1939–1948: Foundation and expansion

Yedioth Ahronoth was established in 1939 by an investor named Gershom Komarov. It was the first evening paper in Mandatory Palestine, and attempted to emulate the format of the London Evening Standard. Running into financial difficulties, Komarov sold the paper to Yehuda Mozes, a wealthy land dealer who regarded the paper as an interesting hobby and a long-term financial investment. His sons Reuben and Noah ran the paper, with Noah as the first managing editor.^[2]

1948–1984: In competition with Maariv

In 1948, a large group of journalists and staff members led by chief editor Ezriel Carlebach left to form Yedioth Maariv, shortly later known as Maariv. According to Carlebach and his associates, their reason for leaving Yedioth Ahronoth was Mozes' interference in their editorial decisions. He was replaced as chief editor by Herzl Rosenblum. Carelbach is considered the most prominent journalist of his era and his and his associates' departure from Yedioth is commonly known in Israeli media history as "The Putsch". This began an ongoing battle for circulation and prestige between the rival newspapers, which peaked during the 1990s when both papers were discovered to have bugged one another's phones.^[4][5] In the first decades following Carlebach's departure Maariv's circulation greatly outnumbered Yedioth's although over the years Yedioth's readership grew steadily and by the early 1980s its circulation eclipsed Maariv's and therefore became the country's largest newspaper. This success was in large part thanks to the efforts of Dov Yudkovski, a distant cousin of Mozes and Holocaust survivor who joined Yedioth following "the Putsch" in 1948, serving as editorial manager between 1953 and 1986, and chief editor between 1986 and 1989. Although officially Rosenblum held the title of chief editor between 1948 and 1986, his duties only extended to writing the paper's leading editorial article while Yudkovski acted as chief editor in practice.

1984–1993: In competition with Hadashot

On March 4, 1984, a new competitor to Yediot Ahronoth was established, the Hadashot newspaper founded by Amos Shocken. Hadashot featured a large color headline and color pages, and used more innovative and less formal language. Its main target audience were the readers of Yediot Ahronot, a situation that required Yediot Ahronot to react in order to maintain its readers and market position. Yediot editor Moshe Vardi, together with Noni Mozes, led the transition of the newspaper to printing in color. Zeev Galili was appointed head of reporters, recruited a series of freelance reporters from other newspapers, and worked to improve the newspaper's ability to obtain scoops. The changes in Yediot Ahronot paid off, and Hadashot was forced to close after nine years of activity, after heavy losses for the Shocken family.

1993–2007: Back in control

For his achievements, Yudkovski was awarded the Sokolov Prize for Journalism in 2000 and the 2002 Israel Prize in Communications.

Moshi Vardi was replaced as editor in 2005 by Rafi Ginat. Shilo De-Beer was promoted to editor in April 2007.^[6]

Since 2007: In competition with Israel Hayom

In 2007, Israel HaYom, a free newspaper owned by the family of casino mogul Sheldon Adelson, was launched.^[7] By July 2010, Israel HaYom had overtaken Yedioth Ahronoth as the most read newspaper in terms of exposure with a rate of 35.2% compared to Yedioth's 34.9%.^[8]

De-Beer was replaced as editor by Ron Yaron in 2011. As of 2017, the paper is headed by Noah Mozes's son, Arnon Mozes. In January 2017, secret recordings were released of conversations between Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Mozes discussing a potential deal in which the newspaper would provide better coverage of Netanyahu in exchange for the government limiting the circulation of competitor Israel Hayom.^[9][10][11] This led to the opening of "Case 2000" corruption investigation against Netanyahu.