Among the four people murdered in the Sarona Market attack in Tel Aviv was Dr. Michael Feige, 58, from Midreshet Ben-Gurion (Midreshet S’dei Boker).

The following condolence message was posted to the university’s website.

Dr. Michael Feige, 58, was head of the Israel Studies Track in the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences and a member of the Ben-Gurion Research Institute for the Study of Israel and Zionism at Ben-Gurion University of the Negev. A sociologist and anthropologist, he specialized in Israeli society, collective memory and political myth.

His book Settling in the Hearts: Jewish Fundamentalism in the Occupied Territories won the Shapiro Prize for Best Book from the Association of Israel Studies in 2010.

Prof. Oren Yiftachel, head of the Department of Interdisciplinary Studies at BGU:

“Michael was a colleague and friend. This is a very sad day. He was one of those who was head and shoulders above the crowd. An amazing person and a fantastic researcher. An anthropologist and sociologist of Israeli society. He was not political despite researching political subjects. One of his famous research studies was a comparison between Peace Now and the Gush Emunim settlers in his book One Space, Two Places. He has another famous study about Mini Israel, and about what the site says about Israelis.

“He was a very important researcher who delved into sensitive topics and derived interesting insights. He was one of the good ones, open and attentive. He was a true democrat, a rare breed in that regard. This is a heavy loss for our university. He had the ability to understand all sides and therefore he was such a good anthropologist.

He was born in Israel in 1957 and received all three of his degrees from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem in Sociology.

Feige is survived by his wife Nurit and three daughters.

(YWN – Israel Desk, Jerusalem)