Does Macron have such a short memory that he can forget the presence of Yasser Arafat and his terrorists in Beirut? Khomeini’s hateful propaganda in Neauphle-le-Château, near Paris?
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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.
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.
Oded Ailam is a former head of the Counterterrorism Division in the Mossad and is currently a researcher at the Jerusalem Center for Security and Foreign Affairs (JCFA).
Adv. Sagiv Asulin is an expert on Iran, influence operations, and strategic perception at the Jerusalem Center for Security and Foreign Affairs (JCFA). A former senior officer and operations commander in Israel’s security forces, Asulin brings extensive experience in intelligence, national security strategy, and international outreach. His work focuses on the intersection of influence, faith-based diplomacy, and the Iranian threat network, strengthening JCFA’s efforts to engage global partners in countering malign influence and promoting strategic awareness.
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.
Vice President
Aviram Bellaishe, a leading expert in regional geopolitics, Middle Eastern affairs, and Arabic language and culture, served for 27 years in Israel’s security apparatus. He gained extensive experience in negotiations, operating mechanisms of influence and perception, and developing strategic and international collaborations. His professional achievements earned him three prestigious excellence awards from the head of the security directorate.
After his discharge, Bellaishe transitioned to commercial, economic, and technological cooperation with Arab countries, leveraging his expertise to expand business and financial partnerships in the region. He served as the Head of the Middle East and North Africa Department at the law firm Doron, Tikotzky, Kantor, Gutman, Amit, Gross & Co., and as Co-CEO of the firm’s commercial arm. Additionally, he managed the “Israeli Peace Initiative” steering committee for several years and currently serves on the executive committee of Mena2050, an organization dedicated to advancing regional cooperation.
Bellaishe holds a bachelor’s and master’s degree in law (with honors), specializing in conflict resolution and mediation. He is a doctoral candidate focusing on consciousness engineering and religious propaganda, with an emphasis on studying influence mechanisms in the Arab world. His extensive experience and unique expertise position him as a key figure in regional dialogue and cooperation efforts.
Research and Diplomacy Fellow
Lenny Ben David is a Research and Diplomacy Fellow at the Jerusalem Center. He 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.
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.
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), Le double jeu (the Double Game), and Adama. He has also published biographies of Shimon Peres, Ariel Sharon, Benjamin Netanyahu, and a book, The 18 Who Built Israel.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Tamir Murad is a public diplomacy professional, former diplomat, and community leader dedicated to strengthening the status of the Druze community in Israel and advancing strategic partnerships both nationally and internationally. Through his work at the Jerusalem Center for Security and Foreign Affairs, Tamir leads initiatives focused on government relations, national recognition, humanitarian support, and international cooperation.
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.
Senior Fellow and Director, Program on Antisemitism and Israel-Europe Relations
Dr. Fiamma Nirenstein, the Israel Foreign Ministry’s Special Advisor for Combating Antisemitism and 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.
Ella Rosenberg is a senior advisor on European Union law and counter-terror finance, specializing in the intersection of regulation, security, and geopolitics across the Middle East and Europe. She serves as an expert on Iran and terror economies at the Jerusalem Center for Security and Foreign Affairs (JCFA).
Rosenberg has extensive experience advising governments, financial institutions, and defense industries on high-risk regulatory and financial frameworks. She has served as a director in Israel’s defense industries association, participated in three Knesset committees (Economy, Hi-Tech, and Science), and consulted on complex banking and compliance challenges involving the EU, the Gulf states, and Africa.
She holds an LL.B. in European Law from Maastricht University (Netherlands) and an LL.M. in Maritime and Corporate Law from Erasmus University Rotterdam, where she also represents the university in Israel. Rosenberg is a member of the Expert Witness Institute (UK) and a regular opinion writer for European financial publications.
Her work focuses on the regulatory and financial mechanisms that enable terror financing, illicit trade, and crypto-based risks, with a particular emphasis on Iran’s global networks.
Director, JCFA United States
Ceng Sagnic is a Middle East–focused geopolitical researcher and intelligence analyst with more than two decades of experience spanning the private sector and academia in the United States, Israel, the wider Middle East, and Africa. He has worked with several think tanks and currently serves as chief analyst at a major multinational intelligence and security firm headquartered in Israel and the United States. Previously, he held senior roles in the private consultancy world, including Middle East director and senior intelligence analyst. Born in Turkey near the Iranian border, Sagnic holds degrees from Erbil in Iraqi Kurdistan and from Be’er Sheva and Tel Aviv in Israel, where he lived and worked for over a decade. He has published widely on contemporary Middle East politics and is a prominent commentator. His regional language skills and deep relationships with key stakeholders enable him to connect policymaking circles with realities on the ground.
