Fellows

Yaakov Katz

Bio

Yaakov Katz is an Israeli-American author and journalist. Between 2016 and 2023, Yaakov was editor-in-chief of The Jerusalem Post where he continues to write a popular weekly column. He is the author of three books - “Shadow Strike – Inside Israel’s Secret Mission to Eliminate Syrian Nuclear Power”, “Weapon Wizards - How Israel Became a High-Tech Military Superpower” and “Israel vs. Iran: The Shadow War”. Shadow Strike was recently adapted into a docudrama by Reshet Media and his books have been published in a number of languages including English, Hebrew, Czech, Polish, Japanese and Mandarin. His next book – tentatively titled “Precision Strike” – is scheduled for publication by St. Martin’s Press in the Spring of 2025. Yaakov served for close to a decade as the paper's military reporter and defense analyst and was a lecturer at Harvard University where he taught an advanced course in journalism. He also served as Israel correspondent for Jane’s Defence Weekly. Prior to taking up the role of editor-in-chief, Yaakov served for two years as a senior policy adviser to Naftali Bennett during his tenure as Israel’s Minister of Economy and Minister of Diaspora Affairs. In 2013, Yaakov was one of 12 international fellows to spend a year at the Nieman Foundation for Journalism at Harvard University. Originally from Chicago, Yaakov has a law degree from Bar Ilan University.

Articles by Yaakov Katz

Israel does not have a culture of accountability

Change needs to come to Israel’s post October 7 state

A Brief Window for Israel to Integrate Its Arab and Jewish Communities

The War in Gaza May End Soon, but Not the Fighting

When the war in Gaza stops, the political war in Israel will begin

Has Israel already lost the war with Hezbollah?

What’s the End Game for Gaza? Netanyahu Must Spell It Out

Three Options for Israel to End the War in Gaza

Israel is on a Collision Course with the US

Fighting for your career instead of against Hamas

Iran Pays No Price for Bad Behavior

The IDF Reservists Fighting in Gaza Will Fight Netanyahu After the War

Israel-Hamas war isn’t just about security, it’s about Jewish peoplehood

Attacks on Israel are only the beginning. All democracies are at risk

Even After the War in Gaza, Israel Will Have to Hunt Down Hamas’ Leaders

Qatar needs to expel Hamas leaders and if not, America should do it for them

If Biden Wants to Stop a Wider War, He Should Ready a Strike on Iran

Resetting the Military’s Approach to Gaza

Stuck between a rock and a hard place, what is Israel to do?

This Is a Pearl Harbor Moment for Israel

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Dr. Nadia Beider

Bio

Nadia Beider holds a PhD in Contemporary Jewry from the Hebrew University, where she was a Mandel Scholion doctoral fellow. She is currently a Rothschild Foundation Hanadiv Europe postdoctoral fellow at University College London. She teaches Jewish Education at the Hebrew University and has worked as a demographer at the Claims Conference.

 

Articles by Dr. Nadia Beider

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Retired Justice Elyakim Rubinstein

Bio

Served as Vice President of Israel’s Supreme Court, Attorney General, and Government Secretary, and participated in peace negotiations with Israel’s neighbors. After retirement, Rubinstein was appointed Associate Professor in the parallel track of the Department of Political Science and the Federman School of Public Policy and Government at the Hebrew University. Served, and continues to serve, as chair and member of several public bodies (including the Public Committee on IDF Orphans, the Council for Combating Racism in the Ministry of Justice, the Public Defender's Committee) and civil society organizations (for example, the Council for the Preservation of Historic Sites (Chair), Kav Mashve – Developing Employment Leadership in Israeli Arab Society, and Round-Up). Rubinstein is a Co-Chair of JPPI’s Thin Constitution project.
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Noa Israeli

Research Fellow

Bio

Noa Israeli is the coordinator of the academic course "Israeli Identity: Divided We Stand." She is a PhD student at the School of Jewish Studies at Tel Aviv University, and a graduate of the Israel Democracy Institute's Human Rights and Judaism Program. Israeli is the Director of the Scholarships Program for Outstanding Teaching Students at Tel Aviv University, and lecturer in the Regav program at the Kibbutzim Seminar. She lives in Tel Aviv and is the mother of two daughters.
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Eliran Carsenti

Bio

Eliran Carsenti is JPPI's digital assets manager and editor of the Institute's website. Over the last decade, he has worked as a reporter, editor, and manager at several prominent media organizations. He has a bachelor's degree in economics and communications from Ariel University, a master's degree in law from Bar Ilan University, and he is a graduate of a campaign management program at the New-Media college.

