Israel in the Middle East: A Comparative Perspective | At the Insitute

This year, the Van Leer Jerusalem Institute, in collaboration with the Forum for Regional Thinking and Middle East scholars, is holding its first annual conference on “Israel in the Middle East: A Comparative Perspective.” The conference grew out of a desire to broaden scholarly discourse on Israel and the Middle East and to examine Israel not only from within its national borders or through conventional approaches to its study, but also in regional and comparative contexts. To a large extent, the study of Israel, Palestine, and the Middle East has developed over the years as separate disciplinary and institutional frameworks. The conference seeks to create a space that brings these fields of knowledge together and to explore what we can learn about Israel by comparing it with other countries in the region and around the world, and by situating it within broader historical and regional processes.     

The conference will address a range of topics concerning Israel, Palestine, and the Middle East. It will encourage research that draws on comparison and perspectives that cross national, regional, and disciplinary boundaries. Alongside comparisons between countries and societies, we also seek to make room for research that examines the very ways in which knowledge about the region is constructed: the boundaries of disciplines, how space is divided among Israel, Palestine, and the Middle East, and the role of different languages, archives, and traditions of knowledge.

The conference will take place on October 26, 2026, at the Van Leer Jerusalem Institute and will include sessions in Hebrew and Arabic.