David Menashri (; born 1944) is an Israeli professor and scholar of modern

Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI) and also known as Persia, is a country in West Asia. It borders Iraq to the west, Turkey, Azerbaijan, and Armenia to the northwest, the Caspian Sea to the north, Turkmenistan to the nort ...

ian

history History is the systematic study of the past, focusing primarily on the Human history, human past. As an academic discipline, it analyses and interprets evidence to construct narratives about what happened and explain why it happened. Some t ...

. A leading Iranian expert, he is also the founding director of The Alliance Center for Iranian Studies at

Tel Aviv University Tel Aviv University (TAU) is a Public university, public research university in Tel Aviv, Israel. With over 30,000 students, it is the largest university in the country. Located in northwest Tel Aviv, the university is the center of teaching and ...

Biography

David Menashri received his Ph.D. in Middle Eastern history from Tel Aviv University in 1982. He spent two years in Iran on the eve of the

1979 revolution The Iranian Revolution (, ), also known as the 1979 Revolution, or the Islamic Revolution of 1979 (, ) was a series of events that culminated in the overthrow of the Pahlavi dynasty in 1979. The revolution led to the replacement of the Impe ...

conducting research in Iranian universities.

Academic career

Menashri's research focuses on Iranian

politics Politics () is the set of activities that are associated with decision-making, making decisions in social group, groups, or other forms of power (social and political), power relations among individuals, such as the distribution of Social sta ...

society A society () is a group of individuals involved in persistent social interaction or a large social group sharing the same spatial or social territory, typically subject to the same political authority and dominant cultural expectations. ...

and

religion Religion is a range of social system, social-cultural systems, including designated religious behaviour, behaviors and practices, morals, beliefs, worldviews, religious text, texts, sanctified places, prophecies, ethics in religion, ethics, or ...

Shia Shia Islam is the second-largest branch of Islam. It holds that Muhammad designated Ali ibn Abi Talib () as both his political successor (caliph) and as the spiritual leader of the Muslim community (imam). However, his right is understood ...

political Islam Political Islam is the interpretation of Islam as a source of political identity and action. It advocates the formation of state and society according to (the advocates understanding of) Islamic principles, where Islam serves as a source of poli ...

and the history of education in the

Middle East The Middle East (term originally coined in English language) is a geopolitical region encompassing the Arabian Peninsula, the Levant, Turkey, Egypt, Iran, and Iraq. The term came into widespread usage by the United Kingdom and western Eur ...

. He is currently Senior Research Fellow at the Alliance Center for Modern Iranian History and the

Moshe Dayan Center for Middle Eastern and African Studies The Moshe Dayan Center for Middle Eastern and African Studies is an Israeli think tank based in Tel Aviv, Israel, focused on the contemporary study and analysis of the Middle East and Africa. Its stated primary mission is to serve as a resource f ...

. Until his retirement in 2011, he taught and conducted research at the university. Among others, he served as the Chair of the Department of Middle Eastern and African History (1996-2000); the first incumbent of the Parviz and Pouran Nazarian Chair for Modern Iranian Studies (1997-2011), the first such a chair in Israel; Founder and first Director of the Alliance Center for Iranian Studies (2005-2010), the first such center in Israel and one of only few in the world then; Head of Special Programs Unit (2001-2005) and Dean of Special Programs (2005-2009). Between 2011 and 2015, Menashri was President of the College of Law and Business in

Ramat Gan Ramat Gan (, ) is a city in the Tel Aviv District of Israel, located east of the municipality of Tel Aviv, and is part of the Gush Dan, Gush Dan metropolitan area. It is home to a Diamond Exchange District (one of the world's major diamond exch ...

. An internationally recognized scholar and lecturer, Professor Menashri was a visiting scholar at

Princeton Princeton University is a private Ivy League research university in Princeton, New Jersey, United States. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the Unit ...

, Cornell,

Chicago Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

Yale Yale University is a private Ivy League research university in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701, Yale is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States, and one of the nine colonial colleges ch ...

Oxford Oxford () is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and non-metropolitan district in Oxfordshire, England, of which it is the county town. The city is home to the University of Oxford, the List of oldest universities in continuou ...

Melbourne Melbourne ( , ; Boonwurrung language, Boonwurrung/ or ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city of the States and territories of Australia, Australian state of Victori ...

, Monash (Australia),

Munich Munich is the capital and most populous city of Bavaria, Germany. As of 30 November 2024, its population was 1,604,384, making it the third-largest city in Germany after Berlin and Hamburg. Munich is the largest city in Germany that is no ...

Mainz Mainz (; #Names and etymology, see below) is the capital and largest city of the German state of Rhineland-Palatinate, and with around 223,000 inhabitants, it is List of cities in Germany by population, Germany's 35th-largest city. It lies in ...

, and

Waseda University Waseda University (Japanese: ), abbreviated as or , is a private university, private research university in Shinjuku, Tokyo. Founded in 1882 as the Tōkyō Professional School by Ōkuma Shigenobu, the fifth Prime Minister of Japan, prime ministe ...

(Tokyo). He has received grants from the Ford Foundation, Fulbright Foundation and Ben Gurion Foundation.

Public activism

Menashri has been active in numerous NGOs, including: Council Member of

Pugwash Conferences on Science and World Affairs The Pugwash Conferences on Science and World Affairs is an international organization that brings together scholars and public figures to work toward reducing the danger of armed conflict and to seek solutions to global security threats. It was fo ...

(awardee of the 1995 Nobel Peace Prize), since 2013; Board Member of Scholars for Peace in the Middle East, since 2011; Chairman of the Maccabim Scholarship Foundation, since 1995. He has also been the Chairman of the International Sephardic Education Fund in Israel (1997-2006); President of the Iranian Jewish Federation in Israel (1982-1996).

Published works

* ''Iran in Revolution'' (Tel Aviv, 1989; in Hebrew) * ''Iran: A Decade of War and Revolution'' (New York, 1990) * ''The Iranian Revolution and the Muslim World'' (ed., Boulder, CO, 1991) * ''Education and the Making of Modern Iran'' (Ithaca, NY, 1992) * ''Islamic Fundamentalism: A Challenge to Regional Stability'' (ed., Tel Aviv, 1993; in Hebrew) * ''Iran: Between Islam and the West'' (Tel Aviv, 1996; in Hebrew) * ''Revolution at a Crossroads: Iran's Domestic Politics and Regional Ambitions'' (Washington, DC, 1997) * ''Central Asia Meets the Middle East'' (ed., London, 1998) * ''Post-Revolutionary Politics in Iran: Religion, Society and Power'' (London, 2001) * ''Religion and State in the Middle East'' (co-ed. with Liora Hendelman Baavour, Tel Aviv, 2006; in Hebrew)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Menashri, David 1944 births Israeli historians Tel Aviv University alumni Living people Academic staff of Tel Aviv University Historians of Iran Gymnasia Realit alumni

Biography

Academic career

Public activism

Published works

See also

References