In February 2020, the
Jewish News, owned by property investor
Leo Noe, and
Jewish Chronicle, owned by the Kessler Foundation, announced plans to merge, subject to raising the necessary finance to support the merger. Combined, they print more than 40,000 copies weekly. In April 2020,
The Jewish Chronicle and
Jewish News announced simultaneously a creditors voluntary liquidation, citing the impact of
COVID-19. The owners of
The Jewish Chronicle then submitted a bid to the liquidators for its assets, intending to combine them with the
Jewish News under the latter's editor. However, following the emergence of a rival bid for
The Jewish Chronicle,
The Jewish News announced that it had sufficient funds to operate as a going concern and would continue to be published. In November 2020, it was announced that the newspaper was donated to the Independent Jewish Community News Foundation, the rebranding of an existing charity. The announcement said that the move "will see a seamless continuation of the editorial direction under the leadership of editor Richard Ferrer and news editor Justin Cohen, who also serve as co-publishers." According to the paper's website, since this time it was owned by the
Jacob Foundation, formerly the Kessler Foundation. The Foundation's 2020 report described the Foundation's sale of the
Chronicle, dispersal of funds to Jewish charities, and taking ownership of
Jewish News: The Foundation supported this ambition as a means to ensure that the British Jewish community could continue to rely on the Jewish News to provide high quality news and information for the Community, reflective of the broad range of views across that community, with balance as well as complete transparency and freedom from individual influence. Financial commitments from around a dozen donors from across the community who shared that vision, including the previous owners of the Jewish News, were obtained and agreements for the transfer of the newspaper and its associated website were completed in October 2020. At around the same time, the name of the Foundation was changed from The Kessler Foundation to The Jacob Foundation. This change signified the end of the near 40-year relationship between the Foundation, the Jewish Chronicle and the Kessler family. ==Libel case==