The Thin Constitution Council

Raz Nizri

Raz Nizri

Bio

Served as Deputy Attorney General for management affairs and special positions, for criminal law issues, and for matters of public-constitutional law. At the beginning of 2023, Nizri joined the Firon Law Firm as a Senior Partner and heads the firm’s Public Law and Regulatory Department; in this framework he represents and advises a variety of public bodies and businesses. He holds a bachelor’s degree in law and political science, and a master’s degree in law (cum laude, Bar-Ilan University), and lectures in academia and at the Bar Association on a range of legal topics.

Articles by Raz Nizri

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Prof. Ron Shapira

Prof. Ron Shapira

Bio

Attorney and Professor of Law. Shapira is Rector of the Peres Academic Center. He is a senior lecturer at Tel Aviv University, a Visiting Professor at Columbia University, a Professor of Law at Bar-Ilan University, and a former Dean of Bar-Ilan’s Faculty of Law. He is an expert in legal procedures, evidence law, criminal law and mathematical formulations of legal doctrines.

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Prof. Yonathan Givati

Prof. Yonathan Givati

Bio

We are happy to announce that Prof. Yehonatan Givati has joined the Institute as a senior fellow. Givati completed both his PhD in economics and his Doctorate in law (SJD) at Harvard and is a professor of law at Hebrew University. He is the founding director of the Aumann-Fischer Center for Law, Economics, and Public Policy at Hebrew University and a member of the Center for the Study of Rationality, also at Hebrew University. Givati will head JPPI’s “Israel-Diaspora Index” project.

Focus Areas and Research

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Dr. Julia Elad-Strenger

Dr. Julia Elad-Strenger

Bio

Senior Faculty Member in the Department of Political Science at Bar-Ilan University. After completing her doctoral studies at Ben Gurion University of the Negev, Elad-Strenger continued as a Postdoctoral Fellow at the Herzliya Interdisciplinary Center, and as an Alexander von Humboldt Foundation fellow at Friedrich-Schiller Universität Jena in Germany. Her research deals with political psychology, in particular with the psychology of public opinion, as well as with attitudes and changes of positions in two main areas: political ideology, extremism and ideological polarization; and the psychology of conflicts between groups.

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Rabbi Adv. Yehoshua Pfeffer

Rabbi Adv. Yehoshua Pfeffer

Bio

Rabbi of the Ohr Chadash community in Ramot, Jerusalem, Founder and Editor-in-Chief of Tzarich Iyun, a journal of Haredi philosophy, head of the Haredi Israel Division of the Tikvah Fund, and a lecturer in the Faculty of Law at Hebrew University and in other academic and religious frameworks. Pfeffer holds a bachelor’s and a master’s degree in law from Hebrew University, and completed an Israeli Supreme Court internship (under Justice Neil Hendel). He is a Board Member of Netzah Yehuda, an organization that supports Haredi IDF soldiers. He previously served as a Dayan (Rabbinical Judge) on a monetary Rabbinical Court in Jerusalem, and in a variety of rabbinical and legal positions.

Articles by Rabbi Adv. Yehoshua Pfeffer

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Prof. Iddo Porat

Prof. Iddo Porat

Bio

Associate Professor at the College of Law and Business (CLB). Porat holds a bachelor’s degree in law and philosophy (cum laude, Hebrew University) and a master’s degree and doctorate in law (Stanford University). He was a visiting researcher at the University of San Diego, and Senior Fellow at the Center for Comparative Constitutional Studies at the University of Melbourne, Australia. He was a recipient of a Bellagio Center scholarship from the Rockefeller Foundation for a research fellowship in 2023, and has taught at the University of San Diego, University of Melbourne, the University of Hong Kong, and at the National University of Singapore. His main research interests are constitutional law and comparative constitutional law.

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Adv. Yaniv Cohen

Adv. Yaniv Cohen

Bio

Founder and head of Tachlith Institute for Israeli Policy. In the past, he served as CEO of the Abba Eban Institute for Diplomacy and Foreign Relations at Reichman University, and head of the Business Development Network of the America-Israel Friendship League in New York. Cohen worked at the Naschitz, Brandes, Amir & Co. law firm as a Senior Attorney for International Commercial Law, in the field of mergers and acquisitions. He graduated from the global executive track of Harvard Business School, and holds a master’s degree in international business administration and a bachelor’s degree in law and government (cum laude, Reichman University). He is a board member at a technology company and two civil society organizations in Israel, and sits on the General Assembly of Reichman University.