Articles by Eliran Carsenti

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Eldar Zilber

Bio

Col. (Res.) Zilber served in the IDF (Air Force) for 30 years. In his last position he was the head of the Intelligence Operations Department of the Air Force's Intelligence Division. Elder has a bachelor's degree in accounting and economics from Tel Aviv University and a master's degree in national security from Haifa University. After his release, he served as VP of Operations at the startup company VERBIT and was a partner in the startup LOOKING. Eldar heads JPPI's Diane and Guilford Glazer Foundation Information and Consulting Center.

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Prof. Ariel Bendor

Bio

Ariel L. Bendor is Frank Church Professor of Legal Research at the Faculty of Law and Dean of School of Graduate Studies, Bar-Ilan University. He holds an LL.B. (cum laude) and an LL.D. from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. He has been a professor or visiting scholar at Yale, Osgood Hall, and Maryland law schools. He served as a member of the appointments committee of Bar-Ilan University and as chairman of the Israeli Association of Public Law. He serves as the head of the Center for Media and the Law and of the publishing house of the Faculty of Law. Before joining Bar-Ilan in 2008, he was on the faculty at the University of Haifa (1992-2008), where he served as Dean of Law, Dean of Students, and member of the Board of Directives at the University of Haifa. He served in a number of public committees, including the Advisory Committee for Examination of Israel's Policy of Immigration, a team to examine the policy of issuing gag orders, and the search committee for the State Attorney. His main expertise includes constitutional law, administrative law, and substantive and procedural criminal law. He has written three scholarly books and about 80 academic articles published in law reviews and books in Israel and abroad. He has edited two books as well as the Hebrew University Law Review and the University of Haifa Law & Government Journal, and was the Editor in Chief of the University of Haifa Press.

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Laura Kam

Director of Communications

Bio

Laura Kam is the Director of Communications for JPPI and President of Kam Global Strategies, a Jerusalem-based international strategic communications company. Previously she was Executive Director for Global Affairs at The Israel Project working on projects in the U.S., China, India, Russia, and Europe. Laura held various positions at the Anti-Defamation League in New York, Washington, D.C. and in Jerusalem, including as co-director of ADL’s Israel office.   Prior to that she was a press officer at the Consulate General of Israel in New York.  A diplomatic spouse, Laura served in an official capacity in Berlin, Germany for five years.  Laura has a BA in education from the State University of New York at Sony Brook, an MSW in community organization from Yeshiva University’s Wurzweiler School of Social Work and has completed all her doctoral coursework at the City University of New York in the field of social work administration.

Articles by Laura Kam

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Prof. Michal Bar-Asher Siegal

Bio

Prof. Michal Bar-Asher Siegal is a scholar of rabbinic Judaism. Her work focuses on aspects of Jewish-Christian interactions in the ancient world, and compares early Christian and rabbinic sources. She is a faculty member at the Goldstein-Goren Department of Jewish Thought, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, and she was an elected member of the Israel Young Academy of Sciences. She was the Horace Goldsmith Visiting Professor in Judaic Studies at Yale University and the Gruss Visiting Associate Professor in Talmudic Civil Law Harvard Law School. Her first book is Early Christian Monastic Literature and the Babylonian Talmud (Cambridge University Press, 2013; winner of the 2014 Manfred Lautenschlaeger Award). Her second book is Jewish-Christian Dialogues on Scripture in Late Antiquity: Heretic Narratives of the Babylonian Talmud (Cambridge University Press, 2019; finalist, National Jewish Book Award, 2019).

   
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Noah Slepkov

Chief Technology Officer

Bio

Noah Slepkov is a fellow and chief technology officer at JPPI and he is lead developer and managing partner at theMadad.com. At JPPI he is focused on public opinion surveys and big data research. Previously he served as Foreign Policy and Strategic Advisor to Member of Knesset Dr. Einat Wilf and worked in the Israeli Knesset as a Parliamentary Assistant. Noah holds an Honors BA in Jewish Studies from York University and an MA in Diplomacy and Conflict Resolution from the Lauder School of Government at the IDC Herzliya. He also studied Economics at the University of Toronto and Political Science at the University of Western Ontario. Prior to immigrating to Israel from Canada in 2008, Noah worked on campuses across Canada organizing Jewish student events and leading Israel advocacy efforts.

