and the Hebrew word for newspaper, iton. After Sheldon Adelson's death in January 2021, his widow Miriam Adelson assumed ownership and the publisher's title. While the paper has largely maintained its right-wing, pro-Netanyahu orientation, it has shown willingness to break with Trump when his Middle East policy — particularly a 2025 Iran nuclear agreement — was perceived as contrary to Israeli security interests, publishing a front-page open letter calling Trump a failure and accusing him of betrayal.

Sources

  1. Israel Hayom — Wikipedia
  2. Israel Hayom daily said to have lost $190 million in 7 years — Times of Israel
  3. Ex-aide: Netanyahu pushed Adelson to set up Israel Hayom 'to take down' rival paper — Times of Israel
  4. How Sheldon Adelson's Israeli newspaper helped elect Netanyahu — Washington Post
  5. Miriam Adelson named publisher of Israel Hayom — Las Vegas Review-Journal
  6. Top Trump Donor Miriam Adelson's Newspaper Runs Scathing Open Letter to Prez: 'You Failed' — Mediaite
  7. Trump blasted in newspaper owned by top donor: 'You betrayed us' — Newsweek
  8. Sheldon Adelson: The American behind Israel's right wing — The World / PRX

Profile compiled 2026-08-09; refreshed when ownership, funding, or the administration changes.

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