JPPI

Rivka Ravitz studied business administration and computer science and received her MBA in Information Systems. She is currently working on a doctorate in public policy at the University of Haifa. Her research at JPPI addresses the empowerment of Haredi (ultra-Orthodox) women in the labor market. Ravitz served as Chief of Staff to the 10th President of the State of Israel, Mr. Reuven (Ruvi) Rivlin. She is a member of Israel’s Haredi community and lectures on various topics.

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.

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.

Dr. Roy Schondorf is a leading litigation and arbitration practitioner, with unique experience in the negotiation and litigation of disputes involving states and sovereign interests.

Until recently he served for almost a decade as Israel's Deputy Attorney General (International Law). In that capacity, Dr. Schöndorf provided legal counsel to Israel's government on all aspects related to international law, national security and foreign policy, and led Israel's legal representation in dozens of international litigation and arbitration matters. In February 2022, he was selected by a public committee headed by a former Supreme Court President, as one of three recommended nominees for the position of Attorney General of Israel.

Before joining the Israeli government, Dr. Schöndorf worked with the International Dispute Resolution Group at Debevoise & Plimpton LLP, where he represented governments and multi-national corporations in arbitration and litigation proceedings.

Earlier in his career he served as a legal advisor to Israeli delegations for peace negotiations with Syria, Lebanon, Jordan and the Palestinians and was a member of Israel's delegation to the negotiations relating to the establishment of the International Criminal Court.

Dr. Schöndorf teaches courses in international law at the Hebrew University and the Reichman University, and is regularly invited to speak at international law and international arbitration conferences. He earned a Doctorate of Juridical Sciences from New York University School of Law and holds degrees in law and economics from Tel Aviv University.

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.

Shmuel Rosner is a researcher, editor and columnist. He is the editor of the "THE MADAD" project, for politics, society, identity and culture in Israel and serves as a television commentator for Kan News.

Rosner was the editor-in-chief of the non-fiction books in Kinneret-Zamora-Dvir from 2009 to 2021. He was a columnist for the New York Times newspaper from 2012 to 202. He was the head of the news department at Haaretz (1996 to 2008). He is a sought-after lecturer on Israeli politics, security, and policy; the state of the Jewish people; American history, politics, and policy.

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.

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.

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).

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.

Daniela Regev is a journalist, lecturer, screenwriter and content creator. She was the editor and manager of the Insight and Knowledge Department at Israel’s highly acclaimed public broadcaster’s digital division (Kan IPBC). She created more than 200 videos and web series, such as: “Kan Sakranim”, “The Dictators, “Mysteries”, “Made in Israel”. Prior to that she was a journalist at "ynet" - in both the Hebrew and English versions - in various roles including: Head of news desk, World News editor and reporter, and Science and Tech editor. She was also a lecturer at Tel Aviv University, a strategic advisor, and a podcasts creator. Daniela holds a BA in Business and Journalism from Hebrew University, and an MA in Political Communication from Tel Aviv University.

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.

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).

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.

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,".

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.

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.

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.

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.

Jonathan Seidel is currently pursuing his bachelor’s degree at Reichmam University in government with a focus on counterterrorism. Jonathan created a blog, HaSchmooze, aiming to empower university students with a platform to share their thoughts on Judaism.

Or Rappel-Kroyzer is a doctoral student in American history at Tel Aviv University and an interdisciplinary researcher in data science. He has rich experience as an algorithm and software engineer, data scientist, development team leader and technology manager, and has worked for a number of hi-tech companies including Brightsource and Mobileye. Rappel-Kroyzer currently serves as the chief data scientist of the Interdisciplinary Center for Data Research (CIDR) at Hebrew University. He is part of  the Diane and Guilford Glazer Information and Consulting Center team at JPPI.

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.

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."

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.