Vision, Mission and Values
Our mission
Almost seventy years have passed since the inception of the Fulbright program in Israel, aiming to expand Israeli - American collaboration through the exchange of talent and knowledge. Our mission seems as important today as it was when it began.
The Fulbright Israel Commission invests in the most important factor that makes Israeli society advanced and the relationship between Israelis and Americans more resilient: the Fulbright community of fellows who are talented and motivated leaders. The program nurtures promising young talents and more senior academics who constantly push the limits of human knowledge. We believe in the power of the Fulbright journey to contribute to the efforts of our fellows to reach and touch diverse audiences in various ways. Excellence and innovation in education are essential to Israeli society. They go hand in hand with social responsibility. Our commitment to these principles is evidenced in our fellows who represent and support the diversity of both Israel and the U.S.
Our vision
Our vision is to play an instrumental role in cultivating an exchange of knowledge between the U.S. and Israel and to strengthen partnerships in all academic fields, the sciences, the arts, and the public humanities. We believe in the value of face-to-face encounters between Israelis and Americans and their contribution to the resilience of the relationship between the two states. Fulbright Israel will continue to invest in education and help nurture future leaders, who can think and act globally.
The History of the Program
The Fulbright Program was initiated by U.S. Senator James William Fulbright to promote mutual understanding between the United States and partner countries around the world through academic and cultural exchange.
Fulbright is unique in its binational structure and noted for its merit-based selection process based on academic accomplishments and the potential to address complex global problems. Our fellows come from all backgrounds and are selected regardless of their race, age, religion, geographic location, socio-economic status, sexual orientation, or gender identity. The United States-Israel Educational Foundation (USIEF) was established in 1956 by the governments of the United States and Israel to administer the Fulbright Program in Israel.
Around 160 partner countries have participated in the worldwide Fulbright exchange since its inception in 1946. There are 50 binational Fulbright Commissions all over the globe, including Israel which joined in 1956. More than 400,000 scholars have been sponsored, 62 of whom later received the Nobel Prize and 95 the Pulitzer Prize. Fulbright Israel is proud of its two Nobel Laureates.
Board of Directors
U.S. Ambassador Jacob J. Lew
Honorary Chair of the Board
Jack Lew is Ambassador of the United States to Israel. Nominated by President Biden, he was sworn in on November 2, 2023. Ambassador Lew previously served as the 76th Secretary of the Treasury, White House Chief of Staff and twice as Director of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), under both President Clinton and President Obama. He previously served in the Department of State as Deputy Secretary of State for Management and Resources under Secretary Hillary Rodham Clinton.
After leaving the Department of the Treasury, Ambassador Lew served as Managing Partner at Lindsay Goldberg, a private equity firm, and on the faculty at School of International and Public Affairs at Columbia University, from which he is currently on leave.
Previously, Lew served as managing director and chief operating officer for two different Citigroup business units. Prior to that, he was executive vice president and chief operating officer of New York University, where he was responsible for budget, finance, and operations, and served as a professor of public administration. President George W. Bush nominated Ambassador Lew to serve on the Board of Directors of the Corporation for National and Community Service, where he chaired its Management, Administration, and Governance Committee.
As OMB Director, Lew led the Administration budget team and served as a member of the National Security Council. During his first tenure at OMB, the U.S. budget operated at a surplus for three consecutive years. Earlier, Lew served as OMB’s Deputy Director and was a member of the negotiating team that reached a bipartisan agreement to balance the budget. As Special Assistant to President Clinton from 1993 to 1994, Mr. Lew helped design Americorps, the national service program.
Lew began his career in Washington in 1973 as a legislative aide. From 1979 to 1987, he was a principal domestic policy advisor to House Speaker Thomas P. O’Neill, Jr, when he served the House Democratic Steering and Policy Committee as Assistant Director and then Executive Director. He was the Speaker’s liaison to the Greenspan Commission, which negotiated a bipartisan solution to extend the solvency of Social Security in 1983, and he was responsible for domestic and economic issues, including Medicare, budget, tax, trade, appropriations, and energy issues.
After the Obama Administration, Lew served on the boards of the National Library of Israel, USA (where he was co-president); the National Committee on US China Relations (where he was chair); the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities; and the Financial Services Volunteer Corps. He is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations, the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, the National Academy of Social Insurance, and of the bar in Massachusetts and the District of Columbia.
Ambassador Lew is a graduate of Harvard College (AB) and Georgetown University Law Center (JD). He has received three honorary degrees.
