Moshe Dayan Center for Middle Eastern and African Studies

The Center is devoted to the interdisciplinary study of the modern history and contemporary affairs of the Middle East. The Center seeks to impart an understanding of the Middle Eastern past and present to academic and general audiences in Israel and abroad. A part of the School of History and the Lester and Sally Entin Faculty of Humanities at Tel Aviv University, the Center's origins lie in the Reuven Shiloah Institute, which was incorporated into Tel Aviv University in 1965. The university combined the Shiloah Institute and documentation units dealing with the Middle East to establish the Center in 1983. Over the years, the Center has played a renowned role in illuminating the Middle East through research, publications, conferences, documentary collections, and public service. Its mission has been to bring scholarly objectivity to the analysis of subjects that often elicit strong emotional response. It does not take positions or recommend policies but seeks to inform the academic community, policymakers, journalists, and the general public about the complexities of the Middle East to advance peace through understanding.