Researchers
Prof. Eitan Shamir
Prof. Eitan Shamir is currently the Executive Director of the Begin-Sadat Center for Strategic Studies (BESA Center) and also serves as the head of the MA program in Security and Strategy within the Political Studies Department at Bar-Ilan University. His research and publications primarily focus on military strategy, command structures, and innovation within the military sphere. He has authored works such as "Transforming Command: The Pursuit of Mission Command in the US, UK and Israeli Armies" (Stanford University Press, 2011), "The Art of Military Innovation: Lessons from the IDF" (Harvard University Press, 2023, co-written with Edward Luttwak), and has an upcoming book titled "Moshe Dayan: The Making of a Strategist" (forthcoming by Cambridge University Press in 2024). Read more...
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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...
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...
Prof. Efrat Aviv
Prof. Efrat Aviv is an associate professor 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...
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...
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Major General (Ret.) Yacov Bengo, Ph.D.
Dr. Yacov Bengo is an Israeli Major General (Ret.) who served in his last role as the Head of Planning Directorate of the IDF (J8). His military career spans over thirty-four years of service, primarily in the Armored Corps and in the General Staff. MG Bengo is an expert in force buildup and in the utility of force from the tactical level to the strategic level of the General Staff. He is fluent in Hebrew and English.
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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...
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...
Dr. Netanel Flamer
Dr. Natanel Flamer is a Senior Researcher at the BESA Center and an assistant Professor in the Department of Middle Eastern Studies at Bar-Ilan University.
His areas of expertise include intelligence, counterintelligence, information security, psychological warfare, and terrorism in the Middle East, with a focus on these aspects in the conflict between states and violent non-/sub-state actors, such as Hezbollah and Hamas.
Dr. Flamer is the author of the book "The Hamas Intelligence War against Israel" (Cambridge University Press, 2024).
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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.
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.
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...
Dr. Alon Levkowitz
Dr. Alon Levkowitz is a Senior Lecturer and Chair of the Asian Department 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. His current projects focus on North Korean military cooperation with Middle Eastern states; economic and diplomatic relations between South Korea and the Middle East; South Korea's Africa policy; and the North Korean missile industry. He has published articles in a number of academic journals. Read more...
Dr. Lauren Dagan Amos
Dr. Lauren Dagan Amos is a scholar specializing in India's foreign and security policy. Her PhD focused on India's stance on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
Dr. Dagan Amos is a member of the Debora Forum and has been a lecturer at Bar-Ilan University since 2013. In recent years, her research interests have expanded to include the Indo-Pacific region, where she examines emerging security strategies and the geopolitical dynamics shaping this critical area.
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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...
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BRIG. GEN. Eran Ortal
Brigadier General (Ret.) Ortal is the author of "The Battle Before the War" (Modan and the Ministry of Defense 2022, Hebrew) that deals with change and the need to change in the IDF. Ortal served on various field and staff positions at the IDF since 1989, now teaches a course on Israeli Defense Strategy at Reichman University and serves as a senior consultant for strategy and technology at the Israeli MOD. He has a master's degree in security studies from Tel Aviv University, and is a graduate of the IDF's National Security College. Eran's last position as a Brigadier General was the command of the IDF Dado center where he lead many concepts development and founded the prestige dado center journal. Areas of expertise: national security, military thought, military innovation. Read more...
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...
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...
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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...
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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.
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...
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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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Lt. Col. (res.) 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.
Publications
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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...
Dr George N. Tzogopoulos
Dr George N. Tzogopoulos (Ph.D. Loughborough University, UK, 2009) is an expert in media and international relations as well as Chinese affairs. He is member of Centre international de formation européenne (Cife) core faculty where he directs the modules on 'conflict and cooperation in the international system' and 'international energy governance and conflict'.
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Prof. Eytan Gilboa
Prof. Eytan Gilboa is a world known expert on US Israel relations, international
communication, and public diplomacy. He is the founding Head of both the School of
Communication and the Center for International Communication at Bar-Ilan
University.
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Dr. Nir Levitan
Dr. Nir Levitan is a researcher and lecturer in the Department of Political Studies at Bar-Ilan University and a research affiliate at the Center for Cold War Studies at the University of Southern Denmark. His primary research focuses on Northern Europe, particularly the Nordic bloc, and the Middle East. Dr. Levitan’s work examines the interplay between formal and informal diplomacy.
