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Emil Avdaliani specializes on former Soviet space and wider Eurasia with particular focus on Russia’s internal and foreign policy, relations with Iran, China, the EU and the US. He teaches history and international relations at Tbilisi State University and Ilia State University (Georgia). He has worked for various international consulting companies and regularly publishes various works with BESA on military and political developments across Eurasia. He can be reached at [email protected].

(Ph.D. Bar-Ilan University) Specializes in modern Turkey, Turkish history, and the Islamic-spiritual Gulen movement. Senior lecturer in the Dept. of General History at Bar-Ilan University and a research associate at BESA. Email: [email protected]

Dr. Shay Attias is a worldwide expert for Diplomatic Studies & International Communications who coined the notion of “Peer-Peer-Diplomacy Network.” His pioneering research of “Global Citizens & Digital Diplomacy” describes the latest development in diplomatic practice, wherein civilians, by virtue of social media, are not only consumers of government information but also information producers, with the potential to bypass existing official government bodies. Dr. Attias’s Ph.D. Dissertation (Political Science – Bar-Ilan Univ.) was dedicated to exploring the “Evaluation of Diplomacy” from “Modern time to the Digital Age” implemented on “US Foreign Policymaking” during the ‘Global War on Terror.’ As a former Senior Public Diplomat who founded the Israeli Agency for Public Diplomacy at the Prime Minister’s Office, Dr. Attias carries vast practical experience in Diplomacy & Security. Today, he is a lecturer in the School of Communication at Bar-Ilan University, where he teaches Public Diplomacy and Global Diplomatic Crisis Management.

Dr. Dana Barnett (Ph.D. King’s College London). Specializes in the nexus between post-Zionism and the Israeli academy. She focuses on the politicization of scholarship by activist academics who use their position to pursue a radical political agenda.
Barnett is the Director of Israel Academia Monitor (IAM), an NGO by a group of scholars which follows the boycott movement, delegitimization of Israel and anti-Israel activities, such as the writing of radical Israeli academics. She has been operating the israel-academia-monitor.com website since 2004.

Dr. Shaul Bartal, Lieutenant Colonel, IDF reserve. (Ph.D. Bar-Ilan University). Expert in Palestinian Affairs and fundamentalist Islam. specializes in Palestinian groups, the Arab minority in Israel and fundamental Islamic groups. Author of The Fedayeen Emerge, the Palestine-Israel Conflict, 1949-1956 (Bloomington: 2011) and Jihad in Palestine (Abingdon: Rutledge, 2016); New Forms of Palestinian Terror Against Israel: A Profile of the Al-Quds Intifada (New York: Edwin Mellen Press, 2017); with Nesya Rubinstein-Shemer, Hamas and Ideology, Sheikh Yusuf al-Qaradawi on the Jews, Zionism and Israel (Abingdon: Routledge, 2018) and many articles about the Palestinian problem.

Edwin Black is the award-winning, New York Times bestselling international investigative author of 140 award-winning editions in 17 languages in 65 countries. With more than 1.4 million books in print, his work focuses on human rights, genocide and hate, corporate criminality and corruption, governmental misconduct, academic fraud, philanthropic abuse, oil addiction, alternative energy and historical investigation.

(Ph.D. Jinan University, China). Specializes in Middle Eastern and international affairs. Served for 26 years in IDF military intelligence in several senior assignments, including Head of the Review Department. Served for 3 years in the Prime Minister’s office and Ministry of Defense, and fulfilled a diplomatic mission in the Far East.

