Johannes Becke

Prof. Dr. Johannes Becke is a Political Scientist at the Heidelberg School of Jewish Studies, holding the Ben-Gurion Chair for Israel and Middle East Studies since 2020. He serves as Dean of Studies and is a co-opted member of the University of Heidelberg's Faculty of Philosophy.

• Principal Investigator & Deputy Spokesperson, DFG Research Training Group (2023–present)
• Supervisor, Federal Ministry of Education and Research project (2022–present)
• Former Head of Volkswagen Foundation research group (2020–2022)

His research examines state formation, territorial expansion, and transcultural dynamics in Israel, the Middle East, and North Africa. Recent work focuses on ambivalent enmity theories and historical entanglements between Jewish and Arab communities.

Current projects include Beyond Conflict and Cooperation (BMBF) and Ambivalent Enmity (DFG). He has previously led initiatives like the podcast Mecca and Jerusalem (2019–2020) and the Volkswagen-funded project on state evasion (2020–2022).