Assaf David (Hebrew: אסף דוד) is an Israeli political scientist, academic, and peace activist known for his work on Israel’s place in the Middle East, civil‑military relations in Jordan, and progressive regional policy discourse.
Personal life Assaf David was born in Ramat Gan and raised from the age of five in the West Bank settlement of Kiryat Arba near Hebron, where he attended a religious school and grew up within the milieu of religious Zionism. He is of Yemeni Jewish descent, and his grandparents spoke a distinctive Judeo-Yemeni dialect of Arabic. His cultural upbringing included traditional Yemeni customs and religious practices.ואז הירדני שלא הכרתי אמר לי: קח את העין שלי, שיחה מקומית, February 20, 2020
In the late 1990s, while still serving in the Israeli Defense Forces, David was seriously wounded in a Hamas suicide bombing on a civilian bus in Jerusalem. He lost his left eye and sustained injuries to his chest and arm. The trauma and long recovery led him to reflect on the causes and consequences of violence between Israelis and Palestinians. A pivotal moment in his healing process came when an Arab nurse treating his wounds expressed sorrow, saying, "What are we doing to each other?"—which moved David deeply and helped reframe his understanding of the conflict.
He later pursued academic studies, during which he developed close friendships with Arab and Jordanian peers. His fluency in Arabic, shaped in part by his family’s heritage and later professional engagement, became central to his identity. David describes himself as Israeli, Jewish, Zionist, and Arab, and often notes that he feels culturally more Middle Eastern than Western. He has spoken openly about experiences of racism within religious Zionism and about his journey from a settler-colonial upbringing to advocating mutual recognition and equality between Jews and Palestinians.
Career David has served as the director of the Israel in the Middle East cluster at the Van Leer Jerusalem Institute since October 2018.Van Leer Jerusalem Institute – Dr. Assaf David He previously taught political science at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and in the Departments of Middle East Studies and Politics & Government at Ben‑Gurion University of the Negev.Van Leer profile He is also a research fellow at the Truman Institute for Peace at the Hebrew University and an adjunct lecturer there and at Ben‑Gurion University.Haaretz – Author profile: Assaf David
Academic research David's doctoral dissertation, supervised by Prof. Avraham Sela at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, focused on civil‑military relations in Jordan under Kings Hussein and Abdullah II.Van Leer – Academic profile His research interests include Jordanian state‑society relations, Arab public discourse, Israel’s regional identity, and the development of Middle East studies in Israel.Van Leer – Research areas
Political activism David is co‑founder and academic director of the Forum for Regional Thinking, a think tank of Israeli Middle East scholars dedicated to re‑framing Israel’s regional discourse.Podcast: Assaf – An Eye for an Eye972mag – What is Israel's place in the Middle East?
After the Hamas attacks on Israel on October 7, 2023 and Israeli invasion of Gaza, David became a vocal critic of Israeli policy, causing devastation and suffering to the civilian population in Gaza. In February 2025, he co‑edited a major policy document titled “The Present Day: Peacemaking Alternatives for Israeli Policy” advocating for an immediate end to hostilities, Palestinian sovereignty, halt to settlement expansion, and educational and regional de‑escalation initiatives.FORTH – The Present Day On April 3, 2025, he and Smadar Ben‑Natan presented the document in a virtual briefing hosted by J Street’s Policy Center.J Street – An Alternate Path for Israeli Policy
Selected publications “Presence out, Ideas In: Representation and Socio‑Political Change in Jordan”, Representation, Vol. 48, Issue 3 (2012).Van Leer – Selected publications Various essays and analyses in outlets like Molad and The Daily Beast on Middle East issues and Jordan.The Daily Beast – Author: Assaf David “The Self‑Orientalization of Israeli Politics” (with Arie Dubnov), Public Seminar (February 19 2025).Public Seminar – Author profile
References
External links Van Leer Jerusalem Institute profile Forum for Regional Thinking (FORTH) Podcast interview: “Assaf – An eye for an eye”, March 6, 2024