Jerrold (Yoram) Kessel (Hebrew: ג'רולד קסל; March 3, 1944 – February 24, 2011) was an Israeli journalist, sports journalist, author, and foreign correspondent.
Kessel immigrated to Israel from South Africa at an early age.[1] He helped introduce cricket to Israel, playing for the Israel national cricket team in the ICC Trophy from 1979 to 1990.[2] He played cricket for Team Israel at the 1973 Maccabiah Games.[3]
Kessel died from cancer at the age of 66.[1] He was survived by his wife, Lorraine, their son, Ariel, and four grandchildren.[4] His funeral was held at Givat HaShlosha in central Israel.[4]
Kessel was a news editor for the Jerusalem Post,[4] reported on the Middle East for CNN from its Jerusalem bureau from 1990 to 2003. He was known for his iconic white beard.[1] He had been called "one of Israel’s leading English-language journalists."[4] He initially worked for Israel Radio, the Jerusalem correspondent for the London Jewish Chronicle, and the Jerusalem Post before joining CNN as an on-air correspondent in 1990.[1]
He covered major events affecting Israel for CNN, including the Oslo Accords and the assassination of former Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin.[1] Kessel began producing and co-producing independent television programming after leaving CNN in 2003.[1]
He also authored a book of soccer and began writing a sports column for the daily newspaper, Haaretz, the last of which was published a week before his death in 2011.[1]