By DAVID HOROVITZ
On October 1, 2004, in my first column on this page as the new editor-in-chief of The Jerusalem Post, I celebrated the newspaper’s editorial independence and vowed not to tie the Post to one or other political party or politician. Rather, I promised, the Post, a repository of many fine journalistic minds, would try to use its combined brainpower to formulate positions on the key issues of the day that we believed best served the well-being of Israel and the Jewish people. Under my editorship, I wrote, “We may be hard to pigeon-hole. So much the better.”I wrote, too, that I regarded it as “an immense responsibility to be editing The JerusalemPost at this fragile juncture in the short history of modern Israel.” We face daily dangers, and challenges to our very legitimacy around the world, I noted, but the greatest threat to our existence, I suggested, “stems from internal hatreds, from an absence of moderation in our domestic climate of debate. With that in mind, as today’s Israel agonizes over which policies will ensure a secure, predominantly Jewish and democratic entity,” I promised, “I will do my utmost to ensure that the Post serves as a platform for a wide range of opinion pieces, constructive dialogue drawn from across the political spectrum.”Finally, I wrote, The Jerusalem Post is conscious that you, our readers, come to this paper to learn the details of Israel’s daily development, and make personal, business and all manner of other decisions based on what you read here. Therefore, I concluded, “we will strive to maintain the highest reporting standards, with coverage and analysis as informative and fair-minded as we can make it.”After almost seven fulfilling years, as we announced in the paper two weeks ago, I have decided to move on, and this is my last column as editor-in-chief. I hope you will feel that I honored those commitments I made to you in October 2004. I know that my colleague and friend Steve Linde, who I am delighted is taking over from me, shares my passion for our profession and my respect for our readers.Shabbat shalom.– David Horovitz