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Steven Plaut

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01In brief

Steven Plaut was an economist, author, and commentator who taught business finance and economics at the University of Haifa. His commentary linked Israeli identity closely to Jewish consciousness and history; he argued that the Oslo peace process reflected “Israeli self-hatred and Jewish assimilationism inside Zion.” His work included research on emigration from Israel and commentary on income distribution. He also wrote on Palestinian economic conditions. He participated in organizations scrutinizing political activism in Israeli academia.

02Early Life and Education

Plaut was a native of Philadelphia and earned a PhD in economics from Princeton University.[1] He subsequently taught business finance and economics at the University of Haifa, where his academic affiliation included the Graduate School of Business Administration.[1][8]

03Career and Public Life

Plaut’s research included The Out Movement of Israelis, issued in Haifa in 1982 as Technion Discussion Paper no. 316.[3] The work was cited in a 1988 article on emigration from Israel in the Jewish Journal of Sociology.[3]

In commentary published in February 2003, Plaut’s research on Israeli income distribution was used to challenge claims of ethnic income inequality.[4] His stated conclusion was that “a person of a certain gender, education and age is in the same income bracket whether he is an Arab, Sephardi or Ashkenazi.”[4] His analysis took account of gender, education, age, and family age structure.[4] He also argued that family-size choices could contribute to income disparities without those disparities necessarily being attributable to discrimination.[4]

The demographic explanation associated with this argument included the claims that the Arab sector had more children per capita and that Israeli Arabs were, on average, ten years younger than Israeli Jews.[4] A municipal-tax comparison attributed to Plaut put the share of residents paying property taxes in Jewish-sector towns at approximately 80 percent, while stating that 72.9 percent of residents in Umm el-Fahm did not pay them.[4]

In 2006, Plaut and Dana Brent ran Israeli Academia Monitor, a website scrutinizing Israeli academics’ political activities.[6] Brent described its purpose as examining what she regarded as the use of publicly funded university positions to promote political views.[6] Its targets included Ilan Pappe and other academics whom the monitor characterized as “post-Zionist.”[6] A 2010 Jewish Political Studies Review article characterized Plaut as one of the most prominent academics in the small group running IsraCampus, which it described as having been established in 2008 by academics who broke away from Israel Academia Monitor.[7]

Plaut also contributed commentary to the online magazine FrontPage, including material gathered from Vittorio Arrigoni’s Facebook page.[8] He alleged that the page included a blood-libel claim and a sign excluding Israelis and dogs from a store.[8]

In a 2013 interview about a World Bank analysis of the Palestinian economy, Plaut criticized the report’s assumptions and its treatment of political and security factors, saying, “They produce findings to match their political agenda.”[5] He argued that Palestinian economic conditions needed to be understood in relation to security arrangements and terrorism, and that free trade with Israel would benefit Palestinians if terrorism ceased.[5] He further maintained that the analysis omitted the costs of Israeli security measures to Israel and placed primary responsibility for Palestinian economic problems on the Palestinian Authority, Fatah, and Hamas.[5]

04Legacy and Writings

Plaut’s writings included “The Collapse of Israeliness,” published in Nativ: A Journal of Politics and the Arts in January 2002, and Jewish Enablers of the War against Israel, published by the David Horowitz Freedom Center in 2011.[2] He also authored David Horowitz Freedom Center booklets about Hamas.[1] His article “Israel’s Socialist Dreams vs. Capitalist Realities” appeared through the Middle East Forum in June 2016 and was included in a contemporary reading list on Israel.[9]

A 2022 discussion of Jewish responses to accusations against Israel revisited Plaut’s arguments after his death.[2] Plaut maintained that Israeli identity should not be separated from Jewishness and Jewish history.[2] He wrote: “An Israeliness well-grounded in Jewish consciousness would never have given rise to a struggle for acceptance based upon the presumption that people hate Jews because of Jewish sins, selfishness, shortcomings, and misdeeds.”[2] His description of the Oslo process as a product of self-hatred and assimilationism expressed this broader critique of an Israeli identity detached from Jewish consciousness.[2]

