Col. (Ret.) Dr. Shaul Arieli is a researcher of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict who has been closely involved with the peace process in all its aspects, and is one of Israel’s leading experts on border demarcation and the separation barrier. Previously, he served in various command positions in the Paratroopers Brigade, as commander of the Northern Brigade in Gaza, as Deputy Military Secretary to the Minister of Defense and Prime Minister, and as head of the negotiation administration with the Palestinians during the terms of four prime ministers – Yitzhak Rabin, Shimon Peres, Benjamin Netanyahu, and Ehud Barak. Currently, he serves as the head of the T-Politography research group and lectures at Reichman University. Arieli holds a bachelor’s degree in Political Science from Tel Aviv University, a master’s degree from the Recanati School of Business Administration at Tel Aviv University, and a doctorate from the University of Haifa in Geography and Environmental Sciences. His research focused on the development of Israel’s borders. Arieli has published eight books about the conflict in several languages, three atlases, and hundreds of articles in journals and Israeli newspapers. He conducts lectures and tours throughout the country and frequently appears in media interviews discussing the peace process and security situation.
Prof. Gilad Hirschberger is a social and political psychologist at the Baruch Ivcher School of Psychology at Reichman University, and co-director of the T-Politography Project. His research focuses on collective existential threats, collective trauma, and public opinion in the context of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. His work focuses on how threat perceptions shape political attitudes. This work is guided by a multi-dimensional model of existential threats that he recently developed. In his research, he focuses on threats that emanate from the past that cast a long shadow on the present, such as the memory of collective trauma, and on ideological differences in the perception of physical threats and symbolic-identity threats. He has published about 100 academic articles and book chapters, as well as opinion pieces in the Hebrew and English press.
Sivan Hirsch-Hoefler is Associate Professor at the Lauder School of Government, Diplomacy and Strategy, Reichman University (IDC Herzliya), and co-director of the T-Politography project. Her work focuses on the processes underpinning right-wing extremism and political violence, with a particular emphasis on religious nationalism and the settler movement in Israel. She has published numerous papers on extremism, and Her recent book (with Cas Mudde), “The Israeli Settler Movement” published by Cambridge University Press, analyzes the settler movement in the West Bank and its past, present, and future impact on Israeli politics and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. She has also published op-ed pieces in the Israeli and international press on these issues.
Gili Dekel
Gili Dekel has a master’s degree in Public Policy and Administration from Reichman University where she also teaches Excel workshops and JMP software as part of a research methods course. In the T-Politography project Gili is the project’s research coordinator and data manager.
Main Reseachers:
Dr. Maisalon Dallashi
Dr. Maisalon Dallashi is a lecturer in the Department of Sociology and Anthropology at Tel Aviv University. Her research focuses on the effects of educational segregation on economic and social outcomes, particularly among Palestinian citizens of Israel. Her areas of study include social and environmental justice, national identity, labor market inequality, and the politics of language. She serves as a board member of the Education Council of the High Follow-Up Committee for Arab Education, the Adva Center, which specializes in monitoring social and economic trends, and the 972 Association for the Promotion of Citizen Journalism.
د. ميسلون دلاشة محاضرة في قسم علم الاجتماع والأنثروبولوجيا في جامعة تل أبيب. تركز أبحاثها على تأثير الفصل التعليمي على النتائج الاقتصادية والاجتماعية، خاصة بين المواطنين الفلسطينيين في إسرائيل. تشمل مجالات بحثها العدالة الاجتماعية والبيئية، الهوية الوطنية، عدم المساواة في سوق العمل، وسياسات اللغة. وهي عضو في الهيئة الإدارية في المجلس التربوي المنبثق عن لجنة متابعة قضايا التعليم العبري العليا، مركز أدڤا، الذي يتخصص في رصد الاتجاهات الاجتماعية والاقتصادية، وعضو جمعية 972 لتعزيز الصحافة المواطنية.
Dr. Roi Frayberg
Dr. Roi Frayberg is a certified public accountant (CPA) and economist specializing in economic research on the integration of Israel, the West Bank, and the Gaza Strip. Currently, he serves as Deputy CEO and Head of Banking and Credit division at esh Bank Israel Ltd., a new digital bank being established in Israel.
Previously, Dr. Frayberg served as an advisor to the Deputy Governor of the Bank of Israel, where he managed monetary relations with the Palestinian Monetary Authority and coordinated related activities with government ministries, the World Bank, and the International Monetary Fund.
He is also a board member at a pension fund management company affiliated with Menora Mivtachim Group and the Engineers Union.
Dr. Liron Libman
Colonel (Res.) Dr. Liron Libman is a lawyer, mediator, and adjunct lecturer at Sapir College and the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, where he teaches courses in international law. His doctoral dissertation at the Hebrew University was titled “Deterrence and the Use of Force in International Law” (2021). During his work at the Israel Democracy Institute (2017 – 2022), he authored, among other publications, policy papers on security measures and collective punishment (2019) and on the challenges in the laws of the use of force in international law related to Israel’s northern border (2023). He also writes opinion pieces for the press and contributes to legal journals and blogs, both in Israel and abroad. Dr. Libman is a certified mediator and has been included in the of the Israeli courts general roster of mediators since 2021. He served as the head of the International Law Department in the IDF (2009 – 2011) and as the Chief Military Prosecutor (2005 – 2008).
