Last update - 00:00 28/09/2007
Journalist, writer Yisrael Segal dies of heart failure aged 63
By Goel Pinto, Haaretz Correspondent
The journalist and writer Yisrael Segal died Thursday as a result of heart failure. He was 63.
Six months ago, Segal suffered a heart attack while driving on the Ayalon Highway. His recovery was long, and a week ago he returned to hospital in Jerusalem, where he died Thursday.
Segal always walked between the worlds of journalism and literature, effortlessly bridging the two. To the media he brought the mind of a writer, and in his writing he used journalistic tools. He was a natural at bridging worlds, sometimes very different ones, perhaps a reflection of his leaving his ultra-Orthodox home in Jerusalem at the age of 20. He never ceased to confront the religious-secular divide.
He began his journalism career in newspapers and then moved to the Israel Broadcast Authority, serving at times as a reporter, at times as an editor. There he befriended journalist Dudu Gilboa. During their last telephone conversation, before the New Year, they had agreed to meet after the Sukkot holiday.
"After 20 years of holding administrative positions [at IBA] I asked him to take the Yoman, [the main news magazine on Friday night], which he transformed from a standard program to an exceptional one," Gilboa said.
Although Segal worked for Channel 2, Gilboa says he was deep down a public broadcasting guy. "He was a public broadcasting man in the pure sense of the word. During difficult times, during fights, he was always at the forefront."
Haim Yavin, the veteran anchor of Mabat, the nightly daily program on Channel 1, says that he always remembers Segal as someone who stood by his principles.
"When I think of Yisrael, I think of a storm," Yavin says. "He never merely walked. He charged. The word that most characterizes him in my eyes is originality. He will be sorely missed."
Segal is survived by his wife Leah, and two children, Uri and Noa. He remained true to his ardent secularism and will be laid to rest Friday at Kibbutz Ma'aleh Hahamisha, in a secular ceremony.