Brig. Gen. (res.) Moni Chorev

Specializes in military and strategic doctrine, and evaluation of military performance. Former division commander, and commander of the IDF officer school. Email: [email protected]

(Ph.D. Bar-Ilan University) Specializes in inter-Arab relations, the Arab-Israeli conflict, terrorism, Jewish communities in the Arab world. Email: [email protected]

(Ph.D. University of Utrecht). Specializes in the Muslim world’s political, social, and economic fault lines as well as Chinese policy towards the region with a focus on geopolitics, social movements, and political and militant Islam. James also focuses on the nexus of sports, politics, and society. Email: [email protected]

(Ph.D. Tel Aviv University) Specializes in Arab markets and economies, Palestinian economic development, Mideast economic cooperation and Israel-Arab trade. Email: [email protected]

(Ph.D. University of Maryland) Specializes in international and domestic conflict, especially ethnic and religious conflict. Email: [email protected]

(PhD King’s College London) Specializes in U.S. national security and foreign policy, as well as the history of American foreign policy. Email: [email protected]

Served in the IDF for 42 years, commanding troops in battle on the Egyptian and Syrian fronts. Was a Corps commander, and commander of the IDF Military Colleges. Email: [email protected]

Ph.D. Walden University, M.S University of Maryland. Dissertation Editing and Proofreading specialist | Best Selling Writer | Faculty | Researcher | Financial and Performance Management Specialist

(Ph.D. Hebrew University) Defense analyst specializing in military theory and military history. Lectures at Bar-Ilan University, Haifa University and at the IDF Command and General Staff College. Serves on the Editorial Advisory Panel of The Journal of Military Operations. Email: [email protected]

(Ph.D. Bar-Ilan University) Specializes in Franco-Israeli relations, U.S.-French relations, France and the Mideast conflict, Muslims and Jews in France, E.U.-Israeli relations, and E.U. affairs. Email: [email protected]

doron

(Ph.D. Tel Aviv University) Specializes in the history and politics of modern Iran, Iran-Israel relations, Iranian foreign policy. Email: [email protected]

Alex Joffe (Ph.D. University of Arizona). Specializes in ancient and modern Middle Eastern studies, American foreign policy, and American cultural politics.

Director of the Begin-Sadat Center for Strategic Studies. Professor Emeritus of Middle East and Mediterranean Studies at King’s College London; Professor of Political Science at Bar-Ilan University; Principal Research Fellow (and former Director) of the Middle East Forum (Philadelphia), where he also edits the scholarly journal Middle East Quarterly; founding editor of the scholarly journal Israel Affairs, now in its twenty-fourth year, and founding general editor of a Routledge book series on Israeli History, Politics and Society, with over 60 books published. Email: [email protected]

(Ph.D. Bar-Ilan University) Served for 25 years in IDF military intelligence specializing in Syria, Arab political discourse, Arab mass media, Islamic groups, and Israeli Arabs. Expert on the Muslim Brotherhood and other Islamist groups. Email: [email protected]

Dr. Ardavan Khoshnood (PhD, Lund University). Associate Professor of Emergency Medicine at Lund University in Sweden. Criminologist with focus on offender profiling and violent crimes inclusive terrorism. From Malmö University and Lund University he hold degrees in Political Science respective Intelligence Analysis. Specializes in Iranian foreign policy, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps as well as the Ministry of Intelligence. Email: [email protected]

Yaakov Lappin is a Research Associate at the Begin-Sadat Center for Strategic Studies. He specializes in Israel’s defense establishment, military affairs, and the Middle Eastern strategic environment. He is the author of the BESA study The Low-Profile War Between Israel and Hezbollah. Email: [email protected]

(Ph.D. King’s College, London U.) Specializes in civil-military relations, especially in the political psychology of bereavement, communities of trauma and national memory, and in the sociology of security communities. An associate professor at the School of Communication, Bar Ilan University. Email: [email protected]

(Ph.D. Hebrew University) Specializes in East Asian security, the Korean Peninsula (foreign, security, politics and history), and Asian international organizations. Email: [email protected]

(Ph.D., Fordham University) Expert in Turkish Foreign Policy, Turkish-US Relations, Turkish-Israel Relations and American Foreign Policy. Mark is also a lawyer who teaches US Constitutional Law. Associate Professor at SUNY Maritime College [email protected]

Dr. Doron Matza (PhD Ben-Gurion University of the Negev) specializes in Palestinian issues, Israeli – Arabs, the Arab – Israeli conflict and Middle Eastern affairs. Held senior positions in the Israeli intelligence and security systems. Email: [email protected]

