Famed advertising executive, political consultant Reuven Adler dies at 78

Read More

The Israeli advertising executive and strategic advisor Reuven Adler died on Tuesday at the age of 78.

Adler established what became one of the country’s largest advertising agencies, Adler Chomski, and advised a large number of Israeli politicians, including Prime Ministers Ariel Sharon and Ehud Olmert.

Adler and Eyal Chomski founded their advertising agency in 1996, acquiring Shmuel Warshavsky’s ad firm two years later and changing the firm’s name to Adler, Chomski & Warshavsky.

Though Adler and his office worked for major clients, the activity that earned him a high public profile was his political consulting and considerable involvement in public life. It was claimed that Adler not only advised on the subjects of media and image-related issues but was also involved in policy and decision-making.

Yehuda Litani, Israeli journalist who revealed injustices of the occupation, dies at 78

Was Ariel Sharon a warmonger or man of peace? New Israeli TV series reaches a surprising conclusion

Archives reveal what Israeli left-wing leaders truly thought about early settlement efforts

In the early 2000s, Adler gained a degree of fame due to his ties to former Prime Minister Ariel Sharon. Over the years, Moshe Ya’alon, whose career included stints as army chief of staff and defense minister, accused Adler of inflating Sharon’s plans for Israel’s withdrawal from the Gaza Strip to enhance the prime minister’s public standing amid suspicions of criminal wrongdoing.

Adler’s first political campaign was for Shlomo Lahat in 1973, when Lahat ran for mayor of Tel Aviv. Later, he was behind a considerable number of successful political campaigns, including Sharon’s bid for Likud party leadership in 2001 and his 2003 campaign, when he had broken with Likud to head the Kadima party. Adler also advised Ehud Olmert and Tzipi Livni when they headed Kadima. Adler advised Shimon Peres when he sought election by the Knesset as Israel’s president.

In 2015, he managed the campaign of the Zionist Union – the joint ticket established by the Labor party and Tzipi Livni’s Hatnuah party.