Institute for National Security Studies (Israel)

INSS conducts research on strategic issues affecting Israel’s national security, combining basic research with analysis of current developments and the preparation of policy options.[3] Its intended audiences include government decision-makers, the defense establishment, the strategic community, and the private sector, as well as the wider public.[3][4] The institute operates as a public-benefit company and maintains an external institutional relationship with Tel Aviv University.[2][4] Its address is 40 Haim Levanon Street, Tel Aviv, 6997556, Israel.[5]

The institute’s stated mission is to strengthen Israel’s national security and safeguard its sustainable future as the democratic nation-state of the Jewish people.[6] That mission also includes reinforcing Israel’s position as a regional power and anchoring its place among liberal democracies.[6] INSS characterizes its institutional identity as independent, nonpartisan, and policy-oriented, while its stated ambition is to become the most valued independent think tank influencing Israel’s long-term national security policy.[3][6]

Its researchers include academics, strategists, and practitioners with backgrounds in government, military service, diplomacy, and related fields.[3] The research agenda extends beyond conventional defense questions to include social cohesion, economic conditions, legal issues, cyber affairs, and energy.[2] Alongside scholarly and policy publications, the institute uses public events, closed policy forums, media engagement, and social media to disseminate its work in Israel and abroad.[2]

Tel Aviv University’s decision to establish a security research center emerged from the institutional soul-searching that followed the 1973 Yom Kippur War.[2] The proposal addressed concern that no institution outside the Israeli establishment had been assigned to scrutinize the assumptions underlying government policy and defense planning.[2] Supporters envisaged an independent research body capable of questioning prevailing assessments, including assessments about the likelihood of war.[2] The center’s creation was also linked to the 1974 Agranat Commission inquiry into the war, which helped catalyze interest in a new kind of strategic think tank.[7]

Maj. Gen. (ret.) Aharon, or Ahrale, Yariv was selected to lead the new institution.[2] A former head of Israel’s Military Intelligence and briefly a member of the Knesset, Yariv insisted that the center be completely independent.[2] The Center for Strategic Studies launched in early 1978.[2] Its initial research agenda covered the Arab-Israeli conflict, the Palestinian issue, United States–Israel relations, arms control and regional security, terrorism and low-intensity conflict, civil-military relations, and the regional military balance.[2]

In 1983, the center was renamed the Jaffee Center for Strategic Studies in recognition of a major financial pledge from Melvin, or Mel, Jaffee of Orange County, California.[2] Its research subsequently included the peace process and unconventional weapons alongside terrorism and regional arms control.[7] Books, monographs, conferences, and brainstorming sessions provided forums for analysis before the center added further publication formats.[8]

Over time, the Jaffee Center became increasingly involved in security-related deliberations and provided a meeting ground for members of Israel’s security establishment.[2] Its staff participated in Track II talks and strategic dialogues with counterpart institutions in other countries.[2] In 1998, the center launched the quarterly journal Strategic Assessment, adding a continuing periodical to its existing publications and analytical forums.[2] These activities connected the center’s research program with both professional discussion within Israel and exchanges with institutions overseas.[2]

By 2006, the Jaffee Center faced a critical financial and organizational predicament.[2] Tel Aviv University president Itamar Rabinovich approached Australian businessman and philanthropist Frank Lowy, who supplied fresh capital, reorganized the board, became its chair, and renamed the institution the Institute for National Security Studies.[2][9] The restructuring made INSS an external institute of Tel Aviv University and increased its financial and administrative independence.[2] The new name reflected a broader remit encompassing Israeli strategic and defense issues in their international context.[8]

The reorganized institute incorporated the Jaffee Center’s staff and research programs while retaining access to the university’s academic resources.[9] Zvi Shtauber, then director of the Jaffee Center, was designated to head the new institute, and research on the Iranian nuclear issue was among the anticipated areas of emphasis.[9] Lowy explained his support in terms of the potential value of even one fresh insight that could lead to policy protecting Israel’s security.[2]

Shtauber led the institution from 2005 to 2008, followed by Oded Eran from 2008 to 2011.[2] Maj. Gen. (ret.) Amos Yadlin became head in 2011.[2] During Yadlin’s tenure, INSS placed first in Israel and the Middle East and twelfth worldwide in defense and national security in a University of Pennsylvania think-tank index; the institutional history does not identify the year of that ranking.[8]

