Over the past week Israeli Journalist Ben-Dror Yemin has traveled around New Zealand speaking about his new book "The Industry of Lies." During his time in New Zealand he spoke with the Zionist Federation od New Zealand, the Australasian Jewish Students Association, Onslow Community Church, the Embassy of Israel in Wellington and Members of Parliament.
Ben-Dror Yemini was born in Tel-Aviv, in 1954, in a family of Jewish Yemenite heritage. He was named Ben-Dror – “son of liberty” – because his birthday came at Pesach (Passover), the festival which commemorates the Exodus from slavery in Egypt.
He studied humanities and history at Tel Aviv University, and graduated with a law degree.
After a short term in the public service (as advisor to the Minister of Immigration, then spokesman for that Ministry), Yemini began his career as a journalist and essayist in 1984. His book Political Punch (1986) is a critique of politics and society in Israel. He worked as a lawyer and was partner in a law firm.
From 2003 to 2014 he was the opinion-page editor of the daily (Hebrew language) newspaper Maariv and also published many articles and essays in other newspapers. He now writes for Israel’s widest-read daily Yediot Ahronot and can be read in English on its website, www.ynetnews.com .
In recent years Yemini researched and published many articles about the "Industry of Lies" - the continuing anti-Israeli incitement by the radical left, human rights groups, pro-Palestinian organizations and radical Islam against the State of Israel and its Jewish character.
In this framework, his research articles about the Israeli-Arab conflict examined the issues of genocide, refugees, human rights violations, the status of Israeli Arabs, multiculturalism, and the status of women. They included comparative studies showing the gap between the myths against Israel, and reality.
Yemini’s book The Industry of Lies, published in September 2014, is not yet available in English. (But see interview about the book: https://youtu.be/azMrwwQdXT8)
He argues that "anti-Zionism is politically correct anti-Semitism": the same way Jews were demonized in the past, Israel is being demonized now; the same way the right of Jews to exist was denied in the past, the right for self-determination is denied to Israel now; and the same way Jews in the past were presented as a menace to the world, Israel is presented now as a menace to the world.
Yemini is Zionist, describes himself as a left-winger, and claims a "long track record in the Israeli peace camp". He is a long-time believer in a two-state solution, but says Israel should have the same right of self-determination as the Palestinians.
He opposes the expansion of the settlements in the West Bank and argues that extreme right and extreme left proposals would lead to the same outcome of a one-state ‘solution’, rather than the desired goal of two states, living side by side with mutual recognition.