Nir Avieli is Professor of Anthropology in the Department of Sociology and Anthropology at Ben-Gurion University, Israel, and former president of the Israeli Anthropological Association. He studies food culture, tourism, gender, heritage, and leisure, and has pursued fieldwork in Vietnam, Israel, Thailand, Zanzibar and, as of recently Greece.

Fran Markowitz is Professor Emerita in the Department of Sociology and Anthropology at Ben-Gurion University, Israel. Her publications address issues in ethnography, community, identity, religion, diasporas, and race. Most recently, Fran (with Nir Avieli) has been researching veganism and millenarianism, and (with Dafna Shir-Vertesh), the phenomenon of almost-peace and almost-war in Israel.