Yoram Peri

Prof Yoram Peri "is the Head of the Rothschild Caesarea School of Communication, and the head of Chaim Herzog Institute for Media, Politics and Society and professor of Political Sociology and Communication in the department of communication at Tel Aviv University. A former political advisor to the late Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin, and former Editor-in-chief of the Israeli daily, Davar.

"Born in Jerusalem in 1944, he earned his B.A. and M.A. in Political Science and Sociology at the Hebrew University and his Ph.D. from the London School of Economics. In 2002 he was a senior fellow at the US Institute of Peace in Washington DC. A year before he was a Fulbright scholar at the American University’s School of International Service. Earlier he was a visiting professor at Harvard University and Dartmouth College.

"In the 1980’s, Prof. Peri was a senior fellow at the Jaffe Center for Strategic Studies in Tel Aviv University, and in the 1990’s he was a senior lecturer in the department of communication at the Hebrew University.

"In addition to his academic career, Prof. Peri is a journalist and political commentator. He published extensively in newspapers and magazines in and outside Israel, and also was an editor and host of TV and radio programs. During Golda Meir’s term as Prime Minister, he was the spokesperson for the Israel Labor Party and its special emissary to Europe. Among his various public positions, Prof. Peri was president of the Association of the editors of Israel’s Daily Newspapers and president of the New Israel Fund. Currently he is a member of the Press Council.

"Prof. Peri published extensively on Israeli society, media and politics. Among his publications are The Assassination of Yitzhak Rabin (Stanford University Press) and Between Battles and Ballots: Israel Military in Politics, published by Cambridge University Press. His book Telepopulism: Media and Politics in Israel was published by Stanford University Press in 2004, and in October 2005 he published his latest book (in Hebrew) Brothers at War: Rabin's Assassination and the Cultural war in Israel. For this book he was granted the 2006 award by the Presidents and Prime Ministers memorial council. His latest book, Generals in the Cabinet Room: How the Military Shapes Israeli Policy, was published in May 2006 by the United States Institute of Peace. The book has been selected as an outstanding book and as one of the best of the best by the Association of American University Press, in 2007. "

• Trustee, Van Leer Jerusalem Institute
• Director, Association for Israel Studies