Mordechai Zaken

Education and Expertise

He earned his BA (Political Science and Middle Eastern Studies), MA, Cum Laude, and PhD (2003), in Middle Eastern and Islamic Studies at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. He studied as well in the US in both SUNY Binghamton and New York University (1987-1990). Among his influential teachers were Moshe Sharon, Benjamin Z. Kedar and the late semitic linguist Gideon Goldenberg, with whom he published the Book of Ruth in Neo-Aramaic. He published another Neo-Aramaic text in a book honoring Goldenberg's jubilee.

Prime Minister's Advisor on Arabs & Minorities Affairs

From 1997 when he became the Prime Minister adviser on Arab affairs onwards he became involved in many different events and developments that took place within Israel in regards to the complex relations between the State and the Arab minorities. He has created working and mutual relations with many local leaders and mayors of Arab and Beduin communities in Israel and in 2016 created a new forum for dialogue with the participants of local mayors and Moshe Arens, a former Minister of Defence, and a known advocate of the enhancement of Jewish-Arab relations in Israel. He also speaks and interviewed on these subjects.

Founding the Government-Christian Forum

As the advisor on Israeli Arabs and minorities affairs to both the Israeli Prime Minister and the Ministry of Public Security, Mordechai Zaken maintained close contact with leaders of religious and ethnic minorities and has been standing up against hate crimes. In 2013 He initiated rogether with other high ranking official in the Israeli government and christian leaders and colleagues the Government – Christians Forum that addresses the concerns of the Christian communiry vis a vis the government. Two of the prominent leaders in the side of the Christians helping in establishing this forum have been Rev. Charles (Chuck) Kopp, of the Baptist Church in Jerusalem and Rev. David Pillegi, Rector of the Christ Church located inside Jaffa Gate in Jerusalem.

The dispute between Muslims and Christians in Nazareth

He was the coordinator of the Ministerial Committee set to resolve the dispute between Muslims and Christians in Nazareth, re. a dispute near the Basilica of the Annunciation. The daily presence of Muslim activists around the outdoor, small, closed, old mosque, known as "Shihab al-Din," became an obstacle for the plan to built an open plaza that was to be prepared for the historical visit of the Pope John Paul II in the year 2000. He constructed the final draft for the cabinet resolution, which was used by the State Attorney in the Supreme Court to repel the appeal against the government, in the years 2001-2003.

Director of (ISFI, Institute of Students and Faculty on Israel)in New York

Moti Zaken served as the last National Director of ISFI, or "The Institute of Students and Faculty on Israel," in New York, an organization under the auspices of the Israeli Foreign Ministry and the Israeli Consulate in New York City (1989 -1991). is a flyer distributed by ISFI in universities during the late 1980s and early 1990s ISFI provided political and cultural resources, ideas and tools, for Jewish and pro-Israel student activists throughout the US and Canada, through which Israeli oriented activities and the message of Israel could be promoted in US campuses."ISRAEL ACTIVIST CALENDAR" was originated by ISFI leaders and activists to promote Israeli oriented activities in campuses and in communities in the US

Journalism, Media and Public Speaking

In 1982, as Chief-Editor of the students' newspaper at the Hebrew University "Pi-Ha'aton"(Heb., "The donkey's mouth," taken from the Book of Numbers, 22:28), one of his main journalistic achievements was the unearthing of an old photograph from 1948, taken by Arabs and showing mutilated faces and bodies of Jewish soldiers that were part of an army unit that later became known as "Nabi Daniel caravan." He published the photograph and the story behind its discovery in a special Independense Day Edition, on 26 April 1982. As a scholar, Dr. Zaken has been a frequent guest in radio and TV programs, speaking mostly on the Kurds and the minorities in the Middle East, and has been interviewed by newspapers as an expert on these subjects.an article in Germany about the minorities in Israel He also speaks in public on these topics.radio interview radio interviewradio interviewradio interviewradio interview radio interview

Thesis (Ph.D.), The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, 2003

Books (including translations)

Selected lectures or conference participation

Selected articles