Jake Beckert (He/Him)

I am a historian of Israel/Palestine, American Jewish history, and global capitalism , with a particular focus on the intersection of American economic development, finance, and political transformation in Mandatory Palestine. My research examines how American  Jewish investors—many of whom identified as non-Zionist—channeled capital into Jewish agriculture and industry during the 1920s and 1930s. These financiers framed their investments as purely “non-political,” yet their efforts played a critical role in shaping the region’s economic landscape and reinforcing the material foundations of Jewish settlement.

My dissertation focuses on the Palestine Economic Corporation (PEC), a transnational development corporation founded by American non-Zionist Jewish financiers, which became the primary vehicle for these investment efforts. Through an analysis of PEC’s operations, I explore how its leaders' claims of economic neutrality were entangled with broader discourses of Jewish philanthropy, development, global capitalism, and scientific progress. Despite their insistence on political detachment, these financial interventions ultimately advanced the very nationalist projects they sought to remain separate from, profoundly influencing Palestine’s political and economic trajectory.