Shavit, Uriya

Uriya Shavit (Hebrew: אוריה שביט; born June 1975) is an Israeli author and Full Professor at Tel Aviv University (TAU). He specializes in research on Islamic law, theology, and politics in modern Islam, Muslim minorities in the West, processes of liberalization and democratization in the world, and the Haredi society in Israel. Between 2016 and 2021, he headed the Department of Arabic and Islamic Studies and concurrently led the Religious Studies program at Tel Aviv University. Since 2021, he has been the head of the SDU-TAU Joint Institute for Jewish and Israel Studies. In 2022, he also became the Head of the Center for the Study of Contemporary European Jewry and the Irwin Cotler Institute for Democracy, Justice, and Human Rights. Since 2022, Shavit has served as the editor-in-chief of the annual report on the state of antisemitism worldwide, published by the Center for Research on Contemporary European Jewryand the Irwin Cotler Institute for Democracy, Justice, and Human Rights at Tel Aviv University. The report has received extensive coverage in global media outlets. In 2021, Shavit initiated an online course for basic Arabic language learning, made freely available to the entire Tel Aviv University community. Hundreds of faculty members and students participated in the course. The book "Zionism in Arab Discourses" (co-authored with Dr. Ofir Winter) about approaches to Zionism in Arab thought was the first Hebrew book to be published in Arabic translation in the United Arab Emirates after the signing of the Abraham Accords. Four of Shavit's children's books were selected for the Ministry of Education's "Book Parade." Between 1997 and 2008, Shavit held various senior journalistic positions. He served as a foreign news editor and commentator at Haaretz newspaper, authored the columns "Atlas" and "Kaduri" in Haaretz's Friday edition, worked as an investigative journalist for Haaretz's magazine, and was the editor of the weekend supplements for Maariv and Makor Rishon. He also contributed book reviews for Yedioth Ahronoth.