Jacob (Kobi) Metzer (Hebrew: יעקב (קובי) מצר; born 1942) is an Israeli economic historian who is the Alexander Brody Emeritus Professor of Economic History in the Department of Economics at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, and the eighth President of the Open University of Israel.

Metzer completed his undergraduate degree in economics and history at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem in 1967, and received his master's (1969) and doctorate (1972) in economics from the University of Chicago.

[1][2] Metzer is an economic historian and a substantial part of his research has been devoted to the economy of Mandatory Palestine and Israel, and to economic aspects of ethno-nationality and settler societies.

[1][3][4][5] In 2013 Metzer was appointed to serve as the eighth President of the Open University of Israel, replacing Professor Hagit Messer Yaron.

[2] Metzer was a member of the Executive Committee of the International Economic History Association from 1998 to 2006.