Mr. Sender Cohen
Chair of the Board
Sender Cohen is the Managing Partner at KH2 Capital Management since July 2024. Prior to this he was the Chief Investment Officer of Schusterman Interests LLC, the investment office for the Schusterman family as well as for Charles and Lynn Schusterman Family Philanthropies.
Previously, Mr. Cohen was President of Soros Capital, and before that he was the Director of Research and Head of External Allocations at Soros Fund Management, as well as a Managing Director at Duquesne Capital Management.
Mr. Cohen currently serves on the boards of the Israel Institute as well as Leadership Enterprise for a Diverse America (LEDA), and is a trustee emeritus of Yeshiva University, a former board member of the Birthright Israel Foundation and the founder of the Natan Fund. He lives in NYC with his wife and four children.
Ms. Joëlle Uzarski
Cultural Affairs Officer, U.S. Embassy, Tel Aviv
Joëlle Uzarski is the Cultural Attaché at U.S. Embassy Jerusalem. Since 2005, she served at the U.S. embassies in Brasilia, Bangkok, Islamabad, New Delhi, and Santiago, where she directed State Department educational and cultural programs in Afghanistan, Argentina, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Brazil, Burma, Cambodia, Chile, India, Laos, Malaysia, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan, Paraguay, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Uruguay, and Vietnam. Her most recent assignment was a teaching and research fellowship at the Center on Public Diplomacy at the University of Southern California. She has degrees in Creative Writing and Applied Linguistics from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.
Ms. Alisa Mall
Chief Investment Officer of MSD Capital, the Michael Dell family office
Prior to joining MSD, Alisa was a Managing Director, Corporate Strategy at Foresite Capital, a life sciences/biotechnology firm, where she had responsibility for corporate development, long-term capital strategy, investor relations, human resources, ESG engagement, and other operational areas. For nearly 12 years prior to Foresite, Alisa was a senior member of the investment team of Carnegie Corporation of New York. She was at Carnegie from 2009 through 2020, where she focused on the management of Carnegie’s real estate and natural resources portfolios, as well as its absolute return and inflation-linked strategies. Alisa graduated magna cum laude from Yale with an honors degree in political science and received her JD from Stanford Law School.
Professor Yoseph Mekori
Chair of the Planning and Budgeting Committee (PBC) of the Israeli Council for Higher Education
As Chair of the PBC, Professor Mekori leads the policy-making and development of the Israeli higher education system, advancing national initiatives such as flagship projects on sustainability and on advanced bio-medical research, and projects aimed at increasing the inclusion of sub-represented populations in higher education, the promotion of academia-industry relations, and the internationalization of the Israeli higher education system, to name a few.
Mekori earned his M.D. degree magna cum laude in 1975 at the Sackler School of Medicine at Tel Aviv University. After completing residency in internal medicine with honors in 1981 at Meir Medical Center, he moved to the USA where he completed clinical and research fellowships in allergy and immunology at the University of Colorado Health Sciences Center, and at the Beth Israel Hospital, Harvard Medical School.
In 1986, Mekori established and headed the Division of Allergy and Clinical immunology at Meir Hospital, and in 1990 was appointed Chairman of Medicine in that hospital. Until recently he served as Head of the mast cell disorders center at Meir, a center of excellence recognized by the World Allergy Organization.
A fellow of the American Academy of Asthma Allergy and Immunology, Mekori maintains membership in numerous professional organizations, including the European Academy of Allergy and Immunology and the Collegium Internationale Allergologicum. He also served as President of the Israeli Society of Allergy and Immunology. In 2006 Prof. Mekori was appointed Dean of the Sackler Faculty of Medicine, a position he held until 2014. Also served as a Visiting Scientist in the Laboratory of Allergic Diseases, NIH, and as Visiting Professor at the University of New South Wales, Sydney, and at Stanford University Medical School. From 2015 and up to his nomination as Chairperson of the Planning and Budgeting Committee he served as the President of Tel Hai Academic College.
Professor Mekori is the Recipient of the 2024 American Academy of Allergy and Immunology Special Recognition Award.
Ms. Nurit Tinari
Head, Bureau of Cultural Diplomacy, Ministry of Foreign Affairs
With over 30 years of diplomatic experience, Nurit has served in various cultural and leadership roles within the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Her expertise lies in cultural diplomacy, public diplomacy and project management.
