Kohelet
Experts
Guide
5775 - 2015
Kohelet Policy Forum (R.A.)
8 Am Ve'olamo, Jerusalem, Israel
[email protected]
[email protected]
Contact person for interviews: Shuky Blass
+972-02-631-2720
+972-02-631-2724
+972-54-5924-572
Introduction
The Kohelet Policy Forum strives to secure the future of Israel as the nation-state of the
Jewish People, to strengthen Israeli democracy, expand individual liberty, and deepen free
market principles in Israel
In this pamphlet you will find names of the top experts in the areas in which the Forum
is active, and beyond: constitutional law, international law, religion and state, economics,
politics, government, and international relations.
The diversity, originality, and knowledge of these experts can offer you a preeminent
professional and intellectual groundwork for each of the fundamental issues that figure
prominently in the media.
I would be happy to assist with requests to schedule an appointment and queries relating to
subjects within the purview of the Forum.
Yours, Shuky Blass
Spokesman
3
Native: Hebrew
Additional: English
Dr. Aviad Bakshi
Director, Legal Department
Aviad Bakshi teaches Constitutional and Administrative Law at
Ono Academic College and Bar Ilan University. Dr. Bakshi has been
deeply involved in legislative and constituional initiatives since
2004. Bakshi has published on the subjects of Israel’s constitution,
Israel as a nation-state, the status of Arabic as an official language
and other subjects.
Constitution and basic
laws; Israel as a nationstate; the attorneygeneral's authorities;
checks and balances
among branches of
government; judicial
activism; referendums;
immigration law; liberal
and multicultural political
thought
4
Native: English
Additional: Hebrew
Prof. Avi Bell
Senior Fellow
Avi Bell is a member of the Faculty of Law at Bar Ilan University
and the University of San Diego School of Law. Bell received
his BA and JD from the University of Chicago and his doctorate
from Harvard University. He has served as a visiting professor
at the law schools of Fordham University and the University of
Connecticut. Bell is one of the leading researchers in Israel in the
field of economic analysis of law. He is a member of the Israeli as
well as the American Law and Economic Association.
Property and IP
law, land use laws,
international law, the
laws of war, the ArabIsraeli conflict
5
Native: Hebrew
Additional: English
Prof. Abraham Diskin
Senior Fellow
All aspects of politics
and governance
6
Abraham Diskin served as Chair of the Political Science
Department of the Hebrew University and the Chair of the
Israel Political Science Association. Diskin heads the School for
Interdisciplinary Studies in Administration, Government and Law
at Sha’arei Mishpat College. Among Diskin’s many books are:
Government and Politics in Israel, 2011; The Presidents, 2008; On
the Sinking Ship, 2008.
Native: Hebrew
Additional: English
Michel Eitan
Senior Fellow
Michael Eitan served as a minister in two Likud-led governments
and as a Member of Knesset from 1984 to 2013. He chaired
several Knesset committees and sub-committees. In addition to
serving as a Senior Fellow in Kohelet, Mr. Eitan assists civil society
organizations in promoting the principles of open government and
lectures on these subjects at Hebrew University. He is also active
in promoting the fuller integration of internet technology into the
public sector.
Constitution; Real
Estate
7
Native: Hebrew
Additional: English
Ariel Erlich
Director, Litigation Department
Ariel Erlich received his LL.B and LL.M degrees in law from the
Hebrew University and has taught Jewish law there. He served
for six years as a law clerk in the Jerusalem District Court. He has
also served in the international law department of the Military
Advocate General's office.
Cartels in the food
industry, rights of Olim,
administrative and
constitutional litigation
8
Native: Hebrew
Additional: English
Zvi Hauser
Senior Fellow
Zvi Hauser served as cabinet secretary during the 19th Knesset.
Among his previous positions: Chairman of the Israeli Council
for Cable TV and Satellite broadcasting, member of the boards
of the Tel Aviv Port, Mikveh Israel, the Public Council for the
Commemoration of Binyamin Zeev Herzl and the National
Heritage program.
