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The Jerusalem Center Experts Team

 
Dan Diker
Dr. Dan Diker – President
Dr. Dan Diker, Senior Fellow and longtime Director of the Counter-Political Warfare Project at the Jerusalem Center, is former Secretary-General of the World Jewish Congress and Research Fellow of the International Institute for Counter Terrorism at Reichman University (formerly IDC, Herzliya). He has written six books exposing the “apartheid antisemitism” phenomenon in North America, and has authored studies on Iran’s race for regional supremacy and Israel’s need for defensible borders. Publications by Dan Diker

Jerusalem Center Scholars (in alphabetical order)

Khaled Abu Toameh
Khaled Abu Toameh – Senior Fellow, Arab and Palestinian Affairs
Khaled Abu Toameh is an award-winning Israeli Arab journalist, lecturer, and documentary filmmaker specializing in Palestinian affairs. A Senior Distinguished Fellow at the Gatestone Institute, he has also worked as a senior producer for NBC in the Middle East and has reported on events in the West Bank and Gaza for several media outlets.
Ambassador Alan Baker
Amb. Alan Baker – Director, Institute for Diplomatic Affairs
Amb. Alan Baker, Director of the Institute for Diplomatic Affairs at the Jerusalem Center, served as Legal Adviser and Deputy Director-General of Israel’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs and as Israel’s Ambassador to Canada. He participated in the negotiation and drafting of the Oslo Accords with the Palestinians, as well as agreements and peace treaties with Egypt, Jordan, and Lebanon. Publications by Alan Baker
Aviram Bellaishe
Aviram Bellaishe – VP, Strategy, Security, and Communications

For over twenty-five years, Aviram Bellaishe served in senior government positions as a business intelligence and Middle East specialist, negotiation expert, and international cooperation manager. Aviram was an Israeli director in a regional initiative for business and economic cooperation dialogue in the regions of the Middle East and North Africa, and is presently a member of the executive committee of MENA 2050.

Lenny Ben-David
Lenny Ben David – Director, Institute for U.S.-Israel Relations
Lenny Ben David served as Deputy Chief of Mission in Israel’s Embassy in Washington, D.C. (1997-2000). Previously, he served for 25 years at AIPAC, including as the Director of AIPAC’s Israel office. He is a photographic historian of the Middle East, and the author of AIPAC’s groundbreaking Myths and Facts and the recent American Interests in the Holy Land. Publications by Lenny Ben-David
Yoni Ben Menachem
Yoni Ben Menachem – Middle East Intelligence Analyst
Yoni Ben Menachem, a Senior Researcher at the Jerusalem Center, is a veteran Arab affairs and diplomatic commentator for Israel Radio and Television. He served as Director General and Chief Editor of the Israel Broadcasting Authority. Publications by Yoni Ben Menachem
Ambassador Freddy Eytan
Amb. Freddy Eytan
Ambassador Freddy Eytan, a former Foreign Ministry senior advisor who served in Israel’s embassies in Paris and Brussels, was Israel’s first Ambassador to the Islamic Republic of Mauritania. He was also the spokesman of the Israeli delegation in the peace process with the Palestinians. Since 2007, he heads the Israel-Europe Project at the Jerusalem Center, which focuses on analyzing Israeli relations with the countries of Europe and seeks to develop ties and avenues of bilateral cooperation. He is also the director of Le Cape, the Jerusalem Center website in French. Amb. Eytan has written 25 books about the Israeli-Arab conflict and the policy of France in the Middle East, including La Poudriere (The Powder Keg) and Le double jeu (the Double Game). He has also published biographies of Shimon Peres, Ariel Sharon, Benjamin Netanyahu, and a book, The 18 Who Built Israel Publications by Freddy Eytan.
Jason Greenblatt
Jason Greenblatt – Senior Director, Arab-Israeli Diplomacy
Jason Greenblatt served as Assistant to the U.S. President and Special Representative for International Negotiations (2017-2019). He played a key role in developing the Abraham Accords, signed in 2020, that saw Israel normalize relations with the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Morocco, and helped formulate President Donald Trump’s Middle East peace plan.
Jonathan D. Halevi
Lt.-Col. (ret.) Jonathan D. Halevi – Senior Researcher of the Middle East and Radical Islam
Lt. Col. (ret.) Jonathan D. Halevi is a senior researcher of the Middle East and radical Islam at the Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs. He is a co-founder of the Orient Research Group Ltd. Publications by Jonathan D. Halevi
Maurice Hirsch
Lt.-Col. (res.) Maurice Hirsch – Director of the Palestinian Authority Accountability Initiative
Lt.-Col. (res.) Maurice Hirsch served as Director of the Military Prosecution for Judea and Samaria. Since retiring from the IDF, Hirsch worked as the Head of Legal Strategies for Palestinian Media Watch, as a Senior Military Consultant for NGO Monitor, an advisor to the Ministry of Defense, and head of an advisory committee in the Ministry of Interior. Hirsch was the architect of the Israeli law that strips citizenship from Israeli terrorists who have been convicted for terror offenses, sentenced to a custodial sentence, and receive a payment from the Palestinian Authority as a reward for their acts of terror. Publications by Maurice Hirsch
Pinhas Inbari
Pinhas Inbari – Senior Researcher, Arab and Palestinian Affairs
Pinhas Inbari, a Senior Researcher at the Jerusalem Center, is a leading Palestinian and Middle East affairs scholar who serves as a commentator for several foreign media outlets. He served as a Middle East adviser to Israel’s Ministry of Strategic Affairs and has authored several books on the Palestinian issue. Publications by Pinhas Inbari
Brig.-Gen. (res.) Yossi Kuperwasser
Brig.-Gen. (res.) Yossi Kuperwasser – Senior Fellow, Director, National Security and Middle East Affairs
Brig.-Gen. (res.) Yossi Kuperwasser was formerly Director-General of the Israel Ministry of Strategic Affairs and head of the Research Division of IDF Military Intelligence.
Dr. Irwin J. Mansdorf
Dr. Irwin J. Mansdorf
Irwin J. (Yitzchak) Mansdorf, PhD, senior fellow at JCPA, is a psychologist who has held faculty positions both in Israel and the United States and served as director of the JCPA Israel-Arab Studies program for GAP year students. He currently conducts research in political psychology, including work on the psychology of terror, psychological warfare and public diplomacy. Publications by Dr. Irwin J. Mansdorf
Col. (ret.) Dr. Jacques Neriah
Col. (ret.) Dr. Jacques Neriah – Special Analyst for the Middle East
Col. (ret.) Dr. Jacques Neriah, a regular contributor to the Jerusalem Center’s blog on the upheavals in the Arab world, was formerly Foreign Policy Advisor to Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin and Deputy Head for Assessment of Israeli Military Intelligence.  Publications by Jacques Neriah
Fiamma Nirenstein
Dr. Fiamma Nirenstein – Senior Fellow and Director, Program on Antisemitism and Israel-Europe Relations
Dr. Fiamma Nirenstein, a Senior Fellow of the Jerusalem Center, is a former member of the Italian Parliament, where she was Vice President of the Committee on Foreign Affairs in the Chamber of Deputies. She also served in the Council of Europe in Strasbourg, and established and chaired the Committee for the Inquiry into Antisemitism. She is the author of over 20 books and hundreds of articles. Publications by Dr. Fiamma Nirenstein
Lt. Col. (ret.) Michael Segall
Lt.-Col. (ret.) Michael Segall – Senior Researcher, Expert on Iranian Military Strategy
Lt.-Col. (ret.) Michael Segall, a Senior Researcher at the Jerusalem Center, has provided groundbreaking analysis of Iranian military strategy and tactics, and has written extensively about Iranian penetration of Latin America and Africa. Publications by Michael Segall
Pastor Dumisani Washington
Pastor Dumisani Washington – Founder, Institute for Black Solidarity with Israel (IBSI)
Pastor Dumisani Washington is the Founder and CEO of the Institute for Black Solidarity with Israel (IBSI). He formerly served as the Diversity Outreach Coordinator for Christians United for Israel (CUFI), where he organized multiethnic Christian support for Israel and helped launch CUFI‑Africa to engage Israel-supporters across the continent. Washington is the author of Zionism and the Black Church: Why Standing with Israel Will be a Defining Issue for Christians of Color in the 21st Century.

