Kedar joined the Faculty of Law at Bar Ilan University in 2000. In 2013 he was appointed as Dean of Sapir Law School, a position he held until 2017. Kedar became Vice President for Academic Affairs at Sapir in 2019, and became a full professor in 2021. In July 2022 he was appointed President of Sapir Academic College.
Other research areas are the history of Israel’s judicial system; law and Identity in Israel and comparative law.
President of Sapir Academic College
During Kedar's leadership, the college has supported social involvement projects to help Bedouin students, students from the neighboring peripheral cities, and those with physical and learning disabilities reach higher education.
Following the October 7 attacks, Kedar has coordinated the College's efforts to evacuate staff and students, establish emergency funds, and provide psychological support. Sapir opened for frontal learning in March 2024.
In May 2024 Kedar signed a memorandum of understanding with The Hebrew University on establishing a new faculty for health professions on the Sapir campus. Sapir has also announced that a new faculty for advanced technology will open in 2026. Following the announcement, Kedar said that one of Sapir’s missions "is to develop into a large and leading academic institution in research, teaching and social involvement".
Publications
Selected books
Nir Kedar, Mamlakhtiyut: David Ben-Gurion’s Civic Thought, Ben-Gurion University Press & Yad Ben-Zvi 2009. (Hebrew).
Nir Kedar, Ben-Gurion and the Constitution, (Hebrew) Bar-Ilan University Press & Dvir Press, 2015.
Nir Kedar, Law and Identity in Israel: A Century of Debate, Cambridge University Press 2019.
Nir Kedar, Blue and White Law: Identity and Law in Israel, A Century-Long Polemic, Ben-Gurion University Press, The Open University of Israel Press and Tel Aviv University Press 2017 (Hebrew).
Nir Kedar, Ben-Gurion and the Foundation of Israeli Democracy, Indiana University Press 2021.
Selected articles
Nir Kedar, “Ben-Gurion’s Mamlakhtiyut: Etymological and Theoretical Roots,” 7.2 Israel Studies (2002) 117-133.
Nir Kedar, “Law, Culture and Civil Codification in a Mixed Legal System,” 22 Canadian Journal of Law and Society (2007) 177-195.
Nir Kedar, “A Civilian Commander in Chief: Ben-Gurion’s Mamlakhtiyut, the Army and the Law,” 14:2 Israel Affairs (2008), 202-217.
Nir Kedar, “Democracy and Judicial Autonomy in Israel’s Early Years,” 15.1 Israel Studies (2010), pp.25–46.
Avi Bareli and Nir Kedar, Israeli Republicanism, Israel Democracy Institute 2011 (Hebrew).
Nir Kedar, “Ben-Gurion and the Place of Judaism in Israel,” Journal of Israeli History 32:2 (2013) pp.157–174.
Nir Kedar, “A Scholar, Teacher, Judge, and Jurist in a Mixed Jurisdiction: The Case of Aharon Barak,” 62 Loyola Law Review (2016), pp.659–689.
Nir Kedar, “The rule of law in Israel,” 23.3 Israel Studies (2018), pp.164–171
