{{Short description|Israeli poet (1948–2020)}} {{No footnotes|date=March 2020}}
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'''Menahem Ben''' ({{langx|he|מנחם בן}}; October 31, 1948 – March 13, 2020) was an Israeli poet and journalist and an outspoken literary and culture critic. He was a frequent op-ed contributor and authored two weekly columns, on culture and literature, in the Maariv daily newspaper, as well as a monthly book review page in that paper's literary supplement. He specialized in publishing provocative opinions, for instance that Charles Darwin's theory of evolution is an "idiotic idea" (Haaretz, 30 November 2017).
==Biography== Menahem Ben (originally Braun), was born in Dzierżoniów, Poland in 1948. His family immigrated to Israel in 1949.
He participated in reality show ''HaAh HaGadol VIP'' (2009), reaching 3rd place.
==Books== In addition to his work of critical writing in the Israeli press, Menahem Ben published eighteen books, including poetry, children's literature, translations and essays. In 2006, he published a volume of criticism: ''From Shlomo the King (King Solomon) to Shlomo Artzi''.
==Prizes== * In 1989, Ben was awarded the Prime Minister's Prize for Hebrew Literary Works. * In 1998, he received the Bernstein Prize, in the Literary Criticism category.
==External links== * [https://web.archive.org/web/20070501042556/http://library.osu.edu/sites/users/galron.1/00494 Entry on Menahem Ben in Ohio State's ''Bio-Bibliographical Lexicon''] * [http://www.hopeways.org/e_index.htm?page=e_mben02 Menahem Ben at the ''Alternative National Design Forum''] * [https://web.archive.org/web/20070930024119/http://www.ithl.org.il/author_info.asp?id=328 Institute for the Translation of Hebrew Literature]
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Ben, Menahem}} Category:1948 births Category:2020 deaths Category:Bernstein Prize recipients Category:Hebrew-language poets Category:Israeli male journalists Category:Israeli literary critics Category:Israeli people of Polish-Jewish descent Category:Israeli male poets Category:Israeli television critics Category:Polish emigrants to Israel Category:Recipients of Prime Minister's Prize for Hebrew Literary Works Category:Big Brother (Israeli TV series) contestants