Israel-Diaspora Relations
Study: Since October 7, American rabbis have been talking about Israel more often in their sermons
The study, conducted using AI tools, found that sermons in synagogues across denominations tended to focus on politics and Israel, especially after October 7, 2023.
New Subjects in the Field
Opinion Articles
Opinion Articles
The Ideological Gap Among Jews in the Mahmoud Khalil Case
Even before Israel’s justified military response began, US university campuses were hotbeds of support for Hamas, orchestrated by figures like Mr. Khalil at Columbia University, who unabashedly called for Israel’s destruction.
Opinion Articles
Opinion Articles
In embracing Europe’s far right, Israel is playing with fire
For Jewish communities in France and beyond, this shift is not merely uncomfortable; it is existentially destabilizing
Opinion Articles
Opinion Articles
Fearless Zionism: American Jews need to reshape their view of Israel
Even many who haven’t visited Israel – yet! – have been shaped by their Birthright buddies’ identity revelations.
Articles
Articles
Interview: Tamar Ish Shalom Talks About Jewish Identity in an Era of Crisis
In an interview with Lahav Harkov, Ish Shalom spoke about her new podcast: The goal is to focus on in-depth processes and the lessons we can learn from this period.
Opinion Articles
Opinion Articles
The Cost of the American Jewish Vote
I realize this program of action may be uncomfortable for many American Jews. Still, the cost of the American Jewish vote for the Democratic party must include policies that will advance Jewish security and identity for the future.
Researchers Team
Shlomit Mali
Bio
Shlomit Mali is CEO of the AMI - the coordinating body for relations between Israelis and Diaspora Jewry. She is a serial entrepreneur specializing in project leadership an partnership development. Mali was part of the founding team of the Center for Humanities Studies, managed the teacher training department at the National Library, and taught Talmud in various frameworks (SAR – New York; Keshet – Jerusalem; Yad Laisha and others). She holds a master's degree from the Ravivim program at Hebrew University.
Focus Areas and Research
Tamar Ish Shalom
Bio
Tamar Ish Shalom, formerly the chief anchor of Channel 10 (later Channel 13) News for 11 years and more recently the host of Channel 13’s weekend news edition, has won several prestigious awards, including the B’nai B’rith Journalism Award for her documentary series on the evolving face of American Jewry and the Givat Haviva Award for advancing shared society between Jews and Arabs in Israel. She holds a bachelor’s degree in Jewish philosophy and a master’s degree in religious studies.
Tamar hosts a podcast on the topic of the impact of the October 7th events and the ongoing war on the world’s largest Jewish community outside Israel—the Jewish community of the United States.
Focus Areas and Research
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.
Focus Areas and Research
Articles by Dr. Sara Yael Hirschhorn
Samuel J. Hyde
Bio
Samuel J. Hyde is a South African-Israeli writer and researcher. He began his career studying the rise of Nazism at the Holocaust and Genocide Center and is currently a fellow at the Jewish People Policy Institute. Over the years, he has worked in various research institutes such as the Institute for Monitoring Peace and Cultural Tolerance in School Education, the Foundation for the Defense of Democracies, and UN Watch, and edited Dr. Einat Wilf's We Should All Be Zionists.
Focus Areas and Research
Articles by Samuel J. Hyde
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.
Focus Areas and Research
Articles by Yaakov Katz
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.
Focus Areas and Research
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.
Focus Areas and Research
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,".
Focus Areas and Research
Articles by Prof. Gil Troy
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
Dr. Shuki Friedman
Director General
Bio
Dr. Shuki Friedman is the Vice President of the Jewish People Policy Institute. He is a member of the Faculty of Law at the Peres Academic Center and formerly served as secretary of the Locker Committee for Examining the Defense Budget. He was also chairman of the government committee on the sanctions against Iran, and headed the international and foreign law department for the legal division of the Israeli Prime Minister’s Office.
Areas of expertise
The relationship of religion and state; processes of religionization; secular-religious-ultra-Orthodox relations; ultra-Orthodox employment; the defense budget; Islamic law; international law; the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions Movement.
Focus Areas and Research
Antisemitism, Geopolitics, Democracy, Religion and State, Identity, חוקה רזה, Haredim, Israel-Diaspora Relations
Articles by Dr. Shuki Friedman
Prof. Yedidia Stern
President
Bio
Professor Stern is President of the Jewish People Policy Institute and a full professor in the Faculty of Law at Bar-Ilan University. He is an alumnus of the Kerem B'Yavneh hesder yeshiva (1973-1978); holds a law degree (summa cum laude) from Bar-Ilan University (1982), and a doctorate in corporate law from Harvard University (1986).
