Yehoshua Porath is an Israeli historian and professor emeritus of Middle East history.

Academic career

Yehoshua Porath is a lecturer in the History of Muslim Countries at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem

Hebrew University of Jerusalem

The Hebrew University of Jerusalem ; ; abbreviated HUJI) is Israel's second-oldest university, after the Technion – Israel Institute of Technology. The Hebrew University has three campuses in Jerusalem and one in Rehovot. The world's largest Jewish studies library is located on its Edmond J...

. He specializes in the history of Palestinian nationalism

Palestinian nationalism

Palestinian nationalism is the national movement of the Palestinian people. It has roots in Pan-Arabism and other movements rejecting colonialism and calling for national independence. More recently, Palestinian Nationalism is expressed through the Israeli–Palestinian conflict...

.

Political views

Porath was on the Meretz list in the 1992 Israeli elections

Israeli legislative election, 1992

Elections for the thirteenth Knesset were held in Israel on 23 June 1992. The result was a victory for the left, led by Yitzhak Rabin's Labor Party, though their win was at least partially due to several small right-wing parties narrowly failing to cross the electoral threshold and thus effectively...

 for the Knesset

Knesset

The Knesset is the unicameral legislature of Israel, located in Givat Ram, Jerusalem.-Role in Israeli Government :The legislative branch of the Israeli government, the Knesset passes all laws, elects the President and Prime Minister , approves the cabinet, and supervises the work of the government...

. He later changed his political views and became a supporter of the right. He opposed the Oslo accords between PLO and Israel. In the 1996 elections

Israeli legislative election, 1996

Elections for the fourteenth Knesset were held in Israel on 29 May 1996. Voter turnout was 79.3%.The 1996 elections included two new changes, both designed to increase the stability of the Knesset. First, the Prime Minister was to be elected on a separate ballot from the remaining members of the...

 he participated in the campaign of the Likud

Likud

Likud is the major center-right political party in Israel. It was founded in 1973 by Menachem Begin in an alliance with several right-wing and liberal parties. Likud's victory in the 1977 elections was a major turning point in the country's political history, marking the first time the left had...

 party and supported Benjamin Netanyahu

Benjamin Netanyahu

Benjamin "Bibi" Netanyahu is the current Prime Minister of Israel. He serves also as the Chairman of the Likud Party, as a Knesset member, as the Health Minister of Israel, as the Pensioner Affairs Minister of Israel and as the Economic Strategy Minister of Israel.Netanyahu is the first and, to...

 for prime minister. In 2010, he criticized Arab attempts to rewrite history claiming that Rachel's Tomb

Rachel's Tomb

Rachel's Tomb , also known as the Dome of Rachel, , is an ancient structure believed to be the burial place of the biblical matriarch Rachel. It is located on the outskirts of Bethlehem, a Palestinian city just south of Jerusalem, in the West Bank...

was a mosque. He said that in Arabic, the site was known as “Rachel’s Dome, a Jewish place of worship."

Published works in English

• The Emergence of the Palestinian-Arab National Movement, 1918-1929, Cass (1974) ISBN 0714629391
• In Search of Arab unity, 1930-1945, Cass (1986) ISBN 0714632643