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    Former MK Ofer Shelah, Director of the research program “Israel’s National Security Policy” at INSS, is the Alice and Paul Baker Distinguished Research Fellow. Mr. Shelah served in the IDF paratrooper corps and as a reserve company commander, was wounded in combat in Lebanon in 1983. He holds a B.A. in economics and English magna cum laude from Tel Aviv University, and an MFA in English with a concentration in creative writing from New York University.

    In a 25-year career as a journalist, Mr. Shelah was a senior military and political columnist for Israel's leading newspapers and TV channels. He also hosted and led investigative-documentary TV shows, and was the head basketball and American sports color-analyst for various media outlets, most prominently the Israeli Cable Sports Channel.

    In 2013 Mr. Shelah was elected to the Knesset as an MK for the Yesh Atid party. He was the Chairman of the Yesh Atid faction (party whip), and a member of the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee. In that capacity he chaired the subcommittee on security strategy and force buildup (the equivalent of the Armed Services committees in the US Congress), and served on leading subcommittees, including intelligence and secret services, cyber, and troop readiness. He was also a member of the Joint Committee for the Defense Budget. MK Shelah led the legislative process in the Knesset for the 2014 draft bill, amending the terms of compulsory service in the IDF, including service of the ultra-orthodox (haredi) community. He also chaired the Special Committee on the COVID-19 Crisis and the Knesset State Control Committee, and served on the Finance Committee.

    Mr. Shelah published eight books, four of them on the IDF and Israeli security decision making: The Israeli Army: A Radical Proposal (2003), a book about the disintegration of the people's army model in the IDF; Boomerang (2005, co-written with Raviv Drucker) and Captives of Lebanon (2007, co-written with Yoav Limor), studies of Israel’s recent wars; and Dare to Win (2015), published when Shelah was already an MK, which presented a platform for radical and necessary changes in Israel's defense strategy and the IDF to make then suitable for Israel's present challenges. For Boomerang and Dare to Win he received the INSS Tshetshik Prize in Security Studies.

    Mr. Shelah is widowed, with two children. He has completed 20 full-length marathons. In 2010 ran the Comrades Marathon, a 56-mile event in South Africa.

    Ofer Shelah
    Ofer Shelah
    Director of the research program “Israel’s National Security Policy”
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