Al HaMishmar

Al HaMishmar was one of the defining newspapers of the Jewish community in pre-state Palestine and of the State of Israel. Founded on July 30, 1943, as Mishmar, the organ of Hashomer Hatzair, it was renamed Al HaMishmar on January 25, 1948. For more than five decades it served as a political, intellectual and cultural platform for the HaKibbutz HaArtzi movement, Mapam and a broad readership identified with the socialist-Zionist left. It closed at the end of March 1995, but its archive preserves an important record of Israeli society.

The newspaper was more than a vehicle for reporting events. Its editorial identity joined Zionism, socialism and the brotherhood of peoples—the movement’s slogan printed at the top of its front page. It emphasized social justice, equality, peace and civic activism. Even its economic section, titled “The Economy and the Person,” expressed an effort to view economic life through social responsibility rather than figures alone.

Founding an Independent Voice

The appearance of Mishmar followed a long political process. For years, Hashomer Hatzair and HaKibbutz HaArtzi had published monthlies and weeklies, while Davar served as the daily newspaper associated with the Histadrut and the organized Zionist left. Once it became clear that Hashomer Hatzair could not join Mapai while retaining its autonomy, the HaKibbutz HaArtzi council at Mishmar HaEmek decided in 1942 to establish an independent political party and its own daily newspaper.

The first editorial board included Mordechai Bentov, Yaakov Amit and Eliezer Peri. Meir Yaari, the leader of HaKibbutz HaArtzi, welcomed the paper in an article describing the anticipation surrounding its launch. Ruth Schloss and Yohanan Simon shaped its graphic design, while Avraham Shlonsky oversaw the literary section. From the beginning, the newspaper combined an openly partisan identity with ambitions to become a significant journalistic and cultural institution.

At first, wartime paper restrictions limited the newspaper to four pages. It also confronted British censorship. In 1943 Mishmar suspended publication for a week in solidarity with Yishuv newspapers that had been banned after the events at Ramat HaKovesh. After the Second World War, it faced restrictions on publishing the Yishuv’s position against the White Paper policy.

From Mishmar to Al HaMishmar

In 1946, Mishmar became the organ of the Hashomer Hatzair Party. In January 1948, Mapam—the United Workers Party—was founded through the union of Hashomer Hatzair, the Ahdut HaAvoda movement and Poale Zion Left. The newspaper was renamed Al HaMishmar, and representatives of HaKibbutz HaMeuhad joined its editorial staff. Although it represented the party’s different components, the paper remained particularly identified with HaKibbutz HaArtzi and Hashomer Hatzair.

The close relationship with the party gave Al HaMishmar influence but also imposed constraints. During Mapam’s united period, the editors had to balance rival political camps while presenting an outwardly coherent position. Information about party affairs was sometimes published only after approval by party institutions, and speeches and articles by competing leaders struggled for space. These tensions eventually contributed to the emergence of LaMerhav and the 1954 split in Mapam.

The newspaper’s relationship with the Soviet Union also changed over time. In the early 1950s, in keeping with Mapam’s dominant line, Al HaMishmar covered Stalin’s death in language of profound mourning and described him as a great leader and a captain of the world peace movement. It also covered the Doctors’ Plot—in which Jewish doctors in the Soviet Union were falsely accused of conspiring against the leadership—in a milder tone than other newspapers, avoiding sharp criticism of the Soviet regime. Later, as Mapam moved away from pro-Soviet positions, the newspaper’s editorial range broadened.

A Newspaper, Training Ground and Cultural Center

After Mapam’s split, Al HaMishmar again expressed primarily the position of HaKibbutz HaArtzi’s leadership, but it was no longer a wholly closed political platform. Alongside official editorials, it published writers with differing views, and it became an important training ground for young journalists. Many writers who gained experience there later moved to other newspapers and media organizations. In this way, Al HaMishmar influenced Israeli journalism well beyond its direct circulation.

The newspaper also contributed significantly to Hebrew literature and culture. After the youth publication BaSha'ar was discontinued, young writers associated with it moved to Al HaMishmar and created the literary supplement Masa. The supplement became a home for writers associated with the “Generation of 1948.” Among the writers and editors connected with the newspaper and its supplements were Leah Goldberg, Avraham Shlonsky, Moshe Shamir, Natan Shaham, Yitzhak Orpaz, Yehoshua Sobol and Michal Snunit.

