ABSTRACT
The last chapter is devoted to Ha-Or’s military coverage. The paper tumbled into financial distress in 1911, from which it was temporarily extricated by the eruption of the Italian–Ottoman War in late September of that year. The paper enhanced its popularity by providing spectacular war coverage under Ben-Avi’s baton. The first part of the chapter examines the coverage of the war (1911–1912) and its successor, the First Balkan War (1912–1913). How did Ha-Or cover these conflicts? What kind of relationship did it have with the authorities as the wars went on? What strategies and techniques, schemes and styles, did Ben-Avi use to entice his target population to continue buying his product? In May 1913, Ha-Or ceased publication for financial reasons, leaving the arena to its daily competitors, Ha-Herut and Moria. When the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand in Sarajevo on June 28, 1914, became known, however, the Ben-Yehudas decided to reactivate the paper. The second part of the chapter examines Ha-Or’s comeback, its conduct versus its two rivals, and the way it advised local readers of goings-on in the war theaters. The chapter concludes with an examination of the reasons for the closure of Ha-Or in late 1914 and, in its wake, that of most of the Hebrew press in Palestine.
