The Joe Alon Center is an institute with a unique combination of museum, research center,and field school - all dedicated to the promotion of regional studies.

The center was established by the Joe Alon Association, with the generous assistance of the J.N.F. and individual donors, to commemorate Joe Alon - an israeli pilot, who was murdered during a diplomatic assignment in the United States.

The Joe Alon Center was officially opened in 1980. It is operated with the help of Bnei-Shimon Regional Council, and various support groups. The Museum for Bedouin Culture was officially opened in 1985.

The Center is located in the north-eastern Negev, in the highest part of the southern Shephelah, at approximately 500 meters above sea level. Set against Bedouin tents and modern settlements, it is in the heart of an area rich in archaeology and scenic beauty, at a distance of only one and a half hour travel from both Tel-aviv and Jerusalem, and half an hour from Be'er-Sheva.

The center devotes its activity to the geographical area between Mount Hebron in the east to the Coastal Plain in the west, Lachish Region in the north and Be'er-Sheva Valley in the south.

This region, which remained relatively undeveloped until 1967, is unique since it lies where the flora and fauna of the hill country, the coastal plain and the desert meet; A region with modern and old fashion agriculture, nomadic bedouin tents and permanent farming villages (Fellahin).