Articles by Noah Slepkov

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Dana Fahn Luzon

Fellow

Bio

Dana has a B.A. in Communication and Economics from Tel Aviv University, a B.A. in Psychology from the Open University, and an M.A. in Social and Political Psychology from the University of Jerusalem. Graduated from the army from unit 8200 after learning five units of Arabic.

Dana is a reporter, content creator, media and communication personality, previously hosted a morning show on Channel 2, served the World Cup show as a news presenter, created a television series abroad about breaking stereotypes on women. She worked as a creator, producer and reporter for the digital newspaper "Israel Hayom", and for the past two years has written a socio-political column at “Walla”, dealing the current social issues in the complex Israeli reality. Dana serves as a guest lecturer at the Peres Academic College as part of a crisis management course.

Articles by Dana Fahn Luzon

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Dr. Nurit Cohen

Bio

Dr. Nurit Cohen has joined JPPI as part of the "Jewish Peoplehood" project team. Dr. Cohen is a historian and curator of historical exhibitions. Her book, based on her doctoral thesis, Jewish Refugees in the War of Independence won the Yitzhak Sadeh Prize for Military Literature. In the past, she has held key positions in several major media organizations.

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Dr. Robert Neufeld

Bio

Dr. Robert Neufeld is an expert in international law, International Humanitarian law, Security law, Military law and Emergency law. Robert served in numerous positions in the IDF's Military Advocate General Corps and the Military Ombudsman, including Commander of the IDF’s School of Military Law, Head of the Operational Law Branch in the IDF International Law Department, Legal Advisor to the Israel Air Force, Israel Navy and IDF Home Front Command, Chief Regional Military Prosecutor, Judge Advocate for the Israel Air Force, Legal Advisor to the Intelligence Directorate and Legal Advisor to the Technology and Logistics Directorate. Today, Robert serves as a legal consultant in the fields of emergency law, counter terrorism, combating BDS and antisemitism. In 2022, Robert served as an expert on behalf of the Council of Europe to the Ukraine Parliament and the Supreme Court on improving the remote hearings legal framework and practice under martial law or state of emergency in Ukraine in line with Human Rights standards and principles.

Robert holds an LLB as well as LLM (Magna cum Laude) from Tel Aviv University, and a PhD from the University of Haifa. His PhD work - "The Impact of political motives on the legality of actions in current warfare under International Humanitarian Law" has examined the adaptability of International Humanitarian Law to modern warfare, current military thought and military doctrines, and the growing political aspects of the use of force. His Post-Doc research, together with Prof. Eli Salzberger, has examined the regulatory framework of the Israeli emergency laws.

Articles by Dr. Robert Neufeld

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Ghila Amati

Bio

Ghila Amati, who grew up in Italy and currently resides in Jerusalem, is a doctoral student at the University of Oxford in the Department of Theology and Religion. In 2022, she was a visiting scholar at the Rosenzweig Minerva Research Center at the Hebrew University in Jerusalem, Israel. Additionally, she has served as a Research Fellow at the Judaism and Human Rights Program at the Israel Democracy Institute in Jerusalem. Ghila has been the recipient of various grants and fellowships, including the MFJC Fellowship Grant for Doctoral Students and the Doctoral Fellowship for Academic Jewish Studies awarded by the Rothschild Foundation Hanadiv Europe. She has also worked as a research analyst for the European Academy of Religion and Society (EARS).

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Dr. Alona Hagay-Frey

Bio

Dr. Hagay-Frey is a teaching fellow at Bar-Ilan University and the Open University.  She holds a bachelor's degree (with honors) in law and business administration from Reichman University, a master's degree (with honors) in public law from Tel Aviv University, and earned her PhD at Bar-Ilan University. She won several awards, including the Raoul Wallenberg Prize for Human Rights. Her book Sex and Gender Crimes in the New International Law: Past, Present, Future was published by Brill | Nijhoff. Dr. Hagay-Frey is part of JPPI’s  “Thin Constitution” team.

Articles by Dr. Alona Hagay-Frey

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Prof. Gil Troy

Bio

A Distinguished Scholar in North American History at McGill University currently living in Jerusalem, Gil Troy is an award-winning American presidential historian and a leading Zionist activist. He is, the editor of the new three-volume set, “Theodor Herzl: Zionist Writings,” the inaugural publication of The Library of the Jewish People. Two years ago he co-authored with Natan Sharansky Never Alone: Prison, Politics and My People, was published by PublicAffairs of Hachette. Recently designated one of Algemeiner's J-100, one of the top 100 people "positively influencing Jewish life,".

