Guest Speakers
We are excited to bring a panel of five guests, to the opening ceremony who will be discussing: Future Crises of the Middle East. The panel will be facilitated by Israela Oron, Brigadier General (Ret.).
Helit Barel
Ms. Barel is the former Director of the Council for Peace and Security and a Chief in the Israeli National Security Council in the Prime Minister's office. She holds a Master's degree in Security Policy from Harvard University and is pursuing her PhD in International Relations at the University of Maryland.
She will be speaking about the Nuclear Proliferation in the Middle East.
Dr. Nimrod Goren
Dr. Goren Is the founder of the Mitvim Institute for regional foreign policy and a lecturer for Middle Eastern Studies at the Hebrew University. Dr. Goren is an expert of Middle Eastern Foreign Policy, and has written his PHD on the topic of incentives in Peace processes both in Israel and in Turkey.
He will be speaking about the deteriorating Israeli Turkish diplomatic relations.
Dr. Kobi Michael
Dr. Michael is a senior research fellow at INSS and a senior lecturer in the Department of Political Science at Ariel University. Among his primary research interests are peace and war studies; strategy; national security; civil-military relations; peace maintenance; and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Dr. Michael served as the deputy director general and head of the Palestinian desk at the Ministry for Strategic Affairs. He has published widely in his field and has been awarded several academic prizes
He will be speaking about the weakening of the state and strengthening of Non State Islamic fundamentalists in the Middle East.
Itamar Ya'ar
Ret. Colonel, Itamar Ya'ar is the former Deputy Chief of the Israeli National Security Council. Mr. Ya'ar is a graduate of the Royal College for Defense Studies in London. He served as a military attaché to the UK, Ireland and Finland and as the chief of the organization division in the Strategic branch in the IDF.
He will be talking about the possibilities of achieving an Israeli Palestinian peace agreement.
Knesset Member Nachman Shai
Knesset Member Shai is an Israeli media persona. He is the former IDF spokesperson and the former spokesperson for the Israeli permanent mission to the UN. He has served as a Knesset Member since 2009 as part of the "Avoda", Labour party, and as the deputy to the Chairman of the Knesset.
Will be speaking about the role the USA is taking in the Middle East area currently and their containment policy.
Israela Oron, Brigadier General (Ret.)
Israela Oron, has filled a variety of positions in the IDF. In 1991 she was the first woman appointed to the position of deputy IDF Spokesman, where she was responsible for the operations in that department, and commanded it during the first Gulf War. In 1993 she was appointed instructor, the National Defense College, and was the first woman to hold the position. In 1994 - 1997 Oron was the Head Officer of the Women's corps in the IDF. In June 2006, she was appointed Deputy National Security Advisor for Planning and Infrastructure in the National Security Council. Oron holds a B.A. in Psychology from the University of Haifa and a M.B.A. from Tel Aviv University.
Ms. Oron will be facilitating the discussion among the five panelists.