Shlomo Sand (born September 10, 1946) is an Israeli historian and professor emeritus at Tel Aviv University. He is best known for his controversial books The Invention of the Jewish People (2008) and The Invention of the Land of Israel (2012), which challenge traditional Jewish national narratives. Born in Linz, Austria, to Polish Jewish Holocaust survivors, Sand moved to Israel in 1948. He studied history at Tel Aviv University and earned his PhD from the École des Hautes Études en Sciences Sociales in Paris. His research focuses on nationalism, historiography, and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Sand's works have sparked intense debate, with critics accusing him of anti-Zionism, while supporters praise his revisionist approach. He argues that Jewish national identity is a modern construct and calls for rethinking Israel's Jewish character.
