Boaz
Garfinkel

Boaz Garfinkel is a PhD candidate in The Azrieli Center for Israel Studies (MALI), Ben-Gurion Research Institute for the Study of Israel and Zionism at Ben-Gurion University of the Negev under the guidance of Prof. Avi Bareli (Ben- Gurion University) and Prof. Danny Gutwein (University of Haifa).

Boaz’s research focuses on understanding the class formation resulting from the government’s housing distribution policy in the early years after the establishment of the State of Israel.

By examining numerous original archival documents, his research investigates the government’s intentions, considerations, and eligibility criteria for the distribution of housing. He hopes that this research will help shed light on the origins and development of social and political inequality in Israel today.

Boaz grew up in Jerusalem and has been living in Haifa for the last eight years. He completed both his BA and MA in the University of Haifa’s Department of Jewish History. His MA focused on Israel’s labour history, with a particular emphasis on strike action during the early years of statehood. He now teaches in the same department a course on the transition from feudalism to capitalism. His passion for labour and social history extends beyond academia, and he actively contributes to the intellectual discourse on social and political issues as one of the founders and a member of the editorial board of Pigumim, the Israeli magazine for socialist thought and philosophy. In his free time, Boaz enjoys reading novels, engaging in thought- provoking discussions with friends, and working out.