Nurit’s journey began in the 8200 Intelligence Unit during her military service and continued with a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science from Tel Aviv University. Her career highlights include serving as the Head of the Cultural Diplomacy Bureau at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, acting as a Cultural Attaché in Rome and Deputy Ambassador in Dublin, directing the department for cultural and scientific cooperation, and leading the Young Leaders Program from Asia.
Nurit has earned honors, such as the Knight of the Order of the Star of Italy and the Officer’s Cross of the Order of Merit of Hungary. Her linguistic abilities include proficiency in Hebrew, English, Italian, and French, with a foundation in Russian, German, Spanish, and Chinese. She is also the proud mother of two children.
Ms. Pnina El-Al
Director, Cultural & Scientific Cooperation Department, Ministry of Foreign Affairs
Prior to her current role filled Ms. El-Al various positions at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs:
1994 – 1981 Division for Information Technology and Communication Services
2004 – 1994 Head of Scholarships, Education and Science Section, the Division for Cultural and Scientific Affairs
2015 – 2004 Deputy Director, Cultural and Scientific Cooperation Department.
Pnina holds a BA degree in International Relations from The Hebrew University of Jerusalem.
Ms. Galit Baram
US-Israel Political Relations Department, Israel Ministry of Foreign Affairs
Galit Baram is a career diplomat, who currently serves as Director of the US–Israel Political Relations Department, at Israel's Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Most recently she served as Consul General in Toronto and Western Canada. Previous assignments include Political Counselor in Moscow, Economic Counselor in Cairo, Counselor for Public Diplomacy and Academic Affairs in Washington, and Director of the Department for Palestinian Affairs and Regional Cooperation at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Jerusalem. Ms. Baram has a bachelor's degree in Archaeology and English from Tel Aviv University, and a master's degree in American Studies from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem.
Professor Naomi Chazan
Professor Emerita, Department of Political Science, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem
Member of Knesset (former) Senior Researcher, The Van Leer Jerusalem Institute
Naomi Chazan is professor emerita of political science and African studies at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. Together with Prof. Hanna Herzog, she established the Center for the Advancement of Women in the Public Sphere (WIPS) at the Van Leer Jerusalem Institute in 2009, where she has been a research fellow since.
Naomi Chazan holds B.A. and M.A. degrees from Columbia University and a Ph.D. from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. She served as chair of the Truman Research Institute for the Advancement of Peace at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, was a visiting professor of Government at Harvard University and the University of Chicago, a research fellow at the Weatherhead Center for International Affairs at Harvard, and a research fellow at the Center for International Studies at MIT.
Prof. Chazan served as a Member of the Knesset for three terms (1992-2003) on behalf of the Meretz party. She was Deputy Speaker of the Knesset and a member of numerous committees: Foreign Affairs and Defense, Education, Economics, Immigration and Absorption, and the Advancement of the Status of Women.
Naomi Chazan was one of the founders of the Israel Women’s Network and is also active in a variety of women’s, human rights, and peace organizations. She served as the President of the New Israel Fund (2009-2012) and is a member of its international board. She has written and edited many books on comparative politics and has published numerous articles on African politics, the Israeli-Arab conflict, politics in Israel, and the status of women.
Professor Ehud Gazit
Ph.D. FRSC FNASc OSSI
Ehud Gazit is a Professor and Endowed Chair at both the Faculties of Life Sciences and Engineering of Tel Aviv University (dual appointment) and a member of the Executive Council of the University (elected as a University Senate representative in a secret ballot in 2017 and for a second term in 2021). Gazit is also the founding director of the BLAVATNIK CENTER for Drug Development. From 2012-2014 he served as the Chief Scientist of the Israeli Ministry of Science and Technology (MOST) and the coordinator of the forum of Chief Scientists of the Israeli ministries. From 2008-2012 Gazit served as Tel Aviv University Vice President for Research and Development and the Chairman of the board of directors of Ramot Ltd., the technology transfer company of Tel Aviv University. In 2015, he was knighted by the Italian Republic for his service to science and society. He was recently named as the 2023 International Solvay Chair in Chemistry, the first Israeli to be appointed to this prestigious position.
Gazit had published more than 350 peer-reviewed publications in top journals including Science, Cell, Nature Nanotechnology, Nature Physics, Nature Catalysis, Nature Materials, and Nature Chemical Biology, He is a prolific inventor with over 100 patents including 50 granted U.S. patents and many pending applications.
Gazit served and serves in various positions related to science and technology at the national and international levels. He is currently a member of the UK-Israel Science Council and Head of the Steering Committee of The Dead Sea Research Institute.
