Yaakov Havakook

Yaakov Havakook (also Ya'acov; Hebrew: יעקב חבקוק) is a former Israeli security officer and anthropologist.[1][2]

Biography

He gained his bachelor's degree in oriental studies from Tel-Aviv University, his Master's in anthropology from both Tel-Aviv and Be'er-Sheva Universities, an additional Master's in political science from Haifa University and graduated from College of National Security.[3]

Havakook started working for the Israeli Ministry of Defence in 1981, while researching undertaking fieldwork documenting the cave dwellers of Southern Mount Hebron.[4] During his work, he lived with the locals in the caves, khirbas and villages, wore their clothes, ate their food, spoke their language and carried an Arabic nickname.[5] The resulting book, Life in the Caves of Mount Hebron, was published by the Israeli Ministry of Defense in 1985, and is used by both the Israeli army and the Palestinian inhabitants of the caves to bolster their arguments in the ongoing dispute over who has a right to them.[6] His study of the living circumstances among the Negev Bedouin were published in 1985/1986.[7][8][9]

Havakkok continued his security career in undisclosed positions. From 1994 to 2011 he served as Head of the Editing Department in the Ministry's publishing house, until the division was closed. In 2011, Havakook stole printers, monitors, keyboards, a PC computer and office supplies from the offices to his home. From 2011 to 2017 he was Head of the International Communications Unit in the Spokesperson's Directorate of the Ministry of Defence.[10]

In 2018, Havakook was caught and indicted for theft by an employee, and in 2020 convicted under a plea agreement. He received a five-month conditional prison sentence and a fine of ₪10,000. In 2021, the Civil Service Disciplinary Tribunal additionally imposed a severe reprimand, his immediate dismissal from the Ministry of Defence, disqualification from further employment in the ministry.[10]

Awards

Havakook won the Itzhak Sade award for military literature in 1999.[11]

Books

  • Life in the caves of Mount Hebron (1985) (חיים במערות הר חברון)[6]
  • Mibeit Hasecar Leveit Ha'Even ("From the Goat Hair to Stone; Transition in Bedouin Dwellings"; Tel Aviv: Ministry of Defense, 1986)[7]
  • Islamic Terrorism: Profile of the Hamas Movement, with Shakib Saleh (Tel Aviv, 1999)[12][13][14]

References

  1. ^ הקרב על הגבעות: הסיפור המקומם של המלחמה על אדמות סוסיא (The battle on the hills), maariv.co.il, 07/24/2015
  2. ^ "האנתרופולוג שכתב על מסאפר יטא ברור שהיה שתול של מערכת הביטחון". מקום־מיוחד (Mekomit) (in Hebrew). Retrieved 3 September 2025.
  3. ^ "Susya: The Palestinian lie - the village that didn't exist" (PDF). Regavim. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2015-11-26. Retrieved 14 August 2015.
  4. ^ Greenberg, Joel (February 22, 2000). "Cave Dwellers Resent Evictions". The New York Times.
  5. ^ "חיים במערות הר חברון יעקב חבקוק".
  6. ^ a b Levinson, Chaim (5 October 2013). "In the Line of Fire: Life in the Southern Hebron Hills". Haaretz. Retrieved 15 September 2015.
  7. ^ a b Kressel, Gideon M. (1993). "Haqq Akhu Manshad: Major and Minor Wrongs and Specialized Judges among the Negev Bedouin". International Journal of Middle East Studies. 25 (1): 17–31. doi:10.1017/s0020743800058025. JSTOR 164156. S2CID 162700132.
  8. ^ Faust, Avraham (2006). "The Negev "Fortresses" in Context: Reexamining the "Fortress" Phenomenon in Light of General Settlement Processes of the Eleventh-Tenth Centuries B.C.E.". Journal of the American Oriental Society. 126 (2): 135–60. JSTOR 20064474.
  9. ^ Rosen, Steven A.; Saidel, Benjamin A. (2010). "The Camel and the Tent: An Exploration of Technological Change among Early Pastoralists". Journal of Near Eastern Studies. 69 (1): 63–77. doi:10.1086/654940. JSTOR 10.1086/654940. S2CID 161362424.
  10. ^ a b State Civil Service Commission – Disciplinary Tribunal (19 January 2021). "Case G53-20: Disciplinary Tribunal Ruling – Yaakov Havakook" (PDF). State of Israel (gov.il). Retrieved 3 September 2025.
  11. ^ "Scholarships and awards".
  12. ^ Alshech, Eli (2008). "Egoistic Martyrdom and Ḥamās' Success in the 2005 Municipal Elections: A Study of Ḥamās Martyrs' Ethical Wills, Biographies, and Eulogies". Die Welt des Islams. 48 (1): 23–49. doi:10.1163/157006008X294918. JSTOR 20140791.
  13. ^ Bartal, Shaul (2015). Jihad in Palestine: Political Islam and the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict. Routledge. p. 77. ISBN 9781317519614.
  14. ^ Rubin, Barry (2009). Conflict and Insurgency in the Contemporary Middle East. Routledge. p. 238. ISBN 9781134048960.
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