Steering Committee of the Board of Fellows
Prof. Arthur Eidelman, Chairman
David B. Keidan
Adam Milstein
Prof. Shmuel Sandler
Irit Tratt
Alexander Tsigutkin
Howard Weisband
Prof. Arthur Eidelman – Chairman of the Steering Committee
Prof. Arthur Eidelman is Chair (Emeritus) of the Department of Pediatrics at Shaare Zedek Medical Center in Jerusalem. He is Professor of Pediatrics at Ben-Gurion University of the Negev and Hebrew University-Hadassah School of Medicine and International Editor of the Journal of Perinatology (the official publication of the Section of Perinatal Medicine of the American Academy of Pediatrics).
David B. Keidan – Steering Committee Member
David B. Keidan is former President and CEO of Buckingham Capital Management. He is former Chairman of the Finance Committee of the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations, President of Friends of the Harvard Judaica Collection, Honorary Director of Harvard Hillel, and Trustee of Montefiore Health Systems.
Adam Milstein – Steering Committee Member
Adam Milstein is a Managing Partner at Hager Pacific Properties. A native of Israel, he served in the IDF during the Yom Kippur War and graduated from the Technion in 1978. He is a venture philanthropreneur, supporting pro-Israel and pro-American causes that fight hate, antisemitism, and bigotry on college campuses and beyond. He and his wife Gila co-founded the Adam and Gila Milstein Family Foundation, empowering a wide range of organizations, as well as launching new ones, to strengthen the Jewish people and the U.S.-Israel relationship.
Prof. Shmuel Sandler – Steering Committee Member
Prof. Shmuel Sandler is president of Emunah-Efrat College in Jerusalem and a senior research associate at the Begin-Sadat Center for Strategic Studies at Bar-Ilan University. He is a prominent analyst of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, as well as religion, party and electoral politics in Israel, and U.S.-Israel relations.
Irit Tratt – Steering Committee Member
Irit Tratt obtained her Masters in International Affairs with a focus on the Middle East from The George Washington University. Upon graduating, she worked as a Legislative Assistant handling foreign affairs and defense issues for several members of Congress. Irit maintains her advocacy on behalf of Jewish and pro-Israel causes through her involvement with organizations such as The Tikvah Fund and the Republican Jewish Coalition. She is currently a freelance journalist. Her work has been published in The Jerusalem Post, The American Spectator, The Algemeiner, JNS, and Israel Hayom.
Alexander Tsigutkin – Steering Committee Member
Alex Tsigutkin was the founder of AxiomSL, global financial software company, and served as its CEO from 1991 to 2021. Alex designed the original software platform and managed the company to become a global leader in risk management and regulatory compliance for the financial industry. Prior to founding AxiomSL, Alex was an independent consultant to top-tier international banks and financial institutions, advising senior management in banking operations and database engineering. Alex’s passion is helping Jews in Israel and around the world.
Howard M. Weisband – Steering Committee Member
Howard M. Weisband, a Fellow of the Jerusalem Center, served as Senior Adviser on Israel Affairs to the President of Yeshiva University (2004-2007); Director General of UIA Federations Canada (2001-2004); Vice President for International Development at Bar-Ilan University (1997-2001); Secretary General of The Jewish Agency for Israel (1985-1997); and Executive Director of the Memphis Jewish Federation (1977-1984).
Administration
Sagiv Steinberg – Director General and Director of Communications
Sagiv Steinberg served as Director of Communications at the global pharmaceutical giant AstraZeneca. With over 20 years of management experience in Israeli media, he has worked across radio, television, and digital platforms. He also served for six years as the spokesperson for the Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs (JCPA). He returned to this position following the events of October 7, 2023.
Projects Director: Ahuva Volk
Deputy Director General, Operations and Administration: Odelia Zaguri
Personal Assistant to the President: Hannah Jo Kanarek
Graphic Designer and Webmaster: Daniel Levin
Managing Editor of Daily Alert-Israel News Digest: Mark Amiel
Fellows
Khaled Abu Toameh, Jerusalem
Yaakov Amidror, Ra’anana
Alan Baker, Jerusalem
Yoni Ben Menachem, Jerusalem
Eytan Bentsur, Jerusalem
Russel A. Berman, CA
Michael Brown, Toronto
Steven M. Cohen, Jerusalem
Irwin Cotler, Montreal
Dan Diker, Efrat
Arthur I. Eidelman, M.D. Jerusalem *
Freddy Eytan, Jerusalem
Joel Fishman, Jerusalem
Sander Ross Gerber, New York *
Allen (Avi) Glicksman, Philadelphia
Dore Gold, Jerusalem
Hirsh Goodman, Jerusalem
Jonathan Dahoah Halevi, Ontario
Aryeh Hecht, Jerusalem
Chaya Herskovic, Jerusalem
Pinhas Inbari, Modi’in
Raphael Israeli, Jerusalem
Chaim Kalchheim, Jerusalem
Asa Kasher, Ramat Gan
Christian Kaunert, United Kingdom
David B. Keidan, New York
Richard Kemp, Colchester, UK
Eugene Kontorovich, Jerusalem
Yossi Kuperwasser, Rosh HaAyin
Robert Licht, Philadelphia
Deborah E. Lipstadt, Atlanta
Amnon Lord, Jerusalem
Irwin Mansdorf, Ra’anana
Zvi Mazel, Jerusalem
Reuven Merhav, Jerusalem
Alan Mittleman, Allentown, PA
Jacques Neriah, Tel Aviv
Fiamma Nirenstein, Jerusalem
Daniel Reisner, Tel Aviv
Harold Rhode, Washington, DC
Richard Rossin, Givat Yeshayahu
Mordechai Rotenberg, Jerusalem
Colin Rubenstein, Melbourne
Shmuel Sandler, Jerusalem *
Jonathan Sarna, Newton, MA
Michael Segall, Netanya
Nadav Shragai, Jerusalem
Steven Spiegel, Los Angeles
Gerald M. Steinberg, Jerusalem
Joshua Teitelbaum, Ra’anana
Joseph Telushkin, New York
Irit Tratt, Scarsdale, NY
Shmuel Trigano, Paris
Ilan Troen, Beersheva
Alexander Tsigutkin, New York
Irina Tsukerman, Esq., Stratford, CT
Mervin F. Verbit, New York
Leslie Wagner, Jerusalem
Harold M. Waller, Montreal
Howard Weisband, Jerusalem *
Steven Windmueller, Los Angeles
Dr. David Wurmser, Maryland
Mehrdad Marty Youssefiani, Maryland
(*) – Member of Steering Committee
Professional Advisory Board
H.E. Ahmed Obaid Al Mansoori
H.E. Ahmed Obaid Al Mansoori is a former politician who served as a member of the UAE Federal National Council. Today, Ahmed focuses his attention on the award-winning Crossroads of Civilizations Museum (CCM) in Dubai.
Lord Stuart Polak
Stuart Polak, Baron Polak CBE, is a British Conservative politician, life peer in the House of Lords, and honorary president of the Conservative Friends of Israel.
Ambassador Guilio Terzi di Sant’Agata
Giulio Terzi is the President of the European Union Policies Committee of the Italian Senate.
Razi Dikan
Past Leadership
Former Presidents
Dore Gold – President (2000–2022)
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, z”l – Founder of the Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs
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.
Former Directors General
Zvi R. Marom, z”l – Director General (1984-2003)
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 – Director General and Chief Financial Officer (2004–2020)
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 – Director General (2020–2022)
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 – Director General (2020–2024)
Yechiel Leiter has 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).