Manuel Trajtenberg became head in May 2021, bringing greater emphasis to socioeconomic issues as a central layer of national security alongside the institute’s established research areas.[2] In January 2024, his planned departure after three years was announced, with Tamir Hayman, then the institute’s director, identified as his successor.[10] Maj. Gen. (Res.) Hayman took over leadership in May 2024 after 34 years in the Israel Defense Forces, including service as head of the Intelligence Directorate, commander of the National Defense College, and commander of the Northern Corps.[8]

The board of directors lists Sir Frank Lowy as chair and Professor Itamar Rabinovich as vice chair.[11] Rabinovich previously served as an Israeli ambassador and as president of Tel Aviv University.[11] Other board members bring experience in academia, foreign affairs, security, and business.[11] Hayman and Lowy were also listed respectively as the institute’s head and board chair in the program for its 2026 national security conference.[12]

The research structure set out for 2025 comprised four primary programs and a cross-arena program.[6] The primary areas were national security policy; diplomacy and agreements, including the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and the Abraham Accords; Iran and the Shi’ite Axis; and Israel’s relations with global powers.[6] Cross-disciplinary research integrated legal, technological, and economic perspectives, while the INSS Data Analytics Center conducted quantitative research and produced evidence-based assessments.[6]

The institute’s broader conception of national security developed to encompass societal resilience, lawfare, cyber affairs, and energy.[2] Existing research programs expanded after the 2006 reorganization, and additional programs addressed China, Russia, and the Gulf states.[8] The growing attention to socioeconomic questions under Trajtenberg complemented this expansion beyond traditional military and diplomatic subjects.[2] Across these areas, the institute combines longer-term research with analysis of immediate developments and the formulation of practical options for decision-makers.[3]

In 2022, INSS and the Diane and Guilford Glazer Foundation jointly established the Israel-China Policy Center.[5] Its intended role is to serve as a national hub for knowledge and policy-oriented research on Israel-China relations.[5] Its activities and objectives include developing policy capacity and expertise, supporting professional training, sharing knowledge in Israel and overseas, and raising awareness among the public and officials.[5]

Quantitative analysis also features in the institute’s public-facing research.[6][12] A national security threat index scheduled for presentation at the 2026 conference combined a nationwide public-opinion survey with in-depth work by more than 100 experts in security, policy, economics, and society.[12] The project mapped public perceptions and expert assessments concerning Iran, the Palestinian arena, Israel’s international standing, national resilience, and economic challenges.[12]

During Operation Rising Lion, Iran researchers led by Raz Zimmt delivered hundreds of briefings to government officials, diplomats, and media audiences in Israel and abroad.[6] The Data Analytics Center conducted public-opinion surveys and analyzed public discourse during the operation, with its data used in briefings and regional dashboards.[6] The annual account of these activities identifies Hayman as the institute’s executive director.[6]

Strategic Assessment is a multidisciplinary and interdisciplinary journal addressing Israeli national security and strategic issues in the Middle East.[13] Founded in 1998, it is published quarterly in Hebrew and English and combines theoretical research with policy-oriented work to support informed debate.[13] INSS Insight provides online analysis of timely domestic, regional, and international developments, while memoranda offer monograph-length studies or collections of articles on a particular topic.[13]

One example of the memorandum series is the 66-page English-language memorandum no. 187, published in February 2019 and written by Dan Meridor and Ron Eldadi.[14] It examined the 2006 Meridor Committee report on Israel’s national security doctrine a decade after the committee’s work.[14] The original committee had been asked by the defense minister and prime minister to assess the existing doctrine and recommend a revised version.[14] Because of the report’s sensitivity, the memorandum presented a condensed treatment of its contents.[14]

The Strategic Survey for Israel 2019–2020, edited by Itai Brun and Itai Shapira, organized its assessment into seven chapters covering the international system, the regional system, Iran, the northern arena, the Palestinian system, Israeli society, and the operational environment.[4] Amos Yadlin contributed the concluding net assessment and policy recommendations.[4] The volume addressed both senior Israeli decision-makers and the wider public, with the stated aims of identifying opportunities and proposing creative solutions to national security challenges.[4]

The 2020 survey framed its analysis around a tension between Israel’s evident strength and achievements and the possibility that its favorable position could prove temporary and fragile.[15] Its dated assessment linked escalation risks to Iran, Hezbollah’s efforts to develop precision-strike capabilities, Hamas and Gaza, Israel’s political crisis, and strategic competition among major powers.[16] The survey argued that these circumstances required Israel to formulate a new strategy.[16]