Sigalit Maor-Hirsh
Sigalit Maor-Hirsh is a senior researcher and expert in intelligence, security, and terrorism, with a focus on the Palestinian arena and ISIS, currently specializing in the study of glocal protest movements. With extensive experience managing cyber and intelligence units, she has led strategic research and analysis projects across various fields related to digital processes and their societal impact. Sigalit has developed unique research methodologies that integrate the analysis of contentious political phenomena—such as terrorism, collective action, protest movements, social media consumption, and surveillance capitalism—into studies of social media behavior. She has been lecturing at Reichman University for seven years, specializing in understanding political influence trends within the digital environment.
Dr. Ronit Marzan
Ronit Marzan, Dr of the history of the Middle East. She taught at the School of Political Science at Haifa University (2012-2024) and currently teaches at the Jaffa-Tel Aviv Academic College and is a researcher in T-Politography Project. Her research focuses on Palestinian society and politics; Young uprisings in the “Arab Spring”; and Qatar’s foreign policy with an emphasis on its involvement in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. She published two books: Yasser Arafat – Rhetoric of a lone leader, Resling press (2016); The father, the son and the spirit of the revolution – the young people in the Arab Spring, Pardes press and the University of Haifa (2021). She also published opinion articles in the Israeli and international press, at the Forum for Regional Thinking and the Chaikin Chair for Geo-Strategy at Haifa university.
Dr. Maoz Rosenthal
Dr. Maoz Rosenthal is a senior lecturer in the Department of Politics and Communication at Hadassah College. Dr. Rosenthal was a faculty member at the Lauder School of Government at Reichman University, a visiting lecturer in the Israel Fellows program at the Department of Political Science at SUNY Binghamton, a visiting researcher at Yale University, and was a postdoctoral fellow at the Department of Sociology, Political Science and Communication at the Open University. Dr. Rosenthal studied all his degrees in the Political Science Department at Tel Aviv University. Dr. Rosenthal’s research deals with how political elites strive to design and implement the public policy they are interested in. His research mainly emphasizes manipulative rhetoric (heresthetics), which he investigates using quantitative research methods alongside analytical narratives. His research has been published in several leading journals such as Political Studies, Journal of Law and Courts, Ethnicities, etc. His book on the crisis of governance in Israel was published by Rowman & Littlefield in 2017. In addition to his academic work, Dr. Rosenthal was a research fellow at several policy institutes, such as the Center for Citizen’s Empowerment in Israel and the Tachlit Institute.
Dr. Dimitry Rotstein
Dr. Dimitry Rotstein is a graduate of the Technion (Israel Institute of Technology), having two Bachelors degrees in Computer Sciences (Cum Laude) and Physics (Summa Cum Laude), as well as some graduate studies in Astrophysics. Social entrepreneur in the area of governance and democracy, member of several non-partisan political organizations, founder of the “Objective Vote” electoral app. His area of research includes developing formal mathematical models of socio-political systems.
Ron Shatzberg
Ron is co-Executive Director of the Economic Cooperation Foundation (ECF).
In his current capacity he deals with regional security, border regime, Jerusalem, and cross-border cooperation strategies, as well as with Jordanian-Israeli relations. Ron holds a B.A. in Journalism and Political Science, and an M.A. in Conflict Resolution, both from The Hebrew University of Jerusalem.
For 11 years Ron was an adviser for the International Community of the Red Cross (ICRC) on International Humanitarian Law (IHL) and Laws of Armed Conflict (LoAC) with respect to their relations with the Israel Defense Forces (IDF).
Ron is an IDF Colonel (res.), in his last position he served as Chief of Staff of an Infantry Brigade.
Dr. Amnon Sofrin
Amnon Sofrin is a Brigadier – General (ret.), an expert on National Security, Homeland Security and Intelligence. BG (ret.) Sofrin served with the IDF for more than 30 years, as an intelligence officer at maneuvering units and at the Military HQ, among them he served as the intelligence officer of the Central Territorial Command (1993-1996), the Head of the Tasking Division at the Military Intelligence HQ. On his last assignment with the IDF BG (ret.) Sofrin established the Combat Intelligence Corps and commanded the corps for about 3.5 years. After he retired from the army, BG (ret.) Sofrin served with Israel’s Intelligence Community on senior assignments. His last assignment was as the Head of the Intelligence Directorate at Israel’s Secret Intelligence Service (“Mossad”) from which he retired on 2008.
