Misgav Institute for National Security and Zionist Strategy

The Misgav Institute describes its mission as providing national-security insights and policy recommendations to senior Israeli decision-makers, the security and diplomatic establishments, the global pro-Israel and Jewish community, and the broader public.[1] It also aims to develop and empower future Israeli leaders in defense and diplomatic affairs, combining in-depth research with practical and public-sector experience.[1]

The institute defines national security broadly, encompassing Israel's independence, quality of life, territorial integrity, border and public security, domestic resilience and stability, international standing, critical resources, and ideological-foundational values.[1] Its stated operating principles include the ability to defend Israel independently, applying sovereignty and the rule of law throughout the country, pursuing measured progress, expanding diplomatic ties where possible, and leveraging Israel's strategic, economic, and political strengths to bolster its diplomatic posture.[1]

The institute characterizes itself as an Israeli nonpartisan, nonprofit policy center — wording also used in a U.S. congressional biography for Fredman.[3] That biography states that the institute is registered with the Israeli Registrar of Non-Profits and recognized under Section 46 of Israel's Income Tax Ordinance.[3] The institute's leadership page says its American "Friends of" organization holds 501(c)(3) tax-exempt status.[4]

The institute was formerly called the Institute for Zionist Strategy before adopting its current name.[2] The available sources do not establish a precise founding date.

Meir Ben-Shabbat serves as chairman.[4] Before leading the institute, Ben-Shabbat served as Israel's national security adviser and head of the National Security Council from 2017 to 2021, and had held senior positions in the General Security Service for 25 years.[7][8] He attracted attention in December 2020 when he delivered a diplomatic address in Rabat in Darija — the Moroccan Arabic dialect — while leading an Israeli delegation to Morocco alongside Jared Kushner during the establishment of full diplomatic relations between Israel and Morocco.[7]

The institute lists two executive directors: Asher Fredman and David M. Weinberg.[4] Fredman was listed as a witness representing the institute at the U.S. House Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on the Middle East and North Africa hearing "Building a New Regional Security Architecture: The Next Phase of the Abraham Accords," scheduled for July 22, 2026, in Washington, D.C.[3][5] The institute says it has more than 30 fellows and researchers, including former senior military and security officers, diplomats, professors, and practitioners, with areas of expertise spanning Middle East affairs, Abraham Accords diplomacy, international relations, military strategy, homeland security, international law, technology and innovation, public diplomacy, and Israel-Diaspora relations.[4]

The institute's agenda, as described in a 2023 opinion piece in the Jerusalem Post, encompasses countering Iran, investing in the Abraham Accords, managing Israel's ties with China, Russia, and Europe, and reinforcing Israeli control in Jerusalem.[7] Additional items listed included restoring Israeli governance in Area C of Judea and Samaria, the Negev, and the Galilee; preparing for the period after Mahmoud Abbas in Palestinian-held areas; reforming the Israel Police; and strengthening IDF ground forces in preparation for a possible three-front war.[7] The same article said Misgav fellows would address challenges to global Jewish strength, including the cost of Jewish education, aliyah impediments, issues in the Law of Return, BDS and what it termed "woke culture," and Zionist and Jewish civics education in Israel.[7]

The institute's flagship research project, "Israel 2.0 — A Reassessment of Israeli National Security," is led by Prof. Gabi Siboni and Prof. Kobi Michael under the guidance of chairman Ben-Shabbat.[9] The project was prompted by the October 7, 2023 attack and undertakes a comprehensive reexamination of Israeli national-security assumptions, identifies key challenges, and develops initial policy recommendations. Its April 2025 report is characterized as preliminary, with the work described as ongoing.[9] The Jerusalem Center for Security and Foreign Affairs has cited both Eviatar Matania's 2024 Misgav publication A New Security Concept for Israel and Kobi Michael and Gabi Siboni's 2025 Misgav publication Israel 2.0 in discussions of Israeli strategic doctrine and wartime planning.[10]

