The Europa Institute
Prof. Shlomo Shpiro
Director
Prof. Shlomo Shpiro is the Director of the Europa Institute. He specializes in the fields of intelligence, terrorism and security, combining research on technology and security policies, with emphasis on crisis management and communication, counter terrorism, social resilience, borders security and internal security issues.
Gen. Dr. Ephraim Lapid
Deputy Director
Dr. Ephraim Lapid, Brigadier General (Res.) is a former senior officer of the Israel defense Force Military Intelligence, where he served for three decades. He was also the IDF Spokesperson. He is lecturer of Political Science in Bar-Ilan University, Israel. Dr. Lapid has extensive and diverse experience in the military and public affairs arenas. He holds a B.A. in Middle East studies and Arabic from the Hebrew University in Jerusalem, a teacher's degree, an M.A. and a Ph.D. in political science. His research examines the Israeli intelligence Community during the years 1960 to 1980.
Dr. Barak Bouks
Senior Research Fellow
Dr. Barak Bouks, Ph.D. (Bar-Ilan University, 2016), specializes in Religion & Terror. Main research interests are Terror & Religion, Middle-East & Security (Focusing in Lebanon), Arab Media (Focusing in Middle-Eastern regional media), conducting surveys, as well as qualitative & quantitative analysis (SPSS & Excel). In addition, Dr. Bouks serves as a commentator in the Israeli electronic media: Radio (Radio Eretz, Galei Tzahal) & T.V Channel I24 News.
Dr. Adi Frimark
Research Fellow and Senior Administrator
Dr. Adi Frimark specializes in security, intelligence, civilian and humanitarian aspects of conflicts. She has worked extensively in European and national security research projects, including the development of terrorism crisis communication strategies and end user requirements analysis, and in Washington DC on developing security research methodologies in social sciences. From 2014 onward she teaches the course "Civilian Infrastructure of National Security".
Dr. Hayim Iserovich
Senior Research Fellow
Dr. Hayim Iserovich holds a Ph.D. degree from Bar-Ilan University. His research topic was the development of the British counterterrorism doctrine in Northern Ireland between 1968 and 2005 and Israeli doctrine against the Palestinian terror organizations during that same period. A journalist with more than 15 years of experience in covering world news, he is currently the Foreign Affairs Correspondent for the Maariv daily and writes a weekly column about world affairs. He was an advisory board member for SAFE-COMMS (The Counter-Terrorism Crisis Communication Project), a joint project of Israel and the European Union (2010-2011).
Hadas Tzoref
Senior Administrator
Hadas Tsoref served for over two decades in the Israeli Defence Force (IDF) military intelligence, where she held a number of analytical positions specializing in the Middle East.
Dr. Amir Bohbot
Senior Research Fellow
Dr. Amir Bohbot is one of Israel’s leading military correspondents and defense analysts and a lecturer at Ben Gurion University in the Negev. He researche includes the political and military decision-making during Israel’s war against Palestinian terror and specifically its policy of targeted killing from 2000-2012 and Israeli Intelligence during the Second Lebanon War and Operation Cast Lead. Amir has served as the Military Correspondent and Defense Analyst for Walla News since 2011.
His first book - Weapon Wizards: How Israel Became a High-Tech Military Superpower - was published by St. Martin’s Press in 2017 and has since come out in Hebrew, Czech, Polish and Chinese.
Shay Shabtai
Senior Research Fellow
Shay Shabtai is an expert and practitioner for more than twenty five years in Middle East issues, Israel's national security, intelligence and strategic planning. He was the Head of the Long Term Strategic Planning Department in the IDF. Shay is currently a PhD candidate researching the influence of Israel's intelligence community on the national security strategy, and lectures in Bar Ilan University and the IDC in Herzlia. His current research also includes strategic communication and perception management; cybersecurity strategy; and redefining the operational level of armed conflicts. He is