Moshe Sakal is an internationally published Hebrew novelist born in Tel Aviv into a Jewish-Arab family rooted in Damascus and Cairo, descendants of Damascene jewelers. After living in Paris, he has been based in Berlin since 2019.
A significantly revised edition of his novel The Diamond Setter will be published by Other Press in Summer 2026.
His six Hebrew novels, including The Diamond Setter (translated by Jessica Cohen) and Yolanda (published in French by Stock), explore exile, diaspora, queer identity, and the shared Arab-Jewish world before 1948. His work has been translated into English, French, and German.
Sakal is co-founder of Altneuland Press in Berlin, the first Hebrew publishing house established outside Israel since 1948. He regularly contributes essays to Le Monde, Libération, Haaretz, and Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung. His recent work includes the literary meditation Bina and Louise (2025) and the ongoing essay series "Mensch und Maschine" in Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung exploring artificial intelligence and human nature.
A two-time Sapir Prize nominee, Eshkol Prize winner, Fulbright Scholar, and Honorary Fellow in Writing at the University of Iowa, Sakal received the Berlin Senate's Literature Grant in 2021.
Photo: Boaz Arad
THE DIAMOND SETTER (Revised Edition) Other Press | Forthcoming Summer 2026
A significantly revised edition focusing on two families—one Palestinian, one Jewish—connected by a blue diamond that passes between Damascus, Jaffa, and Tel Aviv. Includes new preface and updated background on recent developments in Damascus.
“Maybe We Can Never Go Back”: An Interview with Moshe Sakal in The Los Angeles Review of Books.
Podcast listening: The Old/New Middle East, The Tel Aviv Review.
SELECTED PUBLICATIONS
For full publications in German, click on this page.
New project: “Mensch und Maschine” – A series of philosophical essays on AI, technology, and human nature, published in Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung throughout 2025. Read more in German here.
Le Monde: "Literature Must Approach AI as an Opportunity." Link or full PDF (French)
“Take us to see the Mona Lisa, Uncle Moshe!”: French, Libération or English , JBC
Instructions for Eating Granny Ora’s Kibbeh, Words Without Borders
De Beauvoir and Sartre on the Kibbutz, World Literature Today
Israel’s “melting pot” turns 70: This is why I call myself an Arab Jew, Salon
Sodom and Diaspora—Jewish Identity in ‘Call Me By Your Name’, IntoMore
Excerpt from MY SISTER, The Literary Review
We Have Led Others Astray, Haaretz
Even Amid Spreading Violence, Time Mostly Stands Still in Mixed Yaffo, The Forward
