Igal Avidan was born in Tel Aviv in 1962. After studying English Literature and Computer Science in Israel, he moved to Germany to study Political Science in Berlin. Since 1990 he is a well known expert of the Middle East, working for German radio and newspapers. In 2017, his book Mod Helmy. Wie ein arabischer Arzt in Berlin Juden vor der Gestapo rettete (Mod Helmy. How an Arab doctor saved German Jews from the Gestapo in Berlin) was published. The demand for readings continues to this day.