Sylvain Cypel joined the French daily newspaper Le Monde (meaning The World) as editor-in-chief in 1998, following a five-year tenure as editor-in-chief of the weekly magazine Courrier International.

From 1990 to 1991 he served as deputy editor of the monthly economic magazine Mensuel, and from 1989-1990 he held the same post at the monthly supplement to the economic daily newspaper Les Echos. Cypel worked as a freelance journalist for the public television network France 2, the daily newspaper Lib?ration and other media outlets between 1986 and 1988. From 1978 to 1985 he worked for the daily paper Le Matin de Paris, where he was responsible for reporters covering the Middle East.

Cypel holds BA degrees in sociology, contemporary history and international relations. He earned his last degree at the University of Jerusalem.

Cypel is the author of Walled: Israeli Society at an Impasse (2006, Other Press), which looks at the history of thought in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.