05Controversies

Plaut’s interventions on ethnic income differences and Palestinian economic conditions involved politically charged arguments.[4][5] His work monitoring academic activism was also politically contested.[6] The published account of his income-distribution findings and municipal-tax comparisons supplied neither the underlying study nor its methodology or data.[4] His allegations concerning Arrigoni were published without an immediate response from Arrigoni’s associates or Amnesty International Ireland, despite attempts to contact them.[8] His statements on Oslo and Israeli identity were political interpretations, while his criticisms of the World Bank represented his assessment of its analysis rather than independently established findings.[2][5]

Sources

  1. 1Jewish News Syndicate, The legacy of 9/11 hero Danny Lewin, accessed on November 12, 2026.
  2. 2Jerusalem Center for Security and Foreign Affairs, Israel as Dreyfus: Responses of Jews to Accusations against Israel, accessed on November 12, 2026.
  3. 3Institute for Jewish Policy Research, accessed on November 12, 2026.
  4. 4CAMERA, accessed on November 12, 2026.
  5. 5Jewish News Syndicate, World Bank report on Palestinian economy may contain more assumptions than realities, accessed on November 12, 2026.
  6. 6Ynetnews, Academics against ‘post-Zionist’ professors, accessed on November 12, 2026.
  7. 7Jerusalem Center for Security and Foreign Affairs, Watching the Pro-Israeli Academic Watchers, accessed on November 12, 2026.
  8. 8The Jerusalem Post, Italian politician: Vittorio Arrigoni was ‘enemy of Jews’, accessed on November 12, 2026.
  9. 9Center for Israel Education, #40 Contemporary Readings, June 2016, accessed on November 12, 2026.

IsraelPedia Question & Answers

  • Who was Steven Plaut?

    Steven Plaut was an economist, author, and commentator who taught business finance and economics at the University of Haifa. His writing linked Israeli identity to Jewish consciousness and history, and he commented on emigration from Israel, income distribution, and Palestinian economic conditions. He also participated in organizations scrutinizing political activism in Israeli academia.

  • Where did Steven Plaut study and teach?

    Steven Plaut earned a PhD in economics from Princeton University and later taught business finance and economics at the University of Haifa. His academic affiliation there included the Graduate School of Business Administration.

  • What did Steven Plaut argue about income differences in Israel?

    Steven Plaut argued that people with similar gender, education, and age were in the same income bracket whether they were Arab, Sephardi, or Ashkenazi. His analysis also considered family age structure and suggested that family-size choices could contribute to income disparities without those disparities necessarily resulting from discrimination. The published account did not provide the underlying study, methodology, or data.

  • What was Israeli Academia Monitor?

    Israeli Academia Monitor was a website that Steven Plaut and Dana Brent ran in 2006 to scrutinize Israeli academics’ political activities. Brent said it examined what she regarded as the use of publicly funded university positions to promote political views. Its targets included Ilan Pappe and other academics the monitor characterized as “post-Zionist.”

  • What did Steven Plaut say about the World Bank’s analysis of the Palestinian economy?

    Steven Plaut criticized the World Bank analysis for its assumptions and treatment of political and security factors, saying its findings matched a political agenda. He argued that Palestinian economic conditions should be considered in relation to security arrangements and terrorism, and that free trade with Israel would benefit Palestinians if terrorism ceased. He also placed primary responsibility for Palestinian economic problems on the Palestinian Authority, Fatah, and Hamas.

  • What did Steven Plaut write about Israeli identity and Jewish history?

    Steven Plaut maintained that Israeli identity should not be separated from Jewishness and Jewish history. He argued that an Israeli identity grounded in Jewish consciousness would not seek acceptance on the presumption that people hate Jews because of Jewish shortcomings or misdeeds. He described the Oslo process as reflecting “Israeli self-hatred and Jewish assimilationism inside Zion.”

  • What were some of Steven Plaut’s publications?

    Steven Plaut’s writings included “The Collapse of Israeliness,” published in Nativ: A Journal of Politics and the Arts in January 2002, and Jewish Enablers of the War against Israel, published by the David Horowitz Freedom Center in 2011. He also authored David Horowitz Freedom Center booklets about Hamas. His article “Israel’s Socialist Dreams vs. Capitalist Realities” appeared through the Middle East Forum in June 2016.