Articles by Prof. Gil Troy

Beware of Dangerous Advice: An Urgent Letter to President Biden

Rabbis not supporting the war against Hamas are acting irresponsibly

American policymakers have ideological blinders on

Israel’s Gaza war is self-defense, no apologies needed

How Palestine Hijacked the U.S. Civil Rights Movement

Opinion: Netanyahu is not Sinwar but must go home

Can Zionism Save Academia?

Idan Amedi for Prime Minister of Israel

Returning to sites of the massacre, hard yet necessary

Trust Me, You’d Rather Live in a Pro-Israel America

Non-Jews should lead the fight against Jew hatred

Zionism: Still helping Jews save themselves

Israel stopped apologizing on October 7

Why, Once Again, Israel Will Survive

Our Failed Colleges: Time to Get Radical

Israel maintains moral clarity amid smog of Gaza war on Jihad

The Next Generation of Israelis:  We need your Tonal Zionism

Remembering David Ellenson, a Reform rabbi and Religious Zionist

Where are the righteous Palestinians?

All Israelis are hostages

It’s Time for Professors Who Support Israel to Proclaim their Zionism – the Toronto Way

Palestinians can stop the war by overthrowing Hamas

The Nine Big Lies Against Israel and What They Really Mean

Harvard must fight educational malpractice, not just antisemitism

Attacks on Israel are only the beginning. All democracies are at risk

Iran is no mere adversary, it is America’s mortal enemy

Feminists Are Consenting to Hamas’ Rape Culture

American Jews Need to Reexamine their Blinding ‘Conzeptzia Too’

Why Benjamin Netanyahu should vow to retire

Civilization is not a suicide pact

Students, it’s time to find your courage and confront Hamas apologists on campus

Israeli Soldiers Die Because Its Military Is So Moral; How to Fight the Next War

Silence of the tenured lambs

Palestinian Culture is Morally Bankrupt

The Many Ways American Jews Can Help

Amid the shock and horror, the nation stands together with moral clarity and resolve

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Yael Ribner

Bio

Yael Ribner is the Director of External Affairs at the Jewish People Policy Institute. She worked in the International Relations Division at Yad Vashem for 15 years, leaving in 2022 as the Deputy Director. She studied Communications and Political Science at Bar Ilan University. She is an active lay leader on several community initiatives that focus on Social Justice, Jewish Identity and Israel.

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Prof. Keren Weinshall-Margel

Bio

Edward Silver Professor of Civil Procedure at Hebrew University. Prof. Weinshall-Margel was Deputy Dean of the Faculty of Law at Hebrew University until 2021, and a member of the Israel Young Academy of Sciences and Humanities. She is a researcher in the field of empirical law in Israel, and a former Founding Director of the Israeli Judicial Authority.
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Samuel J Hyde

Bio

Samuel Hyde is a writer and researcher who began his career in the research department of contemporary antisemitism at the Cape Town Holocaust and Genocide Centre. He is known for his editorial work on former Knesset member Dr. Einat Wilf's latest book, "We Should All Be Zionists." Samuel has worked at various think tanks and research institutes across Israel, South Africa, and the United States, including the Foundation for Defense of Democracies and the Institute for Monitoring Peace and Cultural Tolerance. His work is frequently published in Newsweek, Haaretz, Fathom Journal, The Jerusalem Report, and the Jewish Journal.

Articles by Samuel J Hyde

The Palestinian Path Untaken

UNRWA’s Existence Spells Doom for Rebuilding Gaza

The Sin of Equivalence

Last Call for the Zionist Left 

UNRWA’s Existence Spells Doom for Rebuilding Gaza

Retribution, Redemption & Salvation

A Jewish state, if you can keep it

Retribution, Redemption & Salvation

10/7 as Jihad

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Dr. Rachel Fish

Bio

Rachel Fish is the co-founder of Boundless, a think-action tank partnering with community leaders to revitalize Israel education and take bold collective action to combat Jew-hatred.

Dr. Fish has 20 years of academic experience in the fields of Israeli history, Zionist thought, and Middle Eastern Studies. Currently, Dr. Fish holds a position of Visiting Assistant Professor of Educational Leadership at George Washington University’s Graduate School.

She was the Founding Executive Director of the Foundation to Combat Antisemitism, served as Senior Adviser and Resident Scholar of Jewish/Israel Philanthropy at the Paul E. Singer Foundation, and was Executive Director at the Schusterman Center for Israel Studies at Brandeis University.

