A Genealogy of Israel Studies

This article tracks the history of Israel Studies's emergence in the United States alongside developments in Palestine and Israel. Drawing on reviews of the literature, archival research, and interviews, it analyzes three key moments in the evolution of the field. First, it traces the origin of this project with the crisis in American Zionism precipitated by the 1967 war, and the rise of organizations for the production and distribution of knowledge about the Middle East. Second, it considers the period from the mid-1980s through the “Oslo years,” when the Association for Israel Studies was founded in the United States, and US and Israeli academies became increasingly intertwined. Third, it follows the rapid establishment of a series of centers and programs funded by private philanthropy in the wake of the second intifada, when the project consolidated around a pedagogical endeavor that came to be known as “Israel education.” The article conceptualizes the role of Israel Studies in these three periods as pacification, normalization, and centralization, each corresponding to the political context and the needs of the Israeli state.