Dr. Emmanuel Navon is a lecturer in International Relations and Diplomatic Studies at Tel Aviv University, currently on leave while serving as Israel’s Ambassador to Japan. He joined Tel Aviv University in 2002 and taught there for twenty-four years before taking up his diplomatic post in August 2026.
At Tel Aviv University, Dr. Navon taught courses on Israel’s foreign policy, diplomacy, geopolitics, globalization, European foreign policy, and the evolution of the international system. He taught in the Abba Eban Graduate Program for Diplomacy and contributed to programmes in political science and security studies, including courses designed for senior government and public-sector officials. In 2022, he received the Faculty of Social Sciences Award for Excellence in Teaching in recognition of the quality of his teaching and his engagement with students.
His research focuses on international order, diplomacy, nationalism and democracy, European foreign policy, Israel’s foreign relations, and the geopolitics of energy and security. He has published in peer-reviewed journals, including Review of International Studies and the Israel Journal of Foreign Affairs, and has contributed extensively to academic, policy, and public debates on international affairs.
Dr. Navon is the author of several books on international politics and Israeli foreign policy. His book The Star and the Scepter: A Diplomatic History of Israel (Jewish Publication Society/University of Nebraska Press, 2020) has been translated into Hebrew, Chinese, Japanese, French, and Italian. He has also completed The Continent and the High Seas, a study of the historical and structural forces shaping the international system and the changing balance of global power.
A graduate of Sciences Po in Paris, Dr. Navon earned his doctorate in international relations from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. His university teaching career began at Bar-Ilan University, and he subsequently taught at Reichman University and Israel’s National Security College.
Alongside his academic career, Dr. Navon held senior positions in public policy and international affairs. He served as a Senior Fellow at the Jerusalem Institute for Strategy and Security, as CEO of ELNET-Israel, and, from January to July 2026, as the founding CEO of the Euro-Med Middle East Council. He has addressed government officials, diplomats, military officers, policy experts, and academic audiences across Europe, North America, Asia, and Africa.
In August 2026, Dr. Navon went on leave from Tel Aviv University to represent the State of Israel in Japan.
