Professor Shaul Mishal, Leading Hamas Expert and 1967 Givat HaTahmoshet Fighter, Dies at 81

Professor Shaul Mishal, a prominent Israeli scholar of Palestinian and Arab politics and a leading expert on Hamas, passed away on Tuesday at the age of 81. Mishal was also a veteran of the fierce 1967 battle for Givat HaTahmoshet during the Six-Day War, where he served as a machine gunner in the Paratroopers Brigade's 66th Battalion. He was among the first fighters to breach the Jordanian outpost trenches alongside fellow soldier Eitan Neveh, who was later awarded the Medal of Valor.

Born in Baghdad in 1945, Mishal immigrated to Israel with his family in 1951. He earned his doctorate in political science from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and furthered his studies at Yale University. Mishal served as a professor emeritus of political science at Tel Aviv University and headed the Middle East division at the Interdisciplinary Center Herzliya, now Reichman University. He was also a founding member of the Center for the Study of Arab Society in Israel and lectured at Yale and Harvard.

Throughout his academic career, Mishal published extensively on Palestinian society, Hamas, and Middle Eastern politics. During the 2014 Gaza conflict, Operation Protective Edge, he appeared in a Ynet interview analyzing Hamas’s strategic impact beyond military confrontations, emphasizing the group’s influence in the Arab world and the weakening position of the Palestinian Authority. Mishal highlighted Hamas’s ability to strike deep into Israel, including Tel Aviv, and stressed the need for a broader strategic perspective rather than reactive military responses.

Mishal is survived by his partner Ruti and their three children, Yishai, Tamuz, and Tal. His brother is noted journalist Nissim Mishal. His funeral is scheduled for today at 2 p.m. at Yarkon Cemetery, Sha'ar HaChesed gate.