Assouline, the luxury publisher known for turning global cities into vibrant $100 coffee table books, has turned its lens on several Middle Eastern capitals over the years — most recently Beirut. 

But out of hundreds of titles spanning the globe, not a single Israeli city has made the cut. 

“Beirut Habibi,” launched earlier this month, is the latest addition to Assouline’s Classics Collection, the publisher’s line of glossy travel photography books that has cast a spotlight on cities including Riyadh, Abu Dhabi and Dubai. 

Alexandre Assouline, the company’s chief of operations, said in a 2023 Arab News interview that Saudi Arabia approached the publisher directly, commissioning a series of books devoted to the country.  

The French publishing house, founded by husband-and-wife team Prosper and Martine Assouline, has published a handful of explicitly Jewish titles since it was established in 1994. In 2014, Assouline published The Light of Jerusalem, featuring black-and-white photography and excerpts of writing by Elie Wiesel, but no Israeli city has ever been featured in the Classics Collection. 

Prosper Assouline, who comes from a Moroccan Jewish family, has shared that a traditional Passover Haggadah from his Moroccan grandfather inspired some of the company’s book line. The Haggadah by Assouline was published in 2001 as a limited collector’s edition, and later released in a special hardcover edition in 2008. 

Assouline has also published photo and art books Symbols of Judaism (1996), The Burnt Book: Reading the Talmud (1995), Mysteries of the Kabbalah (2000) and Bar Mitzvah: A Guide to Spiritual Growth, (2006), which Prosper initiated for his son Alexandre’s bar mitzvah.

Alexandre Assouline has stated that the company creates its publications to “fit in our family’s interests and tastes.” 

Assouline did not respond to a request for comment from Jewish Insider.