The Ben-Gurion Institute for the Study of Israel and Zionism at Ben-Gurion University of the Negev was established under the 1976 David Ben-Gurion Law and on the basis of an agreement signed in 1982 between the Ben-Gurion Heritage Institute and Ben-Gurion University of the Negev.

The Institute addresses the study, documentation, and research of Israel and Zionism from multidisciplinary perspectives: history, philosophy, politics, culture, society and geography, and is committed to the study of David Ben-Gurion, first prime minister of the State of Israel.
 
The Institute, located on the campus of Ben-Gurion University in Sde Boker, boasts an academic library, an archive, and a digital information center. The Institute's fifteen faculty members have initiated, founded, and currently lead two academic programs in the field: an undergraduate program in Israel Studies at Ben-Gurion University's Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, and the Woodman-Scheller Israel Studies International Program (WSISIP), run by the Institute. The Institute also hosts doctoral and post-doctoral students from Israel and abroad.