NEW YORK (JTA) — Bret Stephens, a former editor in chief of The Jerusalem Post and now deputy editorial page editor of The Wall Street Journal, won the Pulitzer Prize for commentary.
Stephens won the prize, which comes with a $10,000 award, for his "incisive columns on American foreign policy and domestic politics, often enlivened by a contrarian twist," the Pulitzer committee said.
A graduate of the University of Chicago and the London School of Economics, Stephens started as an Op-Ed editor at the Journal but then moved to Israel in 2002 to take the helm of The Jerusalem Post. He was just 28 at the time — the youngest ever editor in chief at the paper.
Stephens moved back to the United States in late 2004 to return to the Journal, where he writes the "Global View" column on foreign affairs and works on the editorial page. Israel and Middle East issues frequently figure in Stephens’ commentary, which is usually from a conservative but often counterintuitive viewpoint.
His most recent column, published on April 8, is titled "A Conservative Case for Gay Marriage" and asks, "Is the triumph of an invidious distinction worth the price in unfulfilled or misdirected lives?"
Stephens lectures frequently to Jewish audiences throughout the United States.
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