Basic Law: Israel as
the nation-state of
the Jewish People;
governance
9
Native: English
Additional: Hebrew
Yitzhak Klein
Director, Policy Research
Regulation; civil service;
bureaurcracy; electoral
systems; constitution;
relations between the
branches of government;
Israel-U.S. relations;
Russia
10
Dr. Yitzhak Klein received his doctoral degree from Harvard
University's Department of Government. Prior to co-founding
Kohelet, Klein served as head of the Israel Policy Center, an Israeli
policy institute specializing in constitutional affairs and civil rights,
and served as an adviser to the Knesset Constitution and Law
Committee. Klein teaches in the Department of Citizenship Studies
at Efrata College
Native: English
Prof. Eugene Kontorovich
Senior Fellow
Eugene Kontorovich teaches at Northwestern University School
of Law. He received undergraduate and graduate degrees from
the University of Chicago, where he also taught for two years. He
clerked for Judge Richard Posner on the U.S. Court of Appeals for
the Seventh Circuit. He won the Bator Award from the Federalist
Society. His scholarship has been cited in many judicial opinions in
the U.S.
Supreme court
jurisdiction;
settlements;
international law;
the InternationaI
Criminal Court;
freedom of speech and
constitutional rights
11
Native: English
Additional: Hebrew
Prof. Moshe Koppel
Chairman
Constitution; religion and
state; Kohelet policy
12
Moshe Koppel is a member of the department of Computer
Science at Bar-Ilan University. He received his Ph.D. in
mathematics from Courant Institute and did post-doctoral work
in the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton. Koppel’s public
activity includes co-drafting two proposed constitutions for Israel,
including a joint proposal with Michael Eitan, formerly chairman of
the Knesset’s Constitution and Law committee. Several laws that
Koppel drafted have been passed by the Knesset.
native: English, Hebrew
Dr. Amichai Magen
Senior Fellow
Amichai Magen received his Doctorate from Stanford Law
School and is currently Assistant Professor at the Lauder School
of Government, Diplomacy, and Strategy and Head of Political
Development at the International Institute for Counter Terrorism
(ICT) at the Interdisciplinary Center (IDC) in Herzliya. He is also a
Visiting Fellow at the Hoover Institution, Stanford University.
Quality of democracy
and the rule of law; the
Arab Spring and Israel's
strategic environment;
Israel-Europe relations
13
Native: English,
Additional: Hebrew
Dr. Asher Meir
Director, Economics Department
Consumer credit,
cartels, pension policy,
insolvency, financing of
local government
14
Asher Meir received his BA from Harvard University and his
Ph.D. in economics from MIT. He serves as a Senior Lecturer in
Economics at the Jerusalem College of Technology. His academic
research focuses on consumer insolvency, including consumer
bankruptcy and mortgage policy. He has worked on the staff of
the US Council of Economic and Advisers and for the NBER, the
World Bank, and in the private sector.
Native: English, Hebrew, French
Additional: German
Dr. Emmanuel Navon
Senior Fellow
Emmanuel Navon heads the Political Science and Communication
Department at the Jerusalem Orthodox College, teaches
International Relations at Tel-Aviv University and the Herzliya
Interdisciplinary Center and serves as the international news
commentator for i24news.
Israel's foreign relations,
EU's foreign policy,
global struggle over
energy resources, French
politics
15
Native: Hebrew
Additional: English
Meir Rubin
Executive Director
Meir Rubin graduated Hebrew University with degrees in Law
and Economics. From 2009 to 2011, Rubin worked as an advisor
to the Likud faction in the Knesset, coordinating between the
government offices and coalition members.
Monopolies and cartels;
legislative process;
Kohelet-related issues
16
Native: Hebrew
Additional: English
Prof. Gideon Sapir
Senior Fellow
Gideon Sapir teaches in the law faculty at Bar-Ilan University and
has been a visiting professor at Northwestern University as well
as at the Universities of Monash and Toronto. His research focuses
on constitutional theory and religion-state relations.