Senior Researcher and Program Coordinator
Tirza Shorr is a senior researcher and program coordinator at the Jerusalem Center. Her research specialty is the ideology of leftist movements and the Red-Green alliance.
Ambassador Dore Gold served as President of the Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs from 2000 to 2022. From June 2015 until October 2016 he served as Director-General of the Israel Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Previously he served as Foreign Policy Advisor to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Israel’s Ambassador to the UN (1997-1999), and as an advisor to Prime Minister Ariel Sharon.
Professor Daniel J. Elazar (1934-1999) was a leading political scientist and specialist in the study of the Jewish political tradition, Israel, the world Jewish community, federalism, and political culture. He was Professor of Political Science at Temple University in Philadelphia, where he founded the Center for the Study of Federalism, and held the Senator N.M. Paterson Professorship in Intergovernmental Relations at Bar-Ilan University in Israel, heading its Institute for Local Government. Professor Elazar was the author or editor of more than 60 books, and founded and edited the scholarly journal Jewish Political Studies Review.
Zvi R. Marom served as Director General of the Jerusalem Center from 1984 to 2003 and served on the Steering Committee of the Board of Fellows from 2004 to 2020. Prior to joining the Jerusalem Center, he held a variety of senior positions at the Prime Minister’s Office and retired with the equivalent rank of Major General.
Chaya Herskovic served as Director General of the Jerusalem Center from 2004 to 2020 and as Chief Financial Officer from 2023 to 2024. She had served since 1988 as the Jerusalem Center’s Director of Projects, responsible for the organization and management of numerous Jerusalem Center research projects, conferences, and seminars.
Jennifer Roskies served as Director General of the Jerusalem Center from 2020 to 2022. Prior to that, she served as Chief of Staff to Ambassador Dore Gold and joined him in 2015 during his term as Director General of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, serving as Senior Advisor. She has also worked at the Hebrew University, IDC Herzliya, and the Mandel Foundation.
Yechiel Leiter currently holds the position of the Israeli ambassador to the United States. He has previously served as Chief of Staff to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in his former role as Minister of Finance, as Associate Director General of Israel’s Ministry of Education, and acting Chairman of Israel’s Port Company. He has been a scholar at the Jerusalem Center, the Herzl Institute, and the Kohelet Policy Forum, and an advisor to the President of Paraguay. His post-doctorate study of John Locke and the Hebrew Bible was published by Cambridge University Press (2018).
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Does Macron have such a short memory that he can forget the presence of Yasser Arafat and his terrorists in Beirut? Khomeini’s hateful propaganda in Neauphle-le-Château, near Paris?
Hamas and the Muslim Brotherhood identified Europe’s weak point. In a naivety mixed with stupidity, the continent’s leaders do not understand the principles of fundamentalist Islam – and we are paying the price for it.
The Digital Rial transitions the financial landscape from one where transactions can occasionally be tracked to one where they are always monitored, always recorded, and always subject to state intervention.
Trump seeks a historic achievement, but Riyadh is not willing to pay the price without a genuine settlement ensuring the establishment of an independent Palestinian state.
The 700 million Christian Zionists worldwide constitute a force multiplier for Israel’s international security and diplomatic standing, and a powerful counterweight to delegitimization and defamation campaigns targeting the Jewish state.
The Iranian leadership is struggling to stabilize its grip both internally and externally.
The illegal crypto mining phenomenon in Iran is not merely a few isolated cases of law-breaking; it is an organized, large-scale black market enabled by highly subsidized energy prices.
Far from a humanitarian mission, the latest 70-vessel spectacle on its way to Gaza from Italy is a costly act of political theater @FiammaNirenste1 @JNS_org
Senior Israeli security officials note that such silence is not new; Hamas often delays its statements following targeted Israeli assassinations, raising questions whether this stems from attempts to verify the information or from a deliberate strategy of ambiguity https://x.com/jerusalemcenter
Massive funding of Critical Legal Studies-style academic and extracurricular programs promotes anti-Western ideas and undermines international community institutions and legal conventions https://x.com/jerusalemcenter