Stern has served as dean of Bar-Ilan University's Faculty of Law (1994-1998), and was a Senior Fellow at the Israel Democracy Institute (1989-2000). For a decade he served as the IDI's Vice President for Research.
His areas of expertise are corporate law (merger and acquisitions, corporate finance and corporate governance), and public law (constitutional law, religion and state, human rights, law and halacha or Jewish law). He has lectured and been a visiting scholar at universities abroad (including Harvard, Columbia, Brandeis, and Princeton), and was Distinguished University Professor at Monash University in Australia (2009-2011).
Stern has served as advisor to the Knesset Constitution, Law, and Justice Committee; has participated in numerous committees and public entities, among them the Commission of Inquiry on the Treatment of Residents of Gush Katif (2009); the National Committee for Civic Studies (2009-2011, committee chair); the Takana Forum for the prevention of sexual harassment in the religious community (founding member); the Government Committee for Equality in the Burden of Service (2012); the Committee for Regulating Governance in Higher Education (2014). He has served on the boards of multiple companies, including (currently) that of Bank Leumi.
Stern has been awarded the Zeltner Prize for Excellence in Legal Research (2009), and the Gorny Prize for Outstanding Activity in Public Law (2012).
Professor Stern has written and edited over twenty books; has published over fifty research articles in five languages; is the coeditor (with Professor Sagi) of the journal Democratic Culture (19 volumes to date); regularly publishes essays and articles in the Israeli and international press, and is interviewed by the Israeli and international media on issues of law and society, religion and state, Judaism and democracy, Jewish identity and Israeli culture.
Born in England (1955), married to Dr. Karen Friedman-Stern, father of eight.
Focus Areas and Research
Articles by Prof. Yedidia Stern
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.
Focus Areas and Research
Articles by Noah Slepkov
Dr. Shlomo Fischer
Senior Fellow
Bio
Dr. Shlomo Fischer teaches sociology in the School of Education at Hebrew University and at Ben-Gurion University of the Negev.He is also currently a research fellow at the Van Leer Institute. His research interests include the nexus of religion, politics and class in Israel, contemporary religion and the sociology of the Jewish people. He has published extensively on radical religious Zionism and the West Bank settlers as well as on the Shas movement.
Fischer has worked in the field of education for the past 25 years. In the past 10 years he has worked in the field of religion, democracy and tolerance. He has edited (together with Adam Seligman) The Burden of Tolerance: Religious Traditions and the Challenge of Pluralism (Hebrew; HaKibbutz Hameuchad and the Van Leer Institute, 2007) which addresses these issues. From 1996-2007 he was the founder and Executive Director of Yesodot – Center for Torah and Democracy which works to advance education for democracy in the State-Religious school sector in Israel and was also one of the founders and is on the Board of the International Summer School for Religion and Public Life which is based in Boston, Mass. He is a graduate of the Mandel School for Educational Leadership in Jerusalem.
Focus Areas and Research
Articles by Dr. Shlomo Fischer
Dr. John Ruskay
Senior Fellow
Bio
John S. Ruskay came to UJA-Federation in 1993 and held several positions before being appointed Executive Vice President and CEO in October 1999, serving in this role until July 2014. After graduating from the University of Pittsburgh in 1968, Dr. Ruskay earned his M.A. and Ph.D. in political science at Columbia University. He served as Educational Director of the 92nd Street Y from 1980 to 1985, and Vice Chancellor of the Jewish Theological Seminary of America from 1985 to 1993.
Dr. Ruskay has written extensively and speaks nationally on how the American Jewish community can most effectively respond to the challenges and opportunities of living in an open society; the critical role of Jewish philanthropy; and the central role of community. He has served as a senior consultant to the Wexner Foundation and The Andrea and Charles Bronfman Philanthropies, and has chaired the Publication Committee of the Journal of Jewish Communal Service and the Professional Advisory Committee of the Hornstein Jewish Professional Leadership Program.
Dr. Ruskay has received numerous honors, including the Bernard Reisman Award for Professional Excellence from Brandeis University's Hornstein Program, the Mandelkorn Distinguished Service Award from the Jewish Communal Service Association of North America, and honorary doctorates from the Jewish Theological Seminary (2011), Hebrew Union College (2103), and Yeshiva University (2014).
The Ruskay Institute for Jewish Professional Leadership is being established to provide in-service professional enrichment for the next generation of communal leaders.
Dr. Ruskay is married to Robin Bernstein; together they have five children and seven grandchildren.
Focus Areas and Research
Articles by Dr. John Ruskay
Shmuel Rosner
Senior Fellow
Bio
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.
