London to Kirshenbaum

London to Kirshenbaum was one of the signature current-affairs programs of Israel's Channel 10. Broadcast from March 31, 2003, until January 10, 2019, it combined news and analysis with cultural conversation, humor and satire. At its center were journalists and presenters Yaron London and Moti Kirshenbaum, whose contrasting but complementary styles gave the program a distinctive place in Israeli television.

How the program began

The program was created during Channel 10's early years, after a more elaborate daily program featuring London, with Kirshenbaum involved in its production, was canceled because of budget limitations. While working together on that project, producer Avi Elkalai observed the unusual dynamic between the two men: intellect, experience, directness and satire. The idea emerged to build a daily current-affairs program around their shared presentation.

What began as a practical solution to a canceled production soon became one of the channel's best-known programs. Rather than simply reporting the day's events, it gave them context, interpretation and a broader cultural frame. Its format made room for political discussion while also allowing viewers to encounter artists, scientists and other public figures.

A changing schedule and a loyal audience

In June 2005, the program was tested in a similar Friday format, but the Friday edition was removed from the schedule after four weeks. The weekday program was subsequently broadcast at five in the afternoon, later moved to seven in the evening, and from May 2011 aired daily at six.

Despite these scheduling changes, it developed a loyal audience. Much of that loyalty came from the presenters' recognizable manner: informed and openly interpretive, but also capable of irony, humor and spontaneous exchange. The program was clearly publicistic in character, yet its scope extended beyond party politics.

Current affairs alongside culture

London and Kirshenbaum generally expressed secular and left-wing perspectives, while the program also made a point of hosting guests who represented opposing views. This gave political disagreement a regular place in the broadcast without reducing the program to confrontation alone.

Politicians and public figures appeared alongside Israeli and international singers and bands. Artists and scientists were also invited to discuss their work and fields of practice. By bringing together public affairs, society, science and culture, London to Kirshenbaum broadened the conventional boundaries of a current-affairs program and became a notable forum for public conversation.

After Moti Kirshenbaum's death

Moti Kirshenbaum died of cardiac arrest on September 25, 2015. Four days later, in the first broadcast following his death, Yaron London presented the program alone and stated that its name would not change. Keeping the name preserved both the memory of the original partnership and the connection formed with viewers over many years.

From October 2015 until the program ended, London generally hosted alone. On Thursdays, rotating presenters from the Channel 10 news company, chiefly Raviv Drucker and Nadav Eyal, took turns presenting. The change marked the end of the original on-screen partnership, but the program retained the identity it had developed over years of broadcasting.

An instantly recognizable opening sequence

Beginning in 2006, the opening sequence presented recognizable figures from history and current affairs, with the face of one person gradually assembled from the faces of others. The background music was based on the opening of the Turkish song Şımarık by Tarkan. The sequence became an integral part of the program's visual language and expressed its instinct for connecting politics, history, culture and popular imagery.

The figures included Menachem Begin, Jimmy Carter and Anwar Sadat at the signing of the Israel-Egypt peace treaty, as well as Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, Hassan Nasrallah, James Gandolfini, the Mona Lisa, Moshe Dayan, Elizabeth II, Ehud Olmert, Silvan Shalom, Osama bin Laden, Condoleezza Rice and the program's own presenters. The combinations gave the opening a playful and satirical quality that echoed the program's broader approach.

The final broadcast

On December 6, 2018, it was reported that the program would leave the air on January 10, 2019, as part of the merger of Reshet and Channel 10. A new program hosted by Amnon Levy was expected to take its place. On December 11, reports stated that London would remain with the merged channel and host a new program, planned as a replacement for Rafi Reshef's Intimi after that program moved to Keshet 12. The future of London to Kirshenbaum was thereby settled after approximately 16 years of broadcasting.

The final episode aired on January 10, 2019. On May 19 of that year, London returned to television alongside Geula Even-Saar in Geula and London. Broadcast on Kan 11 until February 2020, that program focused on cultural subjects rather than politics and therefore differed substantially from London to Kirshenbaum.

Why this legacy belongs in Moreshet

London to Kirshenbaum merits a place in the archive because it documents a significant chapter in Israeli television and public culture. For nearly sixteen years, it created a regular setting in which current events could meet interpretation, satire, cultural criticism, science and artistic expression. Its importance lies not only in its longevity, but also in the distinctive way it invited viewers to consider Israeli society and the wider world through many kinds of public voices.

For Moreshet, the program offers evidence of how Israeli television helped shape public memory, conversation and cultural awareness in the early twenty-first century. It brought varied subjects and guests into the homes of a broad audience and influenced the style of Israeli current-affairs broadcasting. Moreshet.com preserves this part of the country's media and cultural heritage by recording the programs and institutions that shaped Israeli life, including those whose broadcasts have ended but whose influence remains part of the public record.