CV

    Prof. Kobi Michael is a senior researcher at INSS and a visiting professor at the International Centre for Policing and Security University of South Wales UK. Among his primary research interests are conflict resolution; strategy; national security; civil-military relations; failed states and peace keeping and state building operations; and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Prof. Michael served as the deputy director general and head of the Palestinian desk at the Ministry for Strategic Affairs. He was a member of the faculty at Ben Gurion University (2008-2011), a senior faculty member at Ariel University (2013-2015), and a visiting professor at Northwestern University in Illinois (2006-7) and Peking University in Beijing (2017). He has published widely in his field - including 20 books and monographs and over 100 articles and chapters in books - and has been awarded several academic prizes, among them, the Yariv Prize, the Tshetshik Prize, the Yitzhak Sadeh Prize, and the Israeli Association for Political Science Prize, awarded for the best book of 2008-9. Among his recent books and monographs:

    Seventy Years to UNRWA – Time for Structural and Functional Reforms (co-authored with Michal Hatuel-Radoshitzky), 2020

    Special Operations Forces in the 21st Century – Perspectives from the Social Sciences (co-edited with Jessica Glicken Turnley and Eyal Ben-Ari), 2017

    Six Days and Fifty Years (co-authored with Gabi Siboni and Anat Kurtz), 2018

    The Arab World on the Road to State Failure (co-authored with Yoel Guzansky), 2017

    IDF Strategy in the Perspective of National Security (co-authored with Meir Elran and Gabi Siboni), 2016

    Kobi Michael
    Kobi Michael
    Senior Researcher
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    kobim@inss.org.ilkobimichael24@gmail.com
    03-640-0435
    INSS Insight
    Doing the Right Thing Done Right: The Challenges Facing the International Stabilization Force (ISF) in the Gaza Strip
    What challenges are facing the force designated to maintain the ceasefire in the Gaza Strip—and why is the process of its establishment critical to addressing these challenges?
    1 January, 2026
    INSS Insight
    The Trump Plan—Risks and Opportunities: Recalibrating Israel’s Strategic Compass
    How can the potential inherent in the American president’s plan for the day after the war be realized in a way that aligns with Israeli interests?
    28 October, 2025
    INSS Insight
    Escaping the Deadlock—An Alternative Strategy for Ending the War in the Gaza Strip
    When Israel faces two bad options in the Gaza Strip, researchers of the Palestinian arena at the INSS propose an alternative path that combines the military and political dimensions
    25 August, 2025
    INSS Insight
    The Occupation of the Gaza Strip—Why?
    The option of occupation and the imposition of military administration versus other alternatives for ending the war
    4 August, 2025
    INSS Insight
    “A Friend Brings a Friend” in the IDF? Similarity Bias and Its Impact on Cognitive Fixation
    An examination of General Staff appointments over the past five decades reveals a frequent selection of individuals from the Paratroopers and Sayeret Matkal units for key positions. What are the implications of this—and what should the new chief of staff learn from it?
    3 April, 2025
    Strategic Assessment
    What About the Jungle?