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    Theodore Sasson is a senior researcher in the Israel-United States Research Program. He also serves as the Curt C. and Else Silberman Professor of Jewish Studies at Middlebury College in Vermont, USA.

    Professor Sasson is the author of The New American Zionism (NYU Press, 2014) and several previous books, as well as dozens of scholarly articles and research monographs in the fields of diaspora studies, Israel studies, heritage tourism, demography, and the sociology of crime and punishment. His essays have been published in Jewish Review of Books, Tablet Magazine, Foreign Policy, Times of Israel,  Jerusalem Post, and other periodicals.

    In the past, Professor Sasson served as Director of Programs of the Jack, Joseph and Morton Mandel Foundation; founding director of the Mandel Institute for Nonprofit Leadership; and Senior Scientist at Brandeis University’s Cohen Center for Modern Jewish Studies, where he also held the title of Research Professor in the Sociology Department. He served as chair of the social science division of the Association for Jewish Studies and on the boards of the Association for the Social Scientific Study of Jewry and the Association for Israel Studies. He earned his B.A. at Brandeis University and his Ph.D. in sociology at Boston College.

    Theodore  Sasson
    Theodore Sasson
    Senior Researcher
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    INSS Insight
    Assembling the Toolkit: Democrats and the New Push for West Bank Sanctions
    Democrats’ Moves Paving the Way for a Sanctions Regime — and Israel’s Options
    3 November, 2026
    Special Publication
    No Longer on the Sidelines: How the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict Impacts Diaspora Jews
    How is the Israeli-Palestinian conflict reshaping diaspora Jewish life, and what should Israeli policymakers do to mitigate its growing toll?
    18 October, 2026
    Special Publication
    Three Camps, One Party: Democrats And The Future Of U.S.-Israel Policy
    Ahead of the midterm elections, an analysis conducted by the INSS researchers indicates that despite the media attention surrounding Left Progressive victories in the primaries, this faction will remain by far the smallest in the incoming Congress. How should Israel act in light of these findings?
    22 September, 2026
    INSS Insight
    U.S.–Israel Alliance as a Litmus Test: The Democratic Primaries and the Struggle over the Party’s Future
    The stance on Israel has emerged as a key test at the ballot box during the Democratic primaries. How does this manifest, how does it impact Washington-Jerusalem relations, and does Israel have any recourse?
    13 July, 2026
    Memoranda
    American Jewry Is Changing: What Israel Must Do to Preserve the Partnership
    The Jewish community of the United States is a valuable national security asset of the State of Israel. Over the years, including during the Gaza war, American Jews have helped to secure essential diplomatic and military support for Israel in the United States and have raised much-needed funds for Israeli civil society and nonprofit organizations. The capacity of American Jews to provide such support in the future, however, is called into question by a range of developments, including a weakening of American Jewish communal institutions, growing divisions over Israeli policies, and rising antisemitism and hostility toward Israel in the broader American society. This policy memorandum describes the changes afoot in the American Jewish community and recommends policies that Israel should adopt to help strengthen American Jewry, rebuild its broad support for Israel, and solidify the partnership between the Jewish state and the world’s largest diaspora community.
    14 May, 2026
    INSS Insight
    Antisemitism and Antizionism in the United States Amid the Iran War
    How is American Jewry navigating the surge in antisemitism amid the Israel-U.S. war with Iran, and what steps should Israel take?
    27 April, 2026
    Can a Post-Netanyahu Israel Win Back Estranged American Jews?
    Theodore Sasson
    ,Haaretz
    26 October, 2026
    Netanyahu’s cryptocurrency gambit is really about the West Bank
    Theodore Sasson
    ,The Times of Israel
    26 October, 2026
    Does anyone in Jerusalem care what happens to us?
    Theodore Sasson
    ,Forward
    25 October, 2026