Simon McGregor-Wood
Profile of ABC News' Middle East correspondent and Middle East bureau chief.
-- Simon McGregor-Wood is ABC News' Middle East Correspondent, as well as the news division's Middle East Bureau Chief; he is based in Jerusalem. In this dual role, McGregor-Wood reports for all ABC News' broadcasts and platforms and also oversees ABC News' editorial coverage of the region.
McGregor-Wood was named ABC News' Middle East Bureau Chief in January 2002. Based in Jerusalem, he has been responsible for the news division's coverage of the region, as well as correspondents' assignments in and around the area. He has overseen a number of major events during his tenure, including the second Palestinian Intifada, Israel's Operation Defensive Shield, the death of Yasser Arafat, Israel's disengagement from Gaza, and the Israeli-Hezbollah war during the summer of 2006. Prior to his current on-air assignment, McGregor-Wood was a frequent contributor to ABC News' broadcasts and platforms, most recently covering the devastating fires in Greece in the summer of 2007.
In addition to his work in Israel and the surrounding area, McGregor-Wood has travelled widely throughout the Middle East with frequent reporting trips to Syria, Jordan, Lebanon, and Egypt.
McGregor-Wood joined ABC News in September 1988 as an associate producer in the London bureau. While there, he was involved in ABC News' coverage of the fall of the Berlin Wall, the collapse of the Soviet Union, the Lockerbie air disaster, and the first Gulf War. He spent 11 years in the bureau in a variety of roles, including production manager, morning news producer, field producer, and senior assignment editor.
As an assignment editor, he coordinated coverage of breaking news events in Europe and beyond. Following the East African Embassy bombings, he spent a month in Kenya covering the aftermath and subsequent investigation, and he was in Paris the night that Princess Diana died in August 1997. During his time in London, McGregor-Wood travelled extensively throughout the region, as well as to the Balkans, the Middle East, Europe, and North Africa.
McGregor-Wood has also worked for both Reuters TV and ITN London as a foreign editor.
Since 2004, McGregor-Wood has served as Chairman of the Foreign Press Association in Israel. He is proficient in Hebrew and Arabic.