Famous Israeli Historians

Born Benzion Mileikowsky, he became Benzion Netanyahu when at the age of ten he moved to Mandate Palestine with his parents. A scholar of Judaic history, he was also an encyclopedist and actively involved with the Revisionist Zionism movement, lobbying for the creation of the Jewish state. One of his sons, Benjamin Netanyahu, later became the Prime Minister of Israel.

Gershom Scholem was a German-born Israeli philosopher and historian. He is much respected as the founder of the modern academic study of Kabbalah. He became the first professor of Jewish Mysticism at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. He was lifelong friends with fellow philosopher Walter Benjamin and was devastated when the latter died by suicide in 1940. 

Benny Morris is an Israeli historian who was a professor at the  Ben-Gurion University of the Negev. His work on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict won him both praise and criticism from both sides of the political divide. He studied history at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and has a doctorate in modern European history from the University of Cambridge. 

William of Tyre was a medieval prelate and chronicler who lived during the 12th century. He spent two decades studying the liberal arts and canon law in the universities of Europe. He was made the archbishop of Tyre and was also appointed a tutor to the king's son. He is considered one of the best authors of the Middle Ages. 

Yitzhak Ben-Zvi was a historian and Labor Zionist leader who served as the president of Israel from 1952 to 1963. His father was one of the organizers of the first Zionist Congress in 1897. Ben-Zvi studied at Kiev University for one year before dropping out to co-found the Russian Poale Zion movement. He was awarded the Bialik Prize. 

Martin van Creveld is an Israeli military historian and theorist. He studied history at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and later at the London School of Economics, from where he got a doctorate. Besides having a brilliant academic career, he is the author of numerous books on military history and strategy. He has been criticized for his anti-feminist views. 

Avigdor Arikha was a Romanian-born French–Israeli painter, draughtsman, and art historian. Born in Romania in 1929, he survived being deported to concentration camps and eventually fled to Palestine. Naturally gifted in drawing, he became a painter and printmaker. He gained fame as an art historian in his later years. He was awarded the Chevalier of the Légion d'honneur. 

Israeli Biblical archaeologist and historian Benjamin Mazar, considered "dean" of biblical archaeologists, is best-known for making excavations at Israel’s most significant biblical site, developing the field of historical geography of Israel and founding the campus of Hebrew University at Givat Ram and Hadassah Medical School and Hospital at Ein Karem. He also served as President of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem.

Palestinian historian, essayist, poet, translator and diplomat Elias Sanbar serves as Palestinian ambassador to the UNESCO since 2012. He is one of the founders of Revue d'études palestiniennes (The Journal of Palestine Studies) and served as its editor-in-chief for 25 years. His book The Palestinians won the Palestine Book Awards in 2015. His works include translating Mahmoud Darwish’s poetry into French.