HAVATZELET YAHEL is a Kreitman Post-Doctoral Fellow at the Ben-Gurion
Research Institute for the Study of Israel & Zionism at Ben-Gurion University of the
Negev. She submitted her doctoral dissertation on "The Policy of the Israeli Government and
State Authorities Regarding the Negev Bedouin: 1947 – 1989, and the Question of
Indigeneity," at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. She completed her MPA at the
Harvard Kennedy School of Government after receiving the Israel Wexner Fellowship
for excellence in the public sector. She holds B.A in Economy and LLB in Law from
Tel-Aviv University.
Yahel was the Deputy to the Southern District Attorney (Civil Matters) at the
Ministry of Justice in Israel, where she was also the founder and director of the Land
Department. As a litigator, Yahel represented the State of Israel in various high
profile court cases and was a member in many policy-making forums in her field. She
also served as an advisor to the Goldberg Commission whose mission was to present a
solution to the land and settlement conflicts between the State and the Bedouins.
Yahel is the author of several publications on Land rights, Indigenous rights and
Negev Bedouin.
Selected Publications

Yahel H. and R. Kark, "Reasoning from History: Israel's 'Peace Law' and the
Resettlement of Tel Malhata Bedouin", Israel Studies (forthcoming 2016).

Yahel H. and R. Kark, "Israel Bedouin during the 1948 War: Departure and
Return", Israel Affairs, 21.1 (2015): 48-97.

Yahel H., R. Kark and S.J. Frantzman, "Are the Negev Bedouin an Indigenous
People?" Middle East quarterly 19 (2012): 3-14.

Frantzman S.J., H. Yahel, R. Kark, "Contested Indigeneity: The Development of
an Indigenous Discourse on the Bedouin of the Negev, Israel", Israel Studies,
17.1 (2012): 78-104.

Yahel H., "Bedouin Land Ownership Claims - New Judgments", Bedouin Notes,
41 (2012):7-17 (in Hebrew).

Yahel H. and C. de-Aztlan, "Legal Infrastructure for Nation Building: A
Resource for Ysleta del Sur Pueblo Tribal Leaders", HUNAP project, Harvard
Cambridge (2007).

Yahel H., "Land Disputes between the Negev Bedouin and Israel", Israel
Studies, 11.2 (2006): 1-22

Yahel H., Land Settlement in the Negev, Bedouin Notes, Sde-Boker, (2006):4560 (in Hebrew).
Courses to be taught at The Israel Studies International Program: Israel's Policy
towards the Negev Bedouin: Land and Settlement.