Yadlin presented the 2020 assessment to President Reuven Rivlin.[16] For that year, the assessment ranked a broad northern conflict as Israel’s gravest military threat and recommended preparation for a multi-front war scenario.[16] Its recommendations also addressed Iran, the Palestinian arena, relations with the United States, and other policy fields.[16] These threat rankings and recommendations formed part of the institute’s assessment for 2020 rather than a statement of enduring conditions.[16]

Earlier annual assessments likewise set out time-specific judgments.[17] In the 2017 assessment submitted by Yadlin to Rivlin, Hezbollah was identified as the most serious conventional military threat, while Hamas was assessed as presenting the greatest potential for an outbreak of hostilities.[17] The report recommended improving intelligence concerning arms transfers to Hamas.[17] The 2021 Strategic Overview subsequently reviewed domestic and foreign policy challenges across more than a dozen topics.[1]

In 2022, INSS presented its Strategic Survey for Israel to President Isaac Herzog.[18] The survey argued that domestic divisions and weakened trust in institutions hindered Israel’s capacity to respond to national security challenges.[18] It also assessed Iran and the Palestinian arena and offered ten policy recommendations.[18] Together with the earlier surveys, it illustrated the institute’s use of recurring strategic assessments to connect military and diplomatic questions with conditions inside Israeli society.[4][18]

The 13th Annual International Conference took place on January 28–30, 2020, bringing together senior political and military figures, experts, and decision-makers from Israel and abroad.[19] Its discussions addressed the international power system, the regional environment, Israel’s political and security challenges, and its internal arena.[19] Particular attention went to the proposed “deal of the century,” Iran after Qasem Soleimani, and Israel’s northern front.[19]

Other forums have addressed longer-term questions about Israel’s direction.[20] At the end of May 2017, INSS and the Israel Democracy Institute held a two-day forum examining possible scenarios for Israel’s future.[20] The institute’s international exchanges have also included Track II talks and strategic dialogues with counterpart institutions, continuing a practice developed under the Jaffee Center.[2]

The 2026 national security conference program brought together political figures, security officials, former commanders, INSS researchers, and specialists from other fields.[12] Listed discussion subjects included Iran, the northern front, United States support, international isolation, and domestic resilience.[12] The planned presentation of the national security threat index linked the event’s discussion agenda with nationwide survey findings and multidisciplinary expert research.[12]

INSS also provides internships intended both to develop young researchers interested in national security and to assist the institute’s research staff.[3] The opportunities encompass graduate students and academics in fields including international relations, political science, and Middle East studies.[3] Its research-support and recognition programs include the Neubauer Research Fellowships Program, the Tshetshik Prize in Security Studies, and the Emily B. Landau Annual Prize for Research in Arms Control and Proliferation of Weapons of Mass Destruction.[3]

INSS combines university-linked research with policy work directed toward Israel’s government, defense establishment, strategic community, private sector, and public.[3][4] Its development from the Center for Strategic Studies through the Jaffee Center to its present institutional form has retained a focus on examining national security assumptions while expanding the range of subjects treated as strategically relevant.[2] The institute’s work now places military and regional questions alongside societal resilience, economics, technology, energy, and legal issues.[2][6]

Its publications, conferences, strategic dialogues, and briefings provide several routes through which research reaches professional and public audiences.[2][6] Annual assessments have been presented to Israeli presidents,[16] international conferences have assembled political and security figures from Israel and abroad,[19] and specialized programs have developed expertise on subjects such as Israel-China relations.[5] The combination of recurring strategic surveys and rapid analysis of current events enables the institute to address both long-term policy choices and immediate security developments.[3][13]

The transition from an internal university center to an external institute was the subject of a reported dispute concerning INSS’s relationship with Tel Aviv University in 2010.[21] The restructuring itself retained a university connection while altering the institute’s organizational position.[2][9] Descriptions of independence, nonpartisanship, policy influence, and operational impact also include the institute’s own institutional characterizations and activity accounts, rather than a uniform independent measure of its influence.[2][6]

The founding rationale incorporates a retrospective interpretation of the lessons of the Yom Kippur War: the suggestion that external scrutiny might have challenged assumptions preceding Israel’s surprise is not an established causal explanation for that surprise.[2] Similarly, the strategic surveys’ threat rankings and recommendations are policy judgments made for particular years, not independently settled conclusions or descriptions of present conditions.[16][17]