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Dr. Moran Nagid

Dr. Moran Nagid

Bio

Policy researcher in the fields of administrative and public law. Nagid holds a bachelor’s and a master’s degree in law from Hebrew University, and a doctorate from Bar-Ilan University. Her areas of specialization are law and domain, local government and democracy, regionalism, communities and theories of political participation. Nagid is the Legal Adviser of the Emunah movement, a member of the Southern Geographical Research Committee, a Senior Fellow in the Kohelet Policy Forum, and a Public Advocate in the Jerusalem Labor Court. She was employed as a researcher in the Local Government Project – Constitutional Principles at the Israel Democracy Institute (IDI), was a Legal Adviser for the Local Government Economic Services Authority, and completed an internship at Israel’s Supreme Court.
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Dr. Micah Goodman

Dr. Micah Goodman

Bio

Research fellow at the Kogod Research Center for Contemporary Jewish Thought at the Shalom Hartman Institute. Goodman is the author of six books, three on classical Jewish philosophy and the other three on contemporary Israeli philosophy. In 2017, he appeared on The Jerusalem Post’s list of the 50 most influential Jews in the world, and in 2018 on the list of the 100 most influential people in Israel published by the London-based magazine The Liberal.

Articles by Dr. Micah Goodman

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Prof. Jennifer Oser

Prof. Jennifer Oser

Bio

Associate Professor in the Department of Politics and Government at Ben-Gurion University of the Negev. Oser completed her doctorate at Hebrew University. She has served as a visiting Research Fellow at Harvard University and the University of Pennsylvania. Her research focuses on the connections between public opinion, political participation, and policy outcomes.

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Prof. Shahar Lifshitz

Prof. Shahar Lifshitz

Bio

Professor in the Faculty of Law at Bar-Ilan University, and a former Dean. Founder of the Menomadin Center for Jewish and Democratic Law at Bar-Ilan, and founded and heads the Israeli Congress for Judaism and Democracy. In the past he was a senior fellow at the Israel Democracy Institute (IDI) and one of the leaders of IDI’s Human Rights and Judaism program; he also participated in its Constitution by Consent project. He served as a visiting professor of law at Columbia University, University of Pennsylvania, and University of Siena in Tuscany, Yeshiva University and Emory University in Atlanta. His areas of specialization are contract law, family and inheritance law, and building consensus in a Jewish and democratic state. Prof. Lifshitz frequently serves as a special adviser to the Ministry of Justice.

 
 
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Gal Golan

Gal Golan

Bio

Head of the Public Policy Division at Tachlith – The Institute for Israeli Policy. Previously served as Vice President for Strategy at strategic consulting firms in the field of government affairs, specializing in the management of public and political campaigns in Israel.

Gal is a graduate of the Federmann School of Public Policy at the Hebrew University and holds a Master’s degree (M.A.) in Public Policy and a Bachelor’s degree (B.A.) in International Relations and Political Science from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. In addition to her role at the Tachlit Institute, Gal is a member of the Public Council of the Nitzan Foundation – a circular philanthropic fund investing in initiatives that promote women, established by the World Zionist Organization.

Gal is also a member of the advisory committee of the “Thin Constitution” project at the Jewish People Policy Institute.

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Prof. Mohammed S. Wattad

Prof. Mohammed S. Wattad

Bio

Professor, President of Ramat Gan Academic College, and past Dean of the School of Law at Zefat Academic College, senior researcher at the Tel Aviv University-affiliated Institute for National Security Studies (INSS), Senior Research Fellow at the Institute for Israeli Thought, Research Fellow at Reichman University’s International Institute for Counter-Terrorism, Research Fellow at the Minerva Center for the Rule of Law under Extreme Conditions at Haifa University, and a lecturer at law schools in Israel and abroad. Prof. Wattad serves in many public and professional positions, among others, as a member of the public committee that recommends candidates for the position of Legal Adviser to the Knesset, member of the Israel Bar Association’s Examining Committee, Co-Chair of Kav Mashve – Developing Employment Leadership in Israeli Arab Society, a Founding Executive Member of the Israel Institute of Journalism and Communications, Presidential Member of the Press Council of Israel, and Governor designate of Rotary Israel.

Articles by Prof. Mohammed S. Wattad

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Prof. Moshe Halbertal

Prof. Moshe Halbertal

Bio

Professor in the Department of Israeli Thought and Philosophy at the Hebrew University, and the Gross Professor at the New York University School of Law. Halbertal was a Fellow of the Society of Fellows at Harvard University, and a visiting professor at Harvard and the University of Pennsylvania Law Schools. He is a former Research Associate at the Shalom Hartman Institute. Halbertal teaches political and Jewish philosophy in the leadership programs at the Mandel Institute for Leadership in Jerusalem and is a member of the Israeli National Academy of Sciences, and the American Philosophical Society.