In March 1964, Hotam was established as the publication of Mapam’s young leadership. It first appeared independently, then became Al HaMishmar’s weekly supplement in January 1970. Addressing a younger generation, it broadened discussion of politics, society and culture. The newspaper also published HaDaf HaYarok, a weekly for the kibbutzim, and Kav LaMoshav, a weekly for moshavim and rural settlement.

Children, Society and Arabic-Language Publishing

One of the newspaper’s most lasting ventures was the children’s paper Mishmar LaYeladim. A children’s section that initially appeared around the holidays became an independent weekly in 1945. Its editors included Mordechai Amitai, Binyamin Tene, Shlomo Nitzan and Atara Ofek; its contributors included Yifrah Haviv, Yehoash Bieber and Yaakov Rabi. In 1985, Mishmar LaYeladim merged with Ha’aretz Shelanu and Davar LaYeladim to create the weekly Kulanu, which continued until 2000.

Al HaMishmar also operated in the Arabic-language sphere. From 1952, it published a parallel newspaper called Al-Mirsad (المرصاد), edited by the Orientalist Eliezer Be’eri and written with the participation of Arab Mapam activists and journalists, including Ibrahim Shabat, Muhammad Watad, Rustum Bastuni and Mahmoud Bayadsa. Between 1958 and 1962, Rustum Bastuni edited the accompanying literary magazine Al-Fajr (الفجر, “The Dawn”), which published, among others, Rashid Hussein and Fawzi al-Asmar. These publications made the newspaper a platform for political and cultural exchange between Jews and Arabs in Israel.

Reporting Israel and Challenging Censorship

During the 1950s and 1960s, Al HaMishmar differed from newspapers such as Maariv and Davar in both content and its presentation of the national agenda. It devoted considerable attention to foreign affairs and arms sales, while domestic issues sometimes received less coverage. At a time when newspapers were a primary source of public information, these choices shaped how readers understood Israel, the international arena and the country’s place within it.

After the formation of the national-unity government in 1984, Mapam left the Alignment and Al HaMishmar became a daily opposition newspaper. Its conflict with military censorship intensified. After publishing reports that had not received approval, the paper was fined half a million shekels and received a suspended fine of one million shekels. In protest, it printed a series of articles with white spaces where material had been censored. It also appealed to Yehoshua Rutenstreich, chair of the Press Council, asking him to defend it. The episode demonstrated the newspaper’s role as a critical intermediary between state institutions and the public.

Closure and Continuing Legacy

The decline of party journalism, Mapam’s weakening and the severe financial crisis of HaKibbutz HaArtzi reduced the paper’s circulation, particularly among younger readers. Beginning in 1993, the kibbutzim of HaKibbutz HaArtzi were no longer required to subscribe. Although the newspaper sought renewal, recruited younger writers and added a student section, it closed at the end of March 1995. Zvi Timor was its editor, and Giora Furman was secretary-general of HaKibbutz HaArtzi. Its end marked the conclusion of a distinctive chapter in Israeli journalism: a newspaper founded for political reasons that became, over decades, a journalistic, literary and educational institution.

The complete Al HaMishmar archive, including its extensive photographic collection, is held by the Hashomer Hatzair Archive at Yad Yaari in Givat Haviva. The name Al HaMishmar continues to be used for the news service of the worldwide Hashomer Hatzair movement. The surviving materials allow researchers and readers to examine Israeli society through journalism shaped by a deep commitment to the kibbutz movement, socialist Zionism and the ideals of equality and human solidarity.

Why this legacy belongs in Moreshet

Al HaMishmar belongs in Moreshet because it documents and embodies a central structure of modern Jewish and Israeli life: the connection between the youth movement, the kibbutz, the political party, the press and culture. It gave HaKibbutz HaArtzi and Mapam an independent public voice, shaped its readers’ understanding of current affairs, and offered a socialist-Zionist interpretation of Israeli and international events for more than five decades.

Its importance is also visible in the people and institutions it nurtured. Through Masa, Hotam, Mishmar LaYeladim and its Arabic-language publications, the newspaper contributed to Hebrew literature, children’s education, journalistic training and a multilingual cultural sphere. Its archive is a primary record of the Yishuv, Israel’s early decades, Jewish-Arab relations, the development of the kibbutz movement and the struggle over press freedom. For these reasons, Moreshet.com preserves not merely the story of a newspaper, but the voices, debates and aspirations that helped shape a movement, a community and a state.