Among his many articles and books are: Religion and State in
Israel, 2014 (Hebrew);
Constitutional Revolution in Israel - Past, Present and Future,
2010 (Hebrew)
Constitutional theory,
religion and state,
administrative law
17
Native: Hebrew
Additional: English
Michael Sarel
Director, Kohelet Economic Forum
Macroeconomics; recent
economic developments;
fiscal policy; tax policy;
monetary policy
18
Dr. Sarel served until March 2014 as the Chief Economist of
the Finance Ministry. He obtained his doctoral degree from
Harvard University, where he also served as a teaching fellow.
Sarel worked for the World Bank, International Monetary Fund,
The Bank of Israel, Ministry of Finance as head of the research
department and for Harel Insurance and Finance Group as the
head of the economics and research department.
Law
Constitutional Theory
Dr. Aviad Bakshi, Prof. Avi Bell, Prof. Gideon
Sapir
General Attorney and
Legal Advisors
Dr. Aviad Bakshi
Constitution
Dr. Aviad Bakshi, Prof. Abraham Diskin,
Michael Eitan, Prof. Moshe Koppel
Constitutional Rights
Dr. Aviad Bakshi, Ariel Erlich, Prof. Eugene
Kontorovich, Prof. Gideon Sapir,
Supreme Court
Dr. Aviad Bakshi, Prof. Abraham Diskin,
Prof. Eugene Kontorovich
Administrative Law
Dr. Aviad Bakshi, Prof. Avi Bell, Prof.
Eugene Kontorovich, Prof. Gideon Sapir
Markets and property law
Prof. Avi Bell
Intellectual Property
Prof. Avi Bell
19
International Law
International Criminal
Court
Prof. Avi Bell, Prof. Eugene Kontorovich
Law of War
Prof. Avi Bell
Law of sovereignty
Prof. Avi Bell, Dr. Amichai Magen
Settlements
Prof. Avi Bell, Prof. Eugene Kontorovich
Religion and State
Israel as a Nation-state
Dr. Aviad Bakshi, Zvi Hauser, Prof. Moshe
Koppel
Kashrut
Dr. Aviad Bakshi, Prof. Gideon Sapir
Economics and Judaism
Dr. Asher Meir
20
Economics
Fiscal and Monetary policy
Dr. Michael Sarel
Monopolies and Cartels
Ariel Erlich, Dr. Asher Meir, Meir Rubin
Financing of local
government
Dr. Asher Meir
Macroeconomics
Dr. Michael Sarel
Planning and zoning
Prof. Avi Bell
Real estate
Prof. Avi Bell, Michael eitan
Licensing and Freedom of
occupation
Ariel Erlich
Tax Policy
Dr. Michael Sarel
21
Politics and Governance
Governmental and
electoral systems
Quality of democracy
Prof. Abraham Diskin, Dr. Yitzhak Klein
Prof. Abraham Diskin, Dr. Amichai Magen
Governance
Dr. Aviad Bakshi, Prof. Abraham Diskin, Zvi Hauser
Legislation
Dr. Aviad Bakshi, Prof. Abraham Diskin, Meir
Rubin
Funding of political
parties and elections
Opinion polls
Prof. Abraham Diskin
Prof. Abraham Diskin
Political appointments
Dr. Yitzhak Klein
Public transparency
Michael Eitan
Regulation
Dr. Yitzhak Klein
22
International relations
The European union
Dr. Amichai Magen, Dr. Emmanuel Navon
Israel’s foreign relations
Dr. Emmanuel Navon
Israel-France relations
Dr. Emmanuel Navon
Israel- United States
relations
Dr. Yitzhak Klein
Russia- Middle East
relations
Dr. Yitzhak klein
23
Kohelet Policy Forum (R.A.)
8 Am Ve'olamo, Jerusalem, Israel
[email protected]
[email protected]
Contact person for interviews: Shuky Blass
+972-02-631-2720
+972-02-631-2724
+972-54-5924-572