Mediaמתי פרידמן

Matti Friedman

Matti Friedman is a Canadian-Israeli journalist and author known for his books on Israeli history and his writing on media coverage of Israel.

born 1977The book The Aleppo CodexThe book PumpkinflowersWriting on media coverage of Israel

Born: 10 October 1977, Toronto
Occupation: journalist, writer
Education: Hebrew University of Jerusalem, William Lyon Mackenzie Collegiate Institute

Matti Friedman was born in 1977 in Toronto

Matti Friedman was born in Toronto in 1977 to a Canadian Jewish family that attended an Orthodox synagogue. In 1995 he moved to Israel and settled in Ma'ale Gilboa. His parents and sister followed a year later.

He served in the IDF Nahal Brigade and was posted to the security zone in southern Lebanon, mostly at Outpost Pumpkin. After his service he studied Middle East studies at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem.

From 2006 to the end of 2011 he was a reporter and editor at the Jerusalem bureau of the Associated Press. He also reported from Egypt, Morocco, Lebanon, Moscow and Washington. He wrote for The New York Times and The Times of Israel, and was a columnist at Tablet from 2013 to 2022.

In 2014 he published an essay in Tablet on how world media covered the war in Gaza, arguing that coverage of Israel was distorted. His books include The Aleppo Codex, Pumpkinflowers, Spies of No Country and Who by Fire. In 2020 the series he co-created with Israel Rosner, about the fighting in the Lebanon security zone, aired on Kan 11.

He lives in Jerusalem. He is now a columnist for The Free Press.

Milestones in Matti Friedman's life

1977
Born in Toronto.
1995
Immigrated to Israel.
2006
Joined the Associated Press Jerusalem bureau.
2012
Published The Aleppo Codex.
2014
Won the Sami Rohr Prize for Jewish Literature.
2016
Published Pumpkinflowers.
2019
Published Spies of No Country.
2020
His TV series on the Lebanon security zone aired on Kan 11.
2022
Published Who by Fire.
2026
Published Out of the Sky.

Matti Friedman served in the military

He served as a combat soldier and commander in an anti-tank company of the Nahal Brigade. He was posted at Outpost Pumpkin in southern Lebanon during the South Lebanon conflict in the late 1990s.