(Ph.D. Hebrew University) Specializes in East Asian security, the Korean Peninsula (foreign, security, politics and history), and Asian international organizations. Email: [email protected]

(Ph.D. Ben-Gurion University) Former senior analyst in IDF military intelligence and the Prime Minister’s Office. Specializes in WMD (Weapons of Mass Destruction) proliferation in the Middle East and North Korea. Email: [email protected]

(Ph.D. candidate, Bar-Ilan University) Former military correspondent of Yediot Ahronot and current defense analyst for Maariv. Publisher and editor of Israel Defense magazine. Expert on the IDF, military technologies, and Israeli military industries.

Dr. Asaf Romirowsky (PhD King’s College London) is the Executive Director of Scholars for Peace in the Middle East (SPME), a fellow at the Middle East Forum and a Professor [Affiliate] at the University of Haifa. He specializes in the Arab-Israeli conflict and American foreign policy in the Middle East. Romirowsky is co-author of “Religion, Politics, and the Origins of Palestine Refugee Relief.”

Preeminent Israeli expert on missile defense. Founder and director of the Arrow defense program against long-range missiles in the Israeli Ministry of Defense. Email: [email protected]

(Ph.D. London School of Economics) Specializes in Israeli-Palestinian diplomacy, the Arab-Israeli peace process, U.S.-Israel relations, Israeli politics and foreign policy, U.S. public opinion, UK-Israeli relations, and issues related to NGOs and BDS. Email: [email protected]

(Ph.D. Johns Hopkins University) Expert on Israeli electoral politics, Israeli foreign policy and national security, U.S.-Israel relations, U.S. foreign policy, and Palestinian-Israeli diplomacy. Email: [email protected]

Dr. Yechiel Shabiy (PhD Bar-Ilan University). Specializes in the Arab-Israeli conflict, Islamist movements, and national-religious radicalization among the Israeli Arabs. Cell phone: 0506236001

(Ph.D from the Hebrew University) expert in military and political strategic thinking and planning, as well as leadership development, decision making and staff work in these fields. His doctoral dissertation on the performance of Israeli leadership in past wars served as the basis for a surge of professional training manuals for the defense establishment as well as other government ministries and agencies and for the overhaul of leadership and staff training programs within the government. In the past few years, he has focused on the study of the roots of the growing moral tension within western democracies and the effects of this tension on their ability to cope with threats and crises.

(Ph.D. Kings College) Former head of the National Security Doctrine Department in the Israel Ministry of Strategic Affairs. Expert on insurgencies and combat doctrine. Email: [email protected]

(Ph.D. Tel Aviv University) Former senior analyst in IDF military intelligence and the Ministry of Defense. Specializes in chemical and biological warfare in the Middle East and worldwide. Email: [email protected]

(Ph.D. Birmingham University) Specializes in the study of intelligence services in Israel and Europe, the relationship between media and the security establishment, and NATO. Email: [email protected]

(Ph.D. Tel Aviv University) Expert on the Gulf states, Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Arab economies, and pan-Arab issues. Email: [email protected]

(Ph.D. Birmingham University) Specializes in the study of intelligence services in Israel and Europe, the relationship between media and the security establishment, and NATO. Email: [email protected]

Dr. George N. Tzogopoulos (Ph.D. Loughborough University) specializes in media and international relations as well as Chinese affairs. Email: [email protected]

Dr. Roie Yellinek (Ph.D. Bar-Ilan University). Specializes in the growing relationship between the Middle East and China, especially with regard to the soft power component of Chinese diplomacy and the local reaction to it. He is also a non-resident scholar at the Middle East Institute, and an adjunct researcher at the IDF Dado Center. Email: [email protected]