He has delivered more than 300 invited presentations including opening lectures, keynote presentations and named lectures. Gazit has received numerous awards and honors including Dan David Scholarship Award and Changjiang Scholar Award,. He is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Chemistry (FRSC), a Fellow of the National Academy of Inventors, USA and a foreign fellow of the National Academy of Sciences, India (FNASc), and a member of the European Molecular Biology Organization (EMBO).
Ms. Rakefet Russak-Aminoach
Managing Partner at Team8
Rakefet is a Managing Partner at Team8, where she built the group’s Fintech practice, which builds and invests in Fintech companies that redefine the financial services landscape. Rakefet currently serves as the Chairman of Hailo Technologies and as a Board Member of Team8 Fintech and several Israeli technology companies, including April, 40Seas, and Bluespine. Moreover, Rakefet is the Honorary Consul of Norway in Israel.
Prior to Team8, Rakefet served as President and CEO of Leumi Group from 2012-2019. Under her leadership, Leumi established itself as Israel's leading bank in profits, market cap and innovation. As part of the digital transformation, she led at Leumi, she established LeumiTech, the Group’s Hi-Tech arm and launched Pepper, Israel’s first neo bank. In addition to being featured in a Harvard Business School case study, Rakefet has been named one of the 10 most innovative CEOs in Banking by Bank Innovation and has been listed on Fortune Magazine’s 100 most powerful women three times.
Mr. Thomas R. Nides
Vice Chairman, Strategy and Client Relations at Blackstone
Thomas R. Nides is the Vice Chairman, Strategy and Client Relations at Blackstone. Mr. Nides has extensive experience in both the public and private sector. He served as the United States’ Ambassador to Israel from 2021 to 2023. Prior to that, he spent over a decade at Morgan Stanley in various capacities including Chief Operating Officer and Vice Chairman. Nides was appointed Deputy Secretary of State and Chief Operating Officer of the U.S. State Department by President Barack Obama and was awarded the nation’s highest diplomatic honor by Secretary of State Hillary Clinton for his service. He has also previously been a senior leader at Credit Suisse, Fannie Mae, the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative, and on Capitol Hill.
Nides currently serves on the boards of the Partnership for Public Service, the International Rescue Committee, the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), and the Urban Alliance Foundation. He received his B.A. from the University of Minnesota. He formerly served as chairman of the board of the Woodrow Wilson Center.
Ms. Pamela Reeves
Vice Chancellor of Brown University
Pamela Reeves is an international development and policy strategist who advises governments, foundations, and companies. She is currently the Vice Chancellor of Brown University. She served in the Obama Administration as director of Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton’s International Fund for Women and Girls.
Reeves has contributed to global strategic programming and agenda-setting as advisor to major companies and as the consulting senior advisor on gender strategy to the Executive Office of Melinda Gates. Reeves served as the United Nations human rights officer for Liberia during that country’s civil war and has worked in over 20 countries on governance transitions. Reeves also serves on the Board of Governors of the John Carter Brown Library and chairs the board of the Kakenya Center for Excellence in Kenya. In addition, she has served on the boards of directors of Women for Women International and the University of Global Health Equity in Rwanda. She holds a B.A. in international relations from Brown University and an M.A. in international relations from Yale University.
Professor Ariela Dubler
Head of School at The Abraham Joshua Heschel School
Ariela Dubler is the Head of School at The Abraham Joshua Heschel School, a Nursery through Twelfth Grade pluralistic Jewish day school in New York City. Previously, she was a professor at Columbia Law School with a specialty in family law and legal history. Ariela was on the founding board of The Natan Fund. Ariela Holds a B.A. from Harvard College, an M.A. from Yale Law School, and a Ph.D. from Yale Graduate School of Arts and Sciences. Ariela lives in New York with her husband and three children.
Dr. Jessica Liebowitz
Research scientist in Computer Science at Brandeis University
Dr. Jessica Liebowitz is a Research Scientist in Computer Science at Brandeis University, where she is co-founder and co-director of the Data Science Internal Internship (DSII). This project creates partnerships between top-performing undergraduates in data science/artificial intelligence and administrative offices across the university. It oversees the experiential learning of participating students, who work directly with administrative leaders to increase the university’s organizational effectiveness through innovations in data science, machine learning, and artificial intelligence. It grew out of Dr. Liebowitz’s and Professor Tim Hickey’s data analytic research into the supply and demand of fastest growing skills within the higher ed sector.
