Daniel Pipes - Director of the Middle East Forum
Daniel Pipes, a historian, is director of the Middle East Forum.. He received his A.B. (1971) and Ph.D. (1978) from Harvard University. A former official in the U.S. Departments of State and Defense, he has taught at the University of Chicago and Harvard University.
He has written twelve books and his website, www.danielpipes.org/ with a near-complete archive of his writings, has recorded nearly 66 million page visits, making it one of the most accessed internet sources of specialized information on the Middle East and Islam. He writes a bi-weekly column for the Jerusalem Post, National Review, Die Welt, and other publications. Two presidents have appointed Mr. Pipes to U.S. government positions.
CBS Sunday Morning says he was "years ahead of the curve in identifying the threat of radical Islam." "Unnoticed by most Westerners," he wrote, for example, in 1995, "war has been unilaterally declared on Europe and the United States." The Boston Globe states that "If Pipes's admonitions had been heeded, there might never have been a 9/11." The Wall Street Journal calls Mr. Pipes "an authoritative commentator on the Middle East" and the Washington Post deems him "perhaps the most prominent U.S. scholar on radical Islam."
Ron Wexler - Heritage Study Programs
Ron Wexler heads Heritage Study Programs, an educational travel organization based in Boca Raton, Florida and serves as president of the Ten Commandments Commission, a non-profit that fosters improved understanding between Christians and Jews.
Ron Wexler served in the Israel Defense Force during the Six-Day War of 1967 and the Yom Kippur War of 1973. He both attended rabbinical school and has done research on early Christianity, giving him the basis for his work promoting conciliation between Jews and Christians. He has produced programs for the Municipality of Jerusalem and the Government of Israel Tourist Office; in particular, he was responsible for the “Jerusalem 2000” celebration.
Eliezer (Moodi) Sandberg, a presenter
Eliezer (Moodi) Sandberg is the World Chairman of Keren Hayesod, the United Israel Appeal. Born in Haifa in 1962, he graduated from the Leo Baeck High School, studied law at Tel Aviv University, served as a military prosecutor, and achieved the rank of lieutenant. Elected to the Knesset at 1992 as a member of the Tsomet party, he held various ministerial posts, including National Infrastructure and Science and Technology. During his 14-year tenure in Israel’s parliament, he served on many important committees.
Doron Almog, a presenter
Major General Doron Almog has a wide-ranging background of service in the IDF, including service and leadership in many of Israel’s battles, from serving as a soldier in the paratroopers’ brigade, until his position as Commander-in-Chief of the Israeli Southern Command (2000-2003).
Since 2011, Mr. Almog heads a special unit in the Prime Minister’s Office, the Headquarters for Economic & Community Development of the Negev Bedouin, which has the goal of improving the lot of Negev Bedouin. Other post-military service activities include founding a rehabilitative village for the disabled and two for-profit companies in the area of homeland security. Educated at Tel Aviv and Haifa universities, he has been a fellow at Harvard University and the Washington Institute.
Prof. Aref Abu-Rabia, a presenter
Himself a native Bedouin, born and raised in the Negev, Aref Abu Rabia of Ben Gurion University is one of the world top experts on Bedouin life as well as an activist to preserve the Negev Bedouin way of life. Active in tribal affairs, he is also a medical doctor who published many papers and studies. His publications deal with traditional medicine, family customs, holy saints, education, violence & the abuse of children, Sufism, Islamic medical law and ethics. He is the author of four books. He has won the Berelson Prize for Jewish-Arab Understanding and Co-Existence in Israel.
Prof. Seth J. Frantzman, a presenter
Seth J. Frantzman has a PhD in geography from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, where he conducts Post-Doctoral research, and is the Oped Editor of The Jerusalem Post. Born in Maine, he moved to Israel in 2004 and completed his MA and doctoral work examining Arab minorities, such as Christians and Bedouin, during the Ottoman and British Mandate periods. With over fifteen academic publications and two hundred other articles in various newspapers, he has been a public speaker at international conferences and guest lecturer at Israeli universities and at Al-Quds university in the West Bank. He was previously a fellow at The Jerusalem Institute for Market Studies, and a researcher for the JDC, Aish HaTorah and a speaker at Limmud in South Africa and Moscow. His current research focuses on issues of Israeli society and he has presented on the Bedouin issue to Regavim and other groups.
Prof. Efraim Inbar, a presenter
Efraim Inbar is a Professor in Political Studies at Bar-Ilan University and Director of its renowned Begin-Sadat Center for Strategic Studies (the BESA Center).
Inbar was educated at the Hebrew University (B.A. in Political Science and English Literature) and at the University of Chicago (M.A. and Ph.D. in Political Science). He served as visiting professor at Johns Hopkins University (2004), at Georgetown University (1991-92), and visiting scholar at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars (1996). Prof. Inbar was appointed as a Manfred Warner NATO Fellow (1998), was a visiting fellow at the (London) International Institute for Strategic Studies (2000), and was the recipient of the Onassis Fellowship (2003). He often lectures at institutions such as RAND, Harvard, MIT, Columbia, Oxford, and Yale Universities.
Inbar’s area of specialization is Middle Eastern strategic issues with a special interest in the politics and strategy of Israeli national security. He has written over 80 articles in professional journals and edited volumes. He has authored five books: Outcast Countries in the World Community (1985), War and Peace in Israeli Politics. Labor Party Positions on National Security (1991), Rabin and Israel’s National Security (1999), The Israeli-Turkish Entente (2001), and Israel's National Security: Issues and Challenges since the Yom Kippur War (2008). He has also edited twelve collections of articles.