Dr. Lerman is deputy director of the Jerusalem Institute for Strategy and Security (JISS). He was deputy director for foreign policy and international affairs at the National Security Council in the Israeli Prime Minister's Office. He held senior posts in IDF Military Intelligence for over 20 years. He also served for eight years as director of the Israel and Middle East office of the American Jewish Committee. He teaches in the Middle East studies program at Shalem College in Jerusalem, and in post-graduate programs at Tel Aviv University and the National Defense College. He is an expert on Israel’s foreign relations, and on the Middle East. A third-generation Sabra, he holds a Ph.D. from the London School of Economics, and a mid-career MPA from Harvard University.

Jonathan I. Hessen is a Senior Fellow at the Jerusalem Institute for Strategy and Security, specializing in geostrategy and security issues related to the Middle East and Europe. He is Editor In Chief and lead Host of TV7 Israel, where he has produced thousands of high-level geostrategic panels. Mr. Hessen is also a nonresident Senior Advisor for Middle East Affairs at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies (FDD) in Washington DC; CEO of Messer Sheva Ltd. and Hessen Global Strategy; and founding president, executive producer, and chairman of Truth For The Nations in Tulsa, OKC. He previously served as an advisor at Israel’s Ministry of Regional Cooperation, and a non-resident Senior Fellow at the Hudson Institute in Washington DC; and is a veteran of the IDF and Israel Border Police. He holds a BBA from York University.