Ph.D. Johns Hopkins University. Ing. Prague School of Economics. Former coord. Soviet and East European Studies, NSA Dept., U.S. Naval PG School. Brookings Fellow. Heritage Foundation Trustee. Received Jan Masaryk medal as head of post-revolutionary Czech think tank. CFR member, NYC,. Strategic Studies expert focusing on Russian Interventions, U.S. Nat’l security, terrorism, rogue regimes, NATO- Israel relations. E-mail: [email protected]

Researchers

Dr. Eitan Shamir

Prof. Eitan Shamir

Prof. Eitan Shamir is Director of the Begin-Sadat Center for Strategic Studies (BESA Center) and head of the MA program in Security and Strategy in the Political Studies Department at Bar-Ilan University. His research interests and publications focus on military strategy, command, and innovation. He is the author of Transforming Command: The Pursuit of Mission Command in the US, UK and Israeli Armies (2011) and The Art of Military Innovation: Lessons from the IDF (with Edward Luttwak, forthcoming in 2023).
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Email: [email protected]

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Col. (res.) Shay Shabtai

Col. (res.) Shay Shabtai is a senior research fellow at the Begin-Sadat Center for Strategic Studies at Bar-Ilan University. He is an expert on Israeli national security, intelligence, strategic planning, and strategic communication. Read more...
Email: [email protected]

Dr. Shay Atias

Dr. Shay Attias is a lecturer in the School of Communications at Bar-Ilan University and a senior research fellow at the Begin-Sadat Center for Strategic Studies. He specializes in diplomatic studies, US diplomacy, politics and media, international communication, and digital diplomatic crisis communication. Read more...
Email: [email protected]

Prof. Efrat Aviv

Prof. Efrat Aviv is a senior lecturer in the Department of General History at Bar-Ilan University and a senior research fellow at the Begin-Sadat Center for Strategic Studies. She is an expert in Turkish religious movements, Israeli-Turkish relations, antisemitism in Turkey, and Ottoman-Turkish Jewry. Read more...
Email: [email protected]

Dr. Shaul Bartal

Lt. Col. (res.) Dr. Shaul Bartal was a lecturer in the Middle Eastern Studies and Political Studies Departments and is a senior research fellow at the Begin-Sadat Center for Strategic Studies at Bar–Ilan University. He specializes in the Israeli-Arab conflict and Tunisian politics. Read more...
Email:  [email protected]

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Dr. Yaeli Bloch-Elkon

Yaeli Bloch-Elkon is a Senior Lecturer/Associate Professor of Communications and Political Science at Bar-Ilan University and a senior research fellow at the Begin-Sadat Center for Strategic Studies. She specializes in media, public opinion, foreign policy, terrorism and counterterrorism, and partisan polarization. Read more...
Email: [email protected]

Dr. Ziv Bohrer

Dr. Ziv Bohrer is a senior research fellow at the BESA Center and a senior lecturer at the Bar-Ilan University Faculty of Law. His main research area is Public International Law, with an emphasis on both current and historical issues relating to International Humanitarian Law (the Law of War) and International Criminal Law. Read more...
Email: [email protected]

Dr. Netanel Flamer

Dr. Netanel Flamer, a senior research fellow at the BESA Center, is a lecturer at the Department of Middle Eastern Studies at Bar-Ilan University and at the Lauder School of Government, Diplomacy and Strategy, Reichman University. He previously served as an intelligence officer for Israeli Military Intelligence (IMI). Dr. Flamer's current research is focused on intelligence and counterintelligence warfare between Israel and its non-state/semi-state adversaries as well as other aspects of these conflicts, including strategy and psychological warfare. Read more...
Email: [email protected]

Amb. (Emeritus) Michael Harari

Ambassador (Emeritus) Michael Harari ,Born: 12/10/1959 M.A. Political Science, Haifa University B.A. Political Science, Tel-Aviv University Ambassador Harari joined the MFA in 1986 and retired in 2017. He served in many roles during his diplomatic career, including as Ambassador to Cyprus (2010-2015), Counsellor and Head of the Political Section at the Israeli Embassy in London (1998-2003), and Second Secretary and Spokesman at the Israeli Embassy in Cairo (1988-1991). The positions Ambassador Harari held while at the MFA included Head of the International Affairs Bureau at the Center for Political Research (2015-2017) and Deputy Head of the Policy Planning Bureau (2003-2009). Ambassador Harari is a graduate of the IDF National Defense College (2009). At present, Ambassador Harari is a policy fellow at Mitvim, a lecturer in the Political Science Department at Yezreel Valley College, and a consultant on strategy, policy planning and energy to private companies and governments.

