Scienceאבנר בן זקן

Avner Ben-Zaken

Avner Ben-Zaken is an Israeli historian of science and the co-founder and chair of the Institute for Israeli Thought.

born 1967Cross-cultural history of scienceFounding the Institute for Israeli ThoughtAdvocating district elections and a constitution

Occupation: historian
Party: Israeli Labor Party
Education: University of California, Los Angeles, Harvard University, Hebrew University of Jerusalem
Founded: 2020)

Avner Ben-Zaken was born in 1967 in Beersheba

Avner Ben-Zaken was born in 1967 in Beersheba and grew up in the city. His parents immigrated to Israel from Morocco.

After high school he joined the Golani reconnaissance unit and served as an officer in the brigade. He studied history and the history of the Middle East at the Hebrew University. He earned his doctorate in the history of science at UCLA with honors.

In 2003 he won the Nathan Reingold Prize of the History of Science Society. From 2004 to 2008 he was a fellow in the Society of Fellows at Harvard University. He heads the honors program at Ono Academic College and lectures at Bezalel on the visualization of science.

His research asks how science crosses cultural borders. His books deal with scientific exchange between Europe and the eastern Mediterranean, the history of autodidacticism, and Jewish and Arab communism from 1919 to 1948. In 2026 he published The State of the Israelis, on the identity of the state.

Since 2009 he has been active in politics, promoting district elections and a constitution for Israel. In 2020 he co-founded the Institute for Israeli Thought. He is married, has 3 daughters, and lives in Kfar Saba.