Dr Liebowitz also serves as the Chair of the Advisory Council for the Brandeis University Consortium for the Teaching of Hebrew Language and Culture. She is a long-time supporter of the professionalization of Hebrew language learning. While at Middlebury College as special advisor to the Chair of the Board, Dr Liebowitz helped support the creation of the Middlebury School of Hebrew in 2007 and served on its first Advisory Board. Dr Liebowitz is on the Board of Fulbright Israel, a member of the Council on Foreign Relations, and a founding former Board member of the Natan Fund. She is currently a student in the Hebrew language program at Brandeis University.
Dr. Liebowitz holds a PhD from Harvard University, BA from Yale University, and Honorary Doctorate from Middlebury College.
Staff
Dr. Anat Lapidot-Firilla
Executive Director
Anat joined the Fulbright Commission in 2015. Prior to joining Fulbright Israel, she was senior research fellow and Academic Director of the Mediterranean Program at the Van Leer Jerusalem Institute. She is founding editor of Journal of Levantine Studies, a semiannual Academic journal. She taught Middle Eastern studies and Turkish Studies at the Department of International Relations at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. Between 2009-2014 she headed the Israeli network of the Anna Lindh Foundation for Intercultural Dialogue. Anat received her BA in Jewish History and Middle Eastern Studies from Tel Aviv University, and holds a PhD from the Department of Politics, the University of Durham, U.K.
Noa Turgeman
Deputy Director
Noa Turgeman is the Deputy Director of Fulbright Israel.
She previously served as the Program Director at the Israeli Green Building Council and has held executive and development roles at the San Francisco Jewish Federation and Lehrhaus Judaica in Berkeley, California. She holds two master's degrees, one in comparative literature and the other in East Asian Studies from Tel Aviv University and is currently a PhD candidate at Bar-Ilan University. She is an amateur photographer, passionate about Japanese culture and art; Noa resides in Tel Aviv with her partner and three children and enjoys an urban lifestyle and commutes to work by bicycle every day.
Simcha Luzon
Finance Manager
Simcha is the financial officer of Fulbright Israel. She is responsible for the funds and budgets that come from the U.S. and Israeli governments, responsible for all financial matters and submitting year-end reports. Before that, she worked in hi-tech companies as a finance department manager.
Esti Sherbelis
Office Manager
Esti is the Office Manager at Fulbright Israel. Prior to this, Esti worked as an international public relations consultant. She also served as the Public Diplomacy Officer and PA to the Ambassador of the Australian Embassy in Israel for over six years. Before this, Esti worked as the International Relations Coordinator at the Israeli Medical Association for several years, working closely with many health institutes and organizations, including the World Medical Association.
Esti holds BAs in English and Education as well as certificates in public relations and business management, all with high honors.
Besan Abu Abeid
Israel Student Programs Coordinator
Besan is the Programs Coordinator for Israeli fellows traveling to the U.S.
As the Students Programs Coordinator, Besan recruits and supports the admissions of top students to U.S. universities, drives brand awareness through events in Israel and the U.S., and fosters collaborations with local and international partners.
Prior to this position Besan worked for the UK Israel Tech Hub at the British Embassy in Israel, where she coordinated the formulation and delivery of acceleration programs and activities in the Arab tech community, connecting the emerging Arab tech sector to business opportunities in the U.K. and enhancing the assimilation of the Arab community in the high-tech ecosystem.
Besan is the founder & host of “Shfit Ahel” a parenting podcast hosted by Radio Nas.
Leon Franco
Israel Scholars' Programs Coordinator
Leon Franco is the program coordinator for Israeli scholars at Fulbright Israel.
Prior to his current position Leon was an operations manager at IPO (Israeli Philharmonic Orchestra). Leon holds an MA degree in Literature from Tel Aviv University. He is currently a PhD candidate at the School of Cultural Studies at TAU.
Leon has authored two novels: Engineers of the Human Soul (Afik Books, 2020), which earned him The Ministry of Culture Award for Debut Writers; and Tsitskovich Publishing House (Rosinante Books, 2022).
Kat Lacey
U.S. Programs Coordinator
Kat has a background in and passion for international education and previously managed all short-term and customized programming at the Lowy International School at Tel Aviv University. She received her BA from the University of Colorado Boulder and worked for community-based non-profits before moving to Israel. Kat enjoys international travel, rollerblading, exploring new food spots, and all outdoor activities.