In August 2024, a Misgav-commissioned survey of 574 IDF reservists was conducted by Dr. Menachem Lazar of Lazar Surveys and commissioned by retired IDF colonel Gabi Siboni and Prof. Kobi Michael. It found that 58% of respondents had low confidence in IDF Chief of Staff Herzi Halevi, while 49% said he should resign at the earliest possible opportunity; respondents also expressed low confidence in the high command's management of the war.[11] The survey had a 5.08% margin of error, the respondents' average age was 38, and they had served an average of 174 days during the war. The report noted that the relatively high average age could make the sample atypical.[11]

The institute also hosted a May 2024 webinar titled "How to Improve Israel's Public Diplomacy," moderated by Misgav senior fellow Lahav Harkov and featuring former government spokespeople Eylon Levy and Lt.-Col. (res.) Jonathan Conricus alongside communications executive Matt Krieger. Participants discussed shortcomings in Israel's public diplomacy during the October 7 war and argued for a more professional, funded communications structure.[12]

The institute's "Misgav Mideast Horizons" podcast, hosted by Lahav Harkov and Asher Fredman, aims to explain changing Middle East realities through interviews with newsmakers, agenda-setters, and experts on current developments and future trends.[13]

In October 2024, former Israeli ambassador Gilad Erdan was appointed to lead the institute's newly established Center for Diplomacy and International Cooperation.[14] The center focuses on strengthening Israel's diplomatic policies, enhancing its international standing, countering global delegitimization campaigns, and developing research and partnerships; it also examines international organizations, including the United Nations.[14]

In June 2026, Erdan launched a report he co-authored, "From U.N. Bureaucracy to American Global Leadership," in his capacity as an adviser to Misgav. The report argued that the UN undermines U.S. interests and advances the positions of China and other U.S. adversaries, and urged Washington to defund the organization.[15] The center describes its broader mandate as working to advance Israel's international standing, counter anti-Israel delegitimization and BDS, address bias and distortions in international organizations, and shape both traditional and public diplomacy.[16]

The institute's institutional relationships include work with the Institute for National Security Studies (INSS). The two organizations co-hosted a conference titled "Is Normalization on the Horizon?" at which Ben-Shabbat appeared as head of Misgav alongside Israel's ambassador to Bahrain, Eitan Naeh, and INSS senior researcher Dr. Ofir Winter.[6] Misgav senior fellows Ronen Levi (Maoz), Asher Fredman, Ruth Wasserman Lande, and Fleur Hassan-Nahum participated in the event, with Hassan-Nahum moderating a session.[6][6] Prof. Kobi Michael holds senior researcher positions at both INSS and the Misgav Institute and is also a visiting professor at the International Center for Police & Security Studies at the University of South Wales.[17]

Three weeks before the war that began on October 7, 2023, the Israeli Ministry of Intelligence contracted the institute to serve as its research contractor. Accountant General documents cited in the report said the contract was awarded without a tender at a cost of one million shekels.[18]

Reporting by Calcalist and Mako highlighted governance connections between the institute and the Kohelet Forum. Calcalist reported that the institute's only authorized signatories on its committee were Moshe Koppel, founder of the Kohelet Forum, and Meir Rubin, the forum's CEO.[2] Mako separately reported that Koppel and Rubin had joined the institute's management committee and that its offices were located two floors below the Kohelet Forum's offices in a Jerusalem building.[18] The sources do not establish that the institute is part of or subordinate to the Kohelet Forum.

A guest-authored position paper by Amir Weitman — proposing Israeli investment in housing in Egypt for Gaza residents as part of a departure plan — was posted on the institute's official X account and subsequently deleted; Ben-Shabbat disavowed the document.[2] In response to questions about the paper, the institute stated that it supports research and ideological pluralism, that some position papers are written by guest researchers who are not institute staff, and that such articles reflect the views of their authors.[2]

The descriptions "independent" and "non-partisan" are the institute's own characterization of its work.[1]