Dr. Eado Hecht

Dr. Eado Hecht is a military analyst focusing mainly on the relationship between military theories, military doctrines and actual practice. He teaches courses on military theory and military history at the Bar-Ilan University, Haifa University and Reichman University and in a variety of courses in the Israel Defence Forces.
Email: [email protected]

Prof. Vladimir (Ze’ev) Khanin

Prof. Vladimir (Ze’ev) Khanin teaches Political Studies at Bar-Ilan University and is a Senior Research Fellow and Head of the Post-Soviet Conflicts Research Program (PSCRP) at the Begin-Sadat Center for Strategic Studies. He is also Academic Chairman of the Institute for Euro-Asian Jewish Studies in Herzliya. From 2009 to 2022 he served as Chief Scientist of the Israeli Ministry of Aliya and Integration. His research interests focus on Russian-speaking Jewry in Israel and the Diaspora and Israel-FSU relations and politics. His academic publications include books, edited collections, and articles on Israeli, Eastern European, Jewish and African politics and society.
Email: [email protected]; [email protected]

Prof. Udi Lebel

Prof. Udi Lebel is a senior research fellow at the Begin-Sadat Center for Strategic Studies and head of the Center for International Communication (CIC) at Bar-Ilan University. His main research interests include political communication; bereavement, trauma and memory communities; military and security communities; social movements; and public opinion formation. Read more...
Email:  [email protected]

Dr. Alon Levkowitz

Dr. Alon Levkowitz is a Senior Lecturer in Asian Studies at Bar-Ilan University and a senior research fellow at the Begin-Sadat Center for Strategic Studies. His research focuses on politics and foreign relations in East Asia, Korean foreign and security policy, and Northeast Asian security. Read more...
Email: [email protected]

Cdr. David A. Levy

Cdr. David A. Levy, a senior research fellow at the Begin-Sadat Center for Strategic Studies, is a retired US Navy Commander and former US diplomat. His areas of expertise are maritime affairs, Middle East security, and US military and national strategy. Read more...
Email: [email protected]

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Dr. Joseph Mann

Mann Dr. Yosef Man is an expert in Oil Industry and Energy Markets and Policy; Saudi Arabia and the Arab Gulf States.
Email: [email protected]

Navy Commander (ret.) Dr. Eyal Pinko

Navy Commander (ret.) Dr. Eyal Pinko is a senior research fellow at the Begin-Sadat Center for Strategic Studies. His areas of specialization include intelligence, cyber, national security, and maritime security. Read more...
Email: [email protected]

Dr. Elai Rettig

Dr. Elai Rettig is a lecturer and assistant professor in the Department of Political Studies and a senior research fellow at the Begin-Sadat Center for Strategic Studies at Bar-Ilan University. He specializes in energy geopolitics, national security, and international environmental policy. Read more...
Email: [email protected]

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Dr. Elisheva Rosman

Dr. Elisheva Rosman is an associate professor in the Political Studies Department at Bar-Ilan University and a senior research fellow at the Begin-Sadat Center for Strategic Studies. Her research focuses on civil-military relations, religio-military relations, and gender and the military. Read more...
Email: [email protected]

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Dr. Uzi Rubin

Dr. Uzi Rubin Preeminent Israeli expert on missile defense. Founder and director of the Arrow Defense Program against long – range missiles in the Israeli Ministry of Defense.
Email: [email protected]

Prof. Jonathan Rynhold

Prof. Jonathan Rynhold is head of the Department of Political Studies at Bar-Ilan University and a senior research fellow at the Begin-Sadat Center for Strategic Studies. His research focuses on US-Israeli relations, Israeli politics and foreign policy, and the Middle East peace process. Read more...
Email:  [email protected]

