DC reporter moves to Brussels for WSJ/Dow Jones

Stephen Fidler, the Brussels bureau chief for The Wall Street Journal, sent out the following announcement on Friday:

The excellent Naftali Bendavid has joined the joint Brussels bureau of The Wall Street Journal and Dow Jones Newswires. He’ll be adding his experience and talents to our firepower in the busy capital of the European Union in a senior editing, writing and reporting role.

Naftali has been based in Washington for the Journal for the past four years, covering the U.S. Congress. Before that, he covered the White House and the U.S. Justice Department for the Chicago Tribune, ultimately serving as the Tribune’s Washington bureau chief. Naftali’s 1997 book, “The Thumpin’,” recounted the Democrats’ takeover of Congress in 1996. His wife, who works for the U.S. embassy to the EU, has also moved to Brussels, as have his two children.

Before coming to the Journal, he covered the White House and the Justice Department for the Chicago Tribune. Bendavid also spent five years as deputy Washington bureau chief for the Tribune, overseeing its coverage of government and politics. Bendavid has covered such stories as the impeachment of Bill Clinton, the Al Gore presidential campaign, the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks and the Supreme Court confirmation of Sonia Sotomayor.

In 2006, Bendavid was granted unusual access to the Democrats’ successful campaign to retake the House of Representatives, headed by then-Rep. Rahm Emanuel. His resulting piece, “The House That Rahm Built,” was nominated for a Pulitzer Prize. Bendavid also wrote a book about the campaign, “The Thumpin: How Rahm Emanuel and the Democrats Learned to be Ruthless and Ended the Republican Revolution.”