The establishment of Israel, 1946–1948

Taking on the editorship of a paper is a challenge at the best of times, but John Shaftesley became acting editor of the Jewish Chronicle in the middle of a crisis that tested his mettle to the limit. Born in 1901 in Salford and educated at Salford Grammar School and Manchester School of Art, Shaftesley was intensely proud of his Lancashire roots and self-made status. He had studied printing at London University and possessed a thorough grounding in all of the technical aspects of newspaper publishing. Indeed, while he worked on the staff of the Manchester Guardian he taught printing at the Manchester College of Technology. Shaftesley was appointed the Manchester correspondent of the Jewish Chronicle in the 1930s and moved to the London office as assistant editor in 1937. Loyal to his profession and the paper, he could, however, be opinionated and abrasive with colleagues.

With the help of David Kessler and the Board he set about pouring oil on troubled waters. The distressing stories of terrorism and repression in Palestine were removed from the front page and placed inside the paper under ‘Land of Israel News’. The tone and the content of editorials on Palestine were transformed.