CV

    Shahar Eilam, Lieutenant Colonel (res.), is the Director of Cross-Arena Research at the INSS, and a member of the Diane & Guilford Glazer Foundation Israel-China Policy Center. In recent years, he has managed INSS research projects that address challenges shared by Israel and Jewish communities around the world from a national security perspective. The last one is the research project on contemporary antisemitism in the US. Previously, he managed a research project that examined the American Jewish community’s contribution to Israel’s national security and a research program on the challenges of the delegitimization of Israel and the BDS movement.

    Shahar served in the IDF for 26 years in positions involving intelligence gathering and intelligence research. In his last post in the IDF (2012–2015), he led the International Affairs Branch of the Strategic Division of the IDF General Staff Planning Directorate, where he was responsible for strategic planning and formulating policy recommendations in the context of the international theater. Shahar holds a B.A. in Economics and Middle East History, and an M.A. in Public Policy from Tel Aviv University.

    Shahar Eilam
    Shahar Eilam
    Director of Cross-Arena Research
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    shahare@inss.org.il
    03-640-0476
    Special Publication
    How Israel Should Respond to Pro-Palestinian Protests on US Campuses
    How should Israel handle the protests sweeping U.S. universities following the "Swords of Iron" war?
    27 October, 2024
    INSS Insight
    When Giants Wrestle: The End of Another Round of Tensions Between the United States and China?
    How are the fluctuating tensions between Washington and Beijing over Taiwan expected to affect Israel?
    12 February, 2024
    INSS Insight
    The War in Gaza and the Domestic Threat in the West
    The pro-Palestinian demonstrations across Europe and the United States are a test of the ability of Western governments to safeguard their historic values and their internal stability
    15 November, 2023
    Chapters
    The International System: The Global Competition and its Growing Influence on Israel
    Current Situation  – Great power competition · Struggle over world order · Technology core issue · Potential escalation (Ukraine, Taiwan) · Less collaboration · Middle East lower priority | Current Israeli Strategy  – “Between the raindrops” maneuver ·  Rely on the US while advancing relations with other powers | Recommended Strategy – Alternative 2: Strengthen the US strategic mainstay · Stand by the US as a member of the Western camp · Pursue differential foreign policy, adjusted to era of great power competition
    23 February, 2023
    Chapters
    The International System: One World, Two Worldviews, and Greater Divisiveness
    The international system is struggling with many crises and challenges, led by the continued efforts at economic recovery from the COVID-19 crisis while coping with the pandemic itself; the intensifying competition between the United States and China, which heightens the divisiveness in the international dynamic; and the climate crisis, which tests the ability to cooperate despite disagreements. The US administration has less attention for the Middle East, and is restoring human rights considerations to a central place in its policy, against the backdrop of the mid-term elections and deep political polarization in the United States. All these issues underline the need to update Israel’s policy regarding the international arena, especially: deepening the coordination with the US administration and key actors in the international community, and enlisting their support for advancing Israel’s objectives. Chief among them are preventing Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons, and maximizing Israel’s comparative advantages, particularly in the fields of science and technology, to advance initiatives to help stabilize the Middle East and cope with the global climate crisis.
    13 February, 2022
    Special Publication
    Increased Antisemitism in the United States Following Operation Guardian of the Walls: Permanent or Short-Lived?
    Shahar Eilam, head of the research project on contemporary antisemitism in the US at the INSS, and Tom Eshed, a research assistant with the project, examine the wave of antisemitic events in the US in May 2021, during and immediately after Israel’s Operation Guardian of the Walls. Based on these events, they analyze various and broad aspects of antisemitism in the US and their effect on the American Jewish community and on Israel.
    10 November, 2021