Yavin, Ḥayyim

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YAVIN, ḤAYYIM

YAVIN, ḤAYYIM (1932– ), Israeli tv news presenter. Yavin began his media career in 1956 on Israel's Kol Israel radio station as a news, entertainment, and music presenter. In 1962 he helped start up a new radio station, Ha-Gal ha-Kal, which later became Reshet Bet, Kol Israel's second station. Subsequently he became a producer, editor, and presenter in the documentary department. When the Israeli government decided to establish a tv channel, he was chosen to present the first news edition. From then on he was the main presenter of the nightly news on Israeli tv. He also produced tv documentaries and taught in academic institutions. Yavin was famous for his announcement of Menaḥem *Begin's 1977 election win with the single word mahapakh ("upset"), which marked a dramatic highpoint in Israeli broadcasting and became a Hebrew idiom. In 1977 he was awarded the Israel Prize for media.