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Barry Geltman

Fellow

Bio

Barry Geltman is JPPI’s longtime English language editor. He joined the Institute in 2008 as part of the steering committee of the inaugural Facing Tomorrow Conference, a cornerstone of the presidency of Shimon Peres. He divides his professional time between JPPI and the URJ Heller High School in Israel, where he teaches an American literature seminar and works to strengthen the emotional attachment of Reform youth to Israel. Geltman worked as an independent producer in television and film before making Aliyah in 2003. He is a Yale alumnus and lives in Jerusalem.

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Dr. Sara Yael Hirschhorn

Bio

Dr. Sara Yael Hirschhorn is currently Visiting Professor at the Ruderman Program in American Jewish Studies and Senior Researcher at the Comper Center for the Interdisciplinary Study of Antisemitism and Racism at the University of Haifa. She is also a '22-'24 inaugural fellow at the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) Center for Antisemitism Research and a fellow at the Jewish People Policy Institute. She was previously appointed as the Visiting Assistant Professor in Israel Studies at Northwestern University (2018-2022) and the University Research Lecturer in Israel Studies at the University of Oxford (2013-2018). Her research, teaching, and public engagement activities focus on Diaspora-Israel relations, the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict, and the Israeli Ultranationalist Movement. Her first book, City on a Hilltop: American Jews and the Israeli Settler Movement (Harvard, 2017), was the winner of the 2018 Sami Rohr Prize in Jewish Literature Choice Award and a finalist for the 2017 National Jewish Book Award. She is currently working on a new manuscript entitled "New Day in Babylon and Jerusalem: Zionism, Jewish Power, and Identity Politics Since 1967," that will offer a transnational history of the post-Six Day War period. Apart from her academic work, Dr. Hirschhorn is an internationally-recognized public speaker, writer, educator, media commentator, and consultant on contemporary Jewish/Israel affairs.
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Janan Danial

Bio

Janan has been a civics teacher and an instructor of civics teachers for more than 30 years. Until recently, she served as the coordinator of the civics studies subject area at the Ministry of Education and was involved in writing and translating the curriculum into Arabic, while culturally adapting it for the Arab sector. Janan will be involved in the projects the Institute intends to conduct in this field.

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Amit Shoval

Bio

Amit holds a BA in Economics and Amirim Honors program in the Humanities at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. Engaged in economic research and large-scale data analysis within the research department of the JGive. A unit 8200 alumnus with a broad background in Middle East affairs. Under the guidance of Prof. Yonatan Givati, responsible for estimating the Israel-Diaspora Index using quantitative methods and relying on economic theory.

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Jude (Yehuda) Taragin

Bio

Jude is a research assistant for several projects at the institute, alongside completing his master's in neuroscience, following his work at the S. Horowitz law firm.

Jude holds of a BEd in history, Jewish studies and education from Herzog College, as well an LLM and BA from the "Amirim" program of the Faculty of Humanities of Hebrew University.

During his studies, he interned at the Ministry of Justice and at a private law firm, worked as a teaching assitanst and research assistant at several organizations (Hebrew University, Tel Aviv University, the Israel Democracy Institute). Jude also worked as an intern at the philanthropic Foundation, "Yad Hanadiv", as well as at OECD (during his studies at Sciences-Po, Paris).

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Lipaz Rotkovsky

Bio

Lipaz Rotkovsky works in the consulting and legislation department at the Ministry of Justice, and is a teaching assistant in the Faculty of Law at Tel Aviv University. Lipaz has a bachelor's degree in law and a master's degree (with honors) in law with a specialization in commercial-civil law. She is the coordinator of  JPPI’s online course "Israeli Identity – Divided We Stand."

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Eli Kannai

Bio

Eli Kannai holds a B.Sc. in Computer Sciences from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, with a focus on Mathematics and Jewish Philosophy. He served as Director of The Snunit Center for Web-Based Learning, a leading e-learning and information architecture organization in Israel. From 2000 to 2002, Eli worked with a private Israeli startup in the field of Knowledge Management. From 2002 to 2019, he held the position of Chief Educational Technology Officer at The AVI CHAI Foundation, operating in Israel, North America, and the FSU. There, he played a pivotal role in the development of large content websites, led online and blended learning initiatives, and contributed to various technology-related projects. Currently, Eli works as an independent consultant specializing in digital strategy and educational technology.

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Yosef Keshet

Bio

Yosef Graduated with a bachelor's degree in mathematics and computer relations and a master's degree in information systems and finance from Tel Aviv University Yosef is a data scientist, data analyst, His position at the institute is collecting and concentrating information from various sources, making it accessible to the institute's researchers and analyzing it with advanced AI methods
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