Articles by Prof. Moshe Halbertal

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Anat Brodsky

Anat Brodsky

Bio

Specializes in strategy and strategic management. She is currently Vice President for Strategy at the Shusterman Israel Foundation. Brodsky is a former Vice President at Shaldor, where she was involved in strategy consulting and capacity building in the business and public sectors. She served in the Military Prosecutor’s Office as an attorney in the consulting and legislation department. Brodsky holds a bachelor’s degree in law and accounting, and a master’s degree in the philosophy of science and ideas (Tel Aviv University).

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Adv. Erez Kaminitz

Adv. Erez Kaminitz

Bio

Former Deputy Attorney General in the field of civil law in the Ministry of Justice Office of Legal Counsel and Legislative Affairs (2013–2021). As head of the Civil Law Department Kaminitz dealt, among other things, with the government’s response to the housing crisis, and relations between the central and local governments on planning procedures and municipality authorities. He is a lecturer at Hebrew University and in various forums. In 2022 he joined the law firm of Erdinast, Ben Nathan, Toledano & Co. as a Partner and Head of Governance and Regulatory Affairs. Kaminitz holds a bachelor’s degree in law (Tel Aviv University) and a master’s degree in law (cum laude, Hebrew University).

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Dr. Yossi Beilin

Dr. Yossi Beilin

Bio

Member of Knesset in the 12th–15th and 17th Knessets, former Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs, Minister of Economy and Planning, Minister of Justice, and Minister of Religious Affairs, Government Secretary, and Director-General for Political Affairs of the Foreign Ministry. Beilin initiated the Oslo process, introduced the Birthright program for young Jewish people to visit Israel, and headed the public movement calling for Israel to leave Lebanon. He was one of the initiators of a new social contract on religion and state (“Beilin–Lubotzky Covenant”) and the “Geneva Initiative” to present a model for a final permanent agreement between Israel and the Palestinians. Beilin served as the Chair of the Meretz political party. Today he is Board Chair of Hillel Israel, and President of Beilink, an international business entrepreneurship company.

Articles by Dr. Yossi Beilin

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Tehila Friedman

Tehila Friedman

Bio

Head of the Libba Center’s One Hundred Initiative. Friedman served as a Member of Knesset for the Blue and White party. She is a veteran public figure and social activist, founder of organizations and initiatives to promote social cohesion in Jerusalem and in Israel. She was Chair of the Ne’emanei Torah movement, a Research Fellow at the Shalom Hartman Institute, Programs Manager at the Shaharit Institute, and also managed the Israeli office of the New Jersey Federation and the field of Jewish culture at Yad HaNadiv. She holds a bachelor’s degree and a master’s degree in law (cum laude) from Hebrew University, and is a graduate of the Mandel School for Educational Leadership. Friedman received her Torah education at Midreshet Lindenbaum and Beit Morasha in Jerusalem.

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Mohammad Darawshe

Mohammad Darawshe

Bio

Director of strategy at the Givat Haviva Center for Shared Society, Research Fellow of the Robert Bosch Academy in Berlin on the status of national minorities in Europe, and a faculty member at the Shalom Hartman Institute. Darawshe holds two master’s degrees: in conflict resolution from Haifa University; and in public administration from the University of Hartford. In the past, he was an election campaign executive for a candidate from the United Arab List’s election campaigns, and joint CEO of the Abraham Initiatives. Darawshe has led various projects, including the integration of Arab women in the labor market, Arab students in academia, and inter-sectoral teachers. He was a member of the Public Committee for Formulating State Policy on Shared Life Education in Israel’s Public Education System, and the Strategic Planning committee of the Authority for the Economic Development of the Minority Sectors, and for five years was a member of the Local Iksal Council in northern Israel.

Articles by Mohammad Darawshe

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Dr. Nechumi Yaffe

Dr. Nechumi Yaffe

Bio

Senior Faculty Member in the School of Social and Policy Studies at Tel Aviv University, researcher and lecturer on ultra-Orthodox (Haredi) society in Israel, and Director of the TITA Institute, which aims to integrate the Haredi sector into Israeli society and bring it into the mainstream. Dr. Yaffe is a Haredi woman from a Hasidic home, and is one of the first Haredi researchers in academia. Her doctoral thesis dealt with poverty and identity in Haredi society. She did her post-doctorate work at Princeton University.

 
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