My name is Eran Tzidkiyahu, I am a scholar studying Jewish-Arab relations and a geopolitical guide of the Holy Land.
I trained as a historical-political sociologist, specializing in the interface between religious and national movements. I wrote my Ph.D. dissertation in the Paris Institute of Political Sciences (Sciences Po), under the title: “From the Margins to the Center: Religious-Nationalism in the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict – A Comparative Approach”. I am also an alumni of the Department of Islamic and Middle Eastern Studies at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem.
On 2023-2024, As a post-doctoral fellow at the Hebrew University, I study the Jewish-Muslim struggle over the Temple Mount/al-Aqsa Mosque. I also teach a course on the Holy Esplanade “Between Heaven and Earth” in the department of Political Science at the Hebrew University. As a Research Fellow at the Forum for Regional Thinking, I write on religious-nationalism in the Middle East, the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, Jewish-Arab relations in Israel and the occupied territories with an emphasis on East Jerusalem and the city’s holy sites. I host the Hebrew language podcast on Middle East affairs in partnership with the Van Leer Institute, the Forum for Regional Thinking and the Middle East & Islamic Studies Association of Israel (MEISAI).
I have been working as a tour guide since 2005. I started guiding in the Israeli education system through the Yad Izhak Ben-Zvi school of Jerusalem studies. In 2008 I began guiding geopolitical tours and introductory lectures on East Jerusalem (first through Ir Amim). In 2009, I worked as an intern at the Jerusalem Institute for Policy Research (as a Legacy Heritage Fellow), where I first learned to bridge between academic knowledge and policy making. In 2013-2016, based both in Jerusalem and Strasbourg, I worked as an advisor to the secretariat of the Council of Religious Institutions of the Holy Land (CRIHL), consulting the chief official religious authorities in Israel and the Palestinian Authority – Israel’s Chief Rabbinate, The PA’s Ministry of Waqf and Religious Affairs and the Head of Churches – on how to involve religious leaders in the process of negotiations around USA Secretary of States John Kerry’s attempts to renew the Israeli-Palestinian peace talks. In 2014-2015 I worked as a program director at Search for Common Ground (SFCG, the world’s largest international NGO working to end violent conflicts), leading the Jerusalem desk of the Holy Land Pilot of the Universal Code of Conduct on Holy Sites.
Since 2016 I work mainly as an independent geopolitical guide, lecturer and consultant. Among my clients are senior politicians, policy makers, diplomats, academic and research institutes, civil society organizations, NGOs and journalists dealing with the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and Jewish-Arab relations. I guide all over the country (Israel-Palestine) and also, at times, in other conflict areas around the world.
I am currently on the managing boards of several civil society initiatives and organizations in Jerusalem, Israel and Palestine. I am fluent in Hebrew, Arabic, English and French. I live in Jerusalem with my wife, where we raise together three boys and two cats.