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Dr. Nir Reuven
Nir Reuven is a senior faculty member at Sapir College, serving as the Deputy
Academic Director of the College's Entrepreneurship and Innovation Center, as well
as a lecturer at Bar-Ilan University. His research focuses on technological innovation
in the defense sector, particularly on technological collaboration between the
defense and civilian sectors.
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Dr. Yehuda Belanga
Dr. Yehuda Belanga is a lecturer in the Middle Eastern Studies department at Bar Ilan University. Dr. Blanga’s area of specialisation is Egypt and Syria - policies, regime, military, and society – two countries that make a decisive contribution to the shape of the Middle East. He also studies the military and political involvement of the superpowers, the United States and the Soviet Union, in the Middle East – including in the Arab-Israeli conflict. Since the Arab Spring, Dr. Blanga has been researching the political and social impacts of football in the Arab world and Iran. In 2020, Dr. Blanga published his first book, US, Israel and Egypt Diplomacy in the Shadow of Attrition, 1969-70.
Prof. Danny Orbach
Danny Orbach is a military historian and an associate professor at the History and Asian Studies Departments, Hebrew University of Jerusalem. He studies military coups d'etat, political assassinations, military adventurers, intelligence and espionage, as well as legal history, the dynamics of unplanned military massacres and the history of military law and ethics. Among his books, already translated to many languages, are: The Plots Against Hitler (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt), Curse on this Country: The Rebellious Army of Imperial Japan (Cornell Univeristy Press) and Fugitives: A History of Nazi Mercenaries during the Cold War (Pegasus/Hurst). His laetst book, "Punishment: Behind Japanese Military Brutality" is forthcoming in Hurst.
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Tsach Moshe
Tsach Moshe is a researcher in the fields of military and security, specializing in force-building with an emphasis on doctrines, procedures, concepts, and training. He is a PhD candidate in military history and a researcher at the IDF’s History Department. Founder and owner of "Practical Theoretical Ltd." through which he serves as a consultant to security, public, and private organizations.
Ron Reis
Mr. Ron Reis is an expert in the Israeli defense industries and the international defense market. He served for many years in various senior management and business development roles at Rafael – including as a divisional Head for M&A. He leads two research projects focused on the impact of the "Iron Swords" war on the IDF’s force buildup processes and on government-owned defense industries. Additionally, he provides strategic business support to companies operating in the international defense market and examines the impact of the AI revolution on the future battlefield. In the past, he was active in the high-tech industry, including founding and managing startups and serving as CEO of Trion Israel – a company engaged in developing broadband systems for the telecommunications market. He holds a degree in Computer Engineering from the Technion and an EMBA from Reichman University.
Prof. Yoram Evron
Associate Professor in the Department of Asian Studies at Bar-Ilan University and a Senior Research Fellow at the Begin-Sadat Center for Strategic Studies. His research focuses on China’s foreign relations, Asia–Middle East relations, military procurement, and the integration of civilian technology into the military domain. He is the author of China’s Military Procurement in the Reform Era: The Setting of New Directions (2016), co-author of The Fourth Industrial Revolution and Military-Civil Fusion: A New Paradigm for Military Innovation? (2023), and co-editor of Israel-Asia Relations in the 21st Century: The Search for Partners in a Changing World (2023) and East-West Asia Relations in the 21st Century: From Bilateral to Interregional Relationships (2024).
Personal website
Maj. Gen. (res.) Eliezer Marom
Former Commander of the Israeli Navy and former Director General of the Israel Civil Aviation Authority.
Maj. Gen. (Res.) Marom served in the Israeli Navy for four decades in a wide range of senior command and leadership positions, including Commander of the Missile Boat Flotilla, Commander of the Northern Naval Arena, Head of Naval Operations, Chief of Staff of the Israeli Navy, and Deputy Commander of the Navy. From 2007 to 2011, he served as Commander of the Israeli Navy.
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Prof. L. R. Sorkin
Prof. L. R. Sorkin is a researcher and expert in technical cybernetics, the design and control of industrial systems, and the optimization of production processes. Prior to founding Petrocom in 1991, where he specialized in the application of advanced technologies in the oil and gas industry, he spent 17 years as a researcher at the Institute for Control Sciences of the Russian Academy of Sciences.
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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.
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.
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.
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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...
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...
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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...
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...
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