Keren Tamir
Keren Tamir is a communications researcher and expert specializing in civil society organizations and their social media presence. Holds two master’s degrees – an MBA and an MA in Communications – combining deep business acumen with expertise in communications and new media. Her research focuses on how civil society organizations utilize social networks to advance their goals and build communities
Dr. Moran Zaga
Dr. Moran Zaga is a Political Geographer and a historian of the Gulf States, with a special focus on the United Arab Emirates. She is a teaching fellow at the University of Haifa and the Hebrew University. Her main research interests are Israel-Gulf-Palestinian relations, the geopolitics of the Gulf countries and territorial borders in the Gulf.
Dr. Raz Zimmt
Dr. Raz Zimmt is a Senior Researcher and co-editor of the institute’s journal, Strategic Assessment. He holds a master’s degree and a Ph.D. in Middle Eastern history from Tel Aviv University. His Ph.D. dissertation focused on Iranian policy towards Nasserism and Arab radicalism between 1954 and 1967. He is also a research fellow at the Alliance Center for Iranian Studies at Tel-Aviv University. He is the author of the book “Iran From Within: State and Society in the Islamic Republic” published (in Hebrew) in 2022. He is also a veteran Iran watcher in the Israeli Defense Forces. His main research interests are politics, foreign relations, and society in the Islamic Republic of Iran.
Dr. Hay Eytan Cohen Yanarocak
Dr. Hay Eytan Cohen Yanarocak is a Turkey expert at the Jerusalem Institute for Strategy and Security (JISS) and the Moshe Dayan Center for Middle Eastern and African Studies (MDC) at Tel Aviv University. He received his Ph.D. from Tel Aviv University’s School of History and is a lecturer there, as well as at Ben-Gurion University of the Negev and Ariel University. Dr. Cohen Yanarocak is the editor of Turkeyscope: Insights on Turkish Affairs. In May 2015, he was awarded the Dan David Prize Scholarship in the category of “Past: Retrieving the Past, Historians and Their Sources.” He is the author of The Evolution of the Turkish School Textbooks from Atatürk to Erdoğan, published by Lexington Books, Rowman & Littlefield, in September 2022.
Prof. Ron S. Kenett
Chairman of the KPA Group, Senior Research Fellow, Samuel Neaman Institute, the Technion, Research Professor at the University of Torino, Torino, Italy and past International Research Professor at the Center for Research in Risk Engineering, NYU, New York, USA. He has over 25 years of experience in development and applications of statistical methods, process analysis, supporting technologies and modern risk management systems. As a Professor of Management at the State University of New York, he was awarded the General Electric Quality Management Fellowship. For nine years he served as Director of Statistical Methods for Tadiran Telecommunications Corporation and, previously, as researcher at Bell Laboratories in New Jersey. His 250 publications and 18 books are on topics in industrial statistics, customer surveys, healthcare statistics, biostatistics, risk, and quality management. He is a Fellow of the Royal Statistical Society, Past President of ENBIS, the European Network for Business and Industrial Statistics (2006-2007) and Past President of the Israel Statistical Association (2011-2013). Ron is currently member of the board of several companies and was awarded the Greenfield medal by the Royal Statistical Society and the Box medal for excellence in the application of statistics by ENBIS.
Ron Ben-Jacob
A senior KPA consultant and an experienced Data Scientist with over 20 years of experience in applying analytical models, risk management and dashboard development for data science applications. Coordinated projects in the field of aeronautical systems, robotic systems, pharmaceutical, and manufacturing. MA in Psychology from The New School For Social Research in New York.
Ariel Kenett
CEO of KPA with over 20 years of experience in facilitating data science/analytics paradigms and AI technologies as part of the organizational decision-making process. Ariel has extensive knowledge in practical analytics models as well as background in all product management aspects.
Research Assistants:
Romi Josef Benyamini
Romi Josef Benyamini is an honors psychology student at Reichman University and a research assistant in the LGBTQ+ Psychology Lab. She began her journey with a national service year, leading initiatives to foster Arab-Jewish engagement within a shared society framework. Romi went on to serve in the IDF’s Caracal Battalion, completing five years as a distinguished Combat Officer and continues to serve as a Captain in the reserves. Following her military service, she served as Director of Overseas Operations for a security organization in Israel and the United States.
As a research assistant in the T-Politography Project, Romi Josef Benyamini specializes in data collection and analysis on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Her work examines perspectives within the Jewish, Arab, and Palestinian sectors, as well as among Jewish organizations in the United States.
Rashef Moriah
Rashef Moriah holds a degree in geography from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. In T-Politography project, he is in charge of collecting and analyzing geo-spatial data by using GIS software.
Mitar Sorek
Mitar Sorek is a third-year student in the honor program at the school of psychology at Reichman University.
In T-Politography Project he specializes in collecting data in the social domain and focuses on the international political area where he collects data related to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict from the White House, Congress, the United Nations and the US State Department.
Idan Franco
Idan Franco is a PhD candidate in the School of Political Science, Government, and International Relations at Tel Aviv University, focusing on public opinion, political behavior, and minority politics. His research has appeared in leading journals in the field of political science, including European Political Science Review and Groups, Politics, and Identities, and has been covered by major public outlets, such as The Washington Post and Axios.