Nahum Barnea

Nahum Barnea was born in 1944 in Petah Tikva

Nahum Barnea was born Nahum Borstein in Petah Tikva in 1944. His parents were Nechama and Yosef Borstein. His father headed the information department of the Histadrut and served as deputy mayor of Tel Aviv-Yafo.

He volunteered for the Paratroopers Brigade and served in the paratrooper Nahal battalion. He later fought as a reservist in the Six-Day War, the Yom Kippur War and the First Lebanon War. He holds a B.A. in history and political science from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem.

He started writing for student papers and later wrote for Davar from 1967 to 1982, including as its Washington correspondent. In 1982 he founded the weekly Koteret Rashit and edited it with Tom Segev until it closed in 1988. Since 1989 he has written for Yedioth Ahronoth.

He coined the term lynch test after the 2000 Ramallah lynching. He also drew criticism, including over his writing on Ehud Olmert and remarks that Shelly Yachimovich objected to, for which he later apologized. He has covered wars from the field, including the Second Lebanon War.

He is married to Tami and they have 3 children. His son Yonatan was killed in a Hamas attack on Bus 18 in Jerusalem in February 1996.