Jerusalem Center Associates

Yoseph Haddad
Yoseph Haddad – Israeli Arab Foreign Affairs Expert
Yoseph Haddad served as a commander in the IDF’s elite Golani brigade. Haddad has led a global campaign to expose and educate parliaments and government leaders on the dangers of BDS and “apartheid antisemitism.” He serves as a bridge in Jewish-Arab relations in Israel. He is a regular commentator on Israeli TV in English, Hebrew and Arabic, and received the Ministry of Foreign Affairs 2021 “Light of Israel” award.
Lorena Khatib
Lorena Khatib – Chief Arabic Content Officer for Digital Diplomacy, Israel Ministry of Foreign Affairs
Lorena Khatib, an Israeli Druze diplomat, is the chief Arabic Content Officer in the Department of Digital Diplomacy at the Israel Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Yahya Mahamid
Yahya Mahamid – Israeli Commentator and Counter-BDS Expert
Yahya Mahamid is an Israeli Arab speaker, educator and activist, working to empower and integrate youth from Israel’s Arab minority into Israeli society. He volunteered to serve as a combat infantry soldier in the IDF and has since worked to educate others about antisemitism and Israel.
Joshua Washington
Joshua Washington – Director, Institute for Black Solidarity with Israel (IBSI)
Joshua Washington is Director of the Institute for Black Solidarity with Israel (IBSI) and a leader in educating and engaging the American Black community about Israel.
Olga Meshoe Washington
Olga Meshoe Washington – South African Attorney and Expert on U.S.-Israel Affairs
South African native Olga Meshoe Washington is an attorney and CEO of DEISI (Defend Embrace Invest Support Israel). She has worked in Israel advocacy for years in the U.S. and Africa. Her father, Reverend Kenneth Meshoe, is a leader of the African Christian Democratic party and a member of the Parliament of South Africa.
Ahmed Zoabi
Ahmed Zoabi – Israeli Arab Educator, Israel Ministry of Education
Ahmed Zoabi is an Israeli Arab educator, speaker, and activist who works at the Israel Ministry of Education. He volunteers at several initiatives to empower and integrate youth from Israel’s Arab minority into Israeli society.

Jerusalem Center Board of Fellows