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Ran Segev

Ran Segev is a senior research fellow at the Begin-Sadat Center for Strategic Studies. He served for 31 years in a variety of senior roles in the Israeli security establishment, mainly in the fields of intelligence and national security.
Email: [email protected]

Dr. Amira Schiff

Dr. Amira Schiff is a senior researcher at the BESA Center in Israel. She is a senior lecturer and Director of the Conflict Management, Resolution and Negotiation Graduate Program at Bar-Ilan University.
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Email: [email protected]

Dr. Dany Shoham

(Ph.D. Tel Aviv University) Former senior analyst in IDF military intelligence and the Ministry of Defense. Specializes in chemical and biological warfare in the Middle East and worldwide.
Email:  [email protected]

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Prof. Shlomo Shpiro

Prof. Shlomo Shpiro is Director of the Europa Institute and a senior research fellow at the Begin-Sadat Center for Strategic Studies at Bar-Ilan University. He specializes in intelligence, international and internal security, terrorism, crisis communication, and nuclear strategies. Read more...
Email: [email protected]

SENIOR ADVISORS

Brig. Gen. (res.) Dr. Moni Chorev

Brig. Gen. (res.) Moni Chorev served in the IDF as a division commander, commander of the Givati Brigade, and commander of the IDF's Officer Training School. He holds a master's degree in National Security from National Defense University in Washington, DC, an MBA from Ben-Gurion University, and an MA in political science from Bar-Ilan University. Chorev is a senior research fellow at the Begin-Sadat Center for Strategic Studies and the owner and CEO of a security consulting company that works with the defense establishment and defense-related industries in Israel. His areas of expertise include military and strategic doctrine, analysis of organizational concepts and force building, and the moral and ethical dimension of war. Email: [email protected]

Maj. Gen. (res.) Gershon Hacohen

Maj. Gen. (res.) Gershon Hacohen Served with the IDF for 42 years, as a battalion, brigade, division and corps commander, as head of the military doctrine and training department, and as head of the National Defense Colleges.
Email: [email protected]

Prof. Jonathan Fox

Prof. Jonathan Fox is a senior research fellow at the Begin-Sadat Center for Strategic Studies at Bar-Ilan University. He specializes in the influence of religion on politics, domestic conflict, terrorism, international intervention, and international relations.
Email:  [email protected]

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Prof. Joshua Teitelbaum

Prof. Joshua Teitelbaum is a senior research fellow at the Begin-Sadat Center for Strategic Studies. He is Professor of Modern Middle Eastern History in the Department of Middle Eastern Studies at Bar-Ilan University and an Affiliate Scholar of Stanford’s Center for International Security and Cooperation. He specializes in the countries of the Persian Gulf, including their relations with Israel. Read more...
Email: [email protected]

Prof. Shmuel Sandler

Prof. Shmuel Sandler is Professor Emeritus of Political Science and a senior research fellow at the Begin-Sadat Center for Strategic Studies at Bar-Ilan University. He is an expert on Israeli electoral politics, Israeli foreign policy and national security, and US foreign policy. Read more...
Email:  [email protected]

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Dr. Raphael G. Bouchnik-Chen

Col. (res.) Dr. Raphael G. Bouchnik-Chen is a senior research fellow at the Begin-Sadat Center for Strategic Studies. He specializes in Middle Eastern and international strategic affairs. Read more...
Email: [email protected]

Prof. Efraim Karsh

Prof. Efraim Karsh is the former Director of the Begin-Sadat Center for Strategic Studies. He is Professor Emeritus of Middle East and Mediterranean Studies at King’s College London; Professor Emeritus of Political Science at Bar-Ilan University; Principal Research Fellow (and former Director) of the Middle East Forum, editor of Middle East Quarterly; founding editor of the journal Israel Affairs, and founding general editor of the Routledge book series Israeli History, Politics and Society. Read more...
Email:  [email protected]

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