Israel Studies Review

Israel Studies Review
Title	Israel Studies Review
Discipline	Israel studies
Language	English

Israel Studies Review is an academic journal that publishes interdisciplinary research on modern and contemporary Israel and related subjects. The journal features scholarship that intersects with debates about Zionism, the Palestinian Nakba, the Six-Day War, the Yom Kippur War, and post-1948 social and political developments. Contributors include historians, political scientists, sociologists, anthropologists, and literary critics who engage with sources tied to the Yishuv, the State of Israel, and regional actors such as Jordan, Egypt, and Lebanon.

History

The journal was founded amid renewed scholarly interest following the Oslo Accords period and the aftermath of the First Intifada, drawing on debates sparked by works about Theodor Herzl, David Ben-Gurion, Golda Meir, Menachem Begin, and Anwar Sadat. Early editorial discussions referenced archival releases from the Israel Defense Forces, diplomatic correspondence involving the United States Department of State, and collections in the National Library of Israel. Over time the title expanded coverage alongside major events such as the Camp David Accords, the Gaza disengagement, the Arab Spring, and legal cases before the International Court of Justice.

Scope and Focus

The journal publishes articles on politics, society, culture, law, and memory related to Israel and its neighbors, frequently intersecting with studies of Palestine Liberation Organization, Israeli Arabs, Mizrahi Jews, Ashkenazi Jews, and migration from countries such as Russia, Ethiopia, and Morocco. It addresses military conflicts like the Suez Crisis and the Lebanon War (1982), diplomatic episodes including relations with the European Union and the United States, and cultural production tied to figures like Shimon Peres-era policies, literary subjects including works by Amos Oz and A.B. Yehoshua, and filmmakers such as Ari Folman and Joseph Cedar. Legal and constitutional analyses consider rulings from the Supreme Court of Israel alongside debates over the Basic Laws (Israel).

Editorial Structure and Publisher

The journal operates with a peer-review system overseen by an editorial board that includes scholars affiliated with institutions like Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Tel Aviv University, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Bar-Ilan University, and international centers such as Harvard University, Oxford University, and Columbia University. Publishing partnerships and distribution arrangements have involved academic presses and learned societies connected to centers for Middle Eastern studies, research institutes like the Moshe Dayan Center for Middle Eastern and African Studies, and associations such as the Association for Israel Studies.

Abstracting and Indexing

Israel Studies Review is abstracted and indexed in major bibliographic services that scholars consult alongside databases listing journals in JSTOR collections, Scopus entries, and coverage in the Social Sciences Citation Index. Indexing facilitates discovery by researchers using catalogs of the National Library of Israel, bibliographies curated by the American Historical Association and subject guides maintained at libraries of Princeton University and Yale University.

Impact and Reception

The journal has been cited in debates over historiographical controversies concerning the New Historians and scholars like Benny Morris, Ilan Pappé, and Tom Segev, and it has influenced policymaker briefings referenced by delegations to the United Nations General Assembly and analysts in think tanks such as the Washington Institute for Near East Policy and the Brookings Institution. Reviews of the journal appear in forums connected to the Journal of Palestine Studies and other area-studies venues, and articles have been discussed at conferences held by the Middle East Studies Association and the European Association for Israel Studies.

Notable Articles and Special Issues

Special issues have focused on anniversaries of the 1948 Arab–Israeli War, the implications of the 1967 Six-Day War for regional borders, migration waves including the Operation Moses and Operation Solomon airlifts, and diasporic connections involving the Jewish Agency for Israel and the World Zionist Organization. Influential articles have examined topics such as demographic politics associated with the Law of Return (1950), memory politics related to the Holocaust and commemorations at sites like Yad Vashem, and legal analyses drawing on cases before the High Court of Justice (Israel).

Access and Availability

The journal is available to subscribers through institutional libraries at universities including University of California, Berkeley, University of Chicago, and London School of Economics, and via electronic platforms used by research libraries and consortia. Back issues are held in archives at the National Library of Israel and in microform and digital repositories used by scholars studying archives from the Central Zionist Archives and collections of the Israel State Archives.

Category:Academic journals