Arnon Soffer (born 24 December 1935) is an Israeli geographer and a professor of
Geography
Geography (from Greek: , ''geographia''. Combination of Greek words ‘Geo’ (The Earth) and ‘Graphien’ (to describe), literally "earth description") is a field of science devoted to the study of the lands, features, inhabitants, and ...
and
environmental sciences
Environmental science is an interdisciplinary academic field that integrates physics, biology, and geography (including ecology, chemistry, plant science, zoology, mineralogy, oceanography, limnology, soil science, geology and physical geo ...
, specialising in water issues and
demography
Demography () is the statistics, statistical study of populations, especially human beings.
Demographic analysis examines and measures the dimensions and Population dynamics, dynamics of populations; it can cover whole societies or groups ...
. Soffer is one of the founders of the
University of Haifa
The University of Haifa ( he, אוניברסיטת חיפה Arabic: جامعة حيفا) is a university located on Mount Carmel in Haifa, Israel. Founded in 1963, the University of Haifa received full academic accreditation in 1972, becoming Is ...
. He is known for his research into demographic, water, environmental, political, and strategy issues of the state of Israel.
Soffer has been vocal about geographical processes that endanger the existence of the State of Israel, and was one of the first to describe the increase in population of Palestinians as a "demographic threat" to the State of Israel.
Biography
Soffer was born in
Tel Aviv
Tel Aviv-Yafo ( he, תֵּל־אָבִיב-יָפוֹ, translit=Tēl-ʾĀvīv-Yāfō ; ar, تَلّ أَبِيب – يَافَا, translit=Tall ʾAbīb-Yāfā, links=no), often referred to as just Tel Aviv, is the most populous city in the G ...
and grew up in
Rishon LeZion
Rishon LeZion ( he, רִאשׁוֹן לְצִיּוֹן , ''lit.'' First to Zion, Arabic: راشون لتسيون) is a city in Israel, located along the central Israeli coastal plain south of Tel Aviv. It is part of the Gush Dan metropolitan ar ...
, which was originally a
moshava
A moshava ( he, מושבה, plural: ''moshavot'' , lit. ''colony'') was a form of rural Jewish settlement in Ottoman Palestine, established by the members of the Old Yishuv since late 1870s and during the first two waves of Jewish Zionist immi ...
and became a city when he turned 15 (in 1950). He and his classmates from the
Gymnasia Realit formed the first
handball
Handball (also known as team handball, European handball or Olympic handball) is a team sport in which two teams of seven players each (six outcourt players and a goalkeeper) pass a ball using their hands with the aim of throwing it into the g ...
team of the city, which operated under the auspices of "
Maccabi". In the 1950s Soffer played in Israel's handball national team. During his military service in the IDF, he served in the
Nahal Brigade
The 933rd "Nahal" Brigade is one of the Israel Defense Forces main infantry brigades. From August 2019 to June 2021, the brigade was led by . On June 28, was appointed as the new commander. However, three days later, on July 1, Asman suddenly ...
.
Soffer has three academic degrees from the
Hebrew University of Jerusalem
The Hebrew University of Jerusalem (HUJI; he, הַאוּנִיבֶרְסִיטָה הַעִבְרִית בִּירוּשָׁלַיִם) is a public research university based in Jerusalem, Israel. Co-founded by Albert Einstein and Dr. Chaim Weiz ...
. In 1965, he was granted a position as a
lecturer
Lecturer is an List of academic ranks, academic rank within many universities, though the meaning of the term varies somewhat from country to country. It generally denotes an academic expert who is hired to teach on a full- or part-time basis. T ...
at the
University of Haifa
The University of Haifa ( he, אוניברסיטת חיפה Arabic: جامعة حيفا) is a university located on Mount Carmel in Haifa, Israel. Founded in 1963, the University of Haifa received full academic accreditation in 1972, becoming Is ...
. Soffer served in a variety of roles in the academic faculty at the University of Haifa, including the Department for Geography, chairman of the Jewish-Arab Center and the Institute for the Study of the Middle East, Dean of the Faculty for Social Sciences and Vice Chairman of the Center for National security research. Since 1970, he has taught, mentored and is involved in the IDF Command and Staff College; In 1978 he became a professor at the National Defense College and was appointed head of the College Research Center in 2007.
Soffer is now retired, and teaches only the security officials studying at the University of Haifa, including students from the National Defense College, Tactical Command College, the
Havatzalot Program
The Havatzalot Program ( he, תכנית חבצלות) is an elite program in the Israel Defense Forces, aimed at train highly skilled intelligence officers for key roles in Israel's Military Intelligence Directorate, also known as Aman. Havatza ...
of the Intelligence Corps, and the Trainee Course of the Israel police. He is married with four children and eight grandchildren.
Criticism
His alleged obsession with the demographic threat posed by the increase of the Arab population led to some of his colleagues at the University of Haifa nicknaming him "Arnon the Arab-counter", a joking reference to the fact that the Hebrew surname Soffer literally means "one who counts". As such he has been credited with working to implement the "separation policy" of Israel. This has been labeled by some Israel critics as modeling
apartheid
Apartheid (, especially South African English: , ; , "aparthood") was a system of institutionalised racial segregation that existed in South Africa and South West Africa (now Namibia) from 1948 to the early 1990s. Apartheid was ...
.
Apartheid
References
External links
Some of Soffer's article
- at the Haifa University website (Hebrew)
Prof. Arnon Soffer's CV
(Hebrew)
(Hebrew)
published in ynetnews.com on 1/24/2006 (English)
* Prof. Arnon Soffer video lecture
Climate refugees
on the academic channel, 1/10/2009 (Hebrew)
* Prof. Arnon Soffer video lecture
The water struggles in the Middle East
on the academic channel, 01/12/2010 (Hebrew)
Prof. Arnon Soffer Collection
on the Digital collections of Younes and Soraya Nazarian Library
The Younes and Soraya Nazarian Library is a central academic library of the University of Haifa, and one of the largest in Israel. It is also one of the most progressive Israeli libraries in terms of service, collection, physical space, and libr ...
, University of Haifa
{{DEFAULTSORT:Soffer, Arnon
University of Haifa faculty
Israeli geographers
Living people
1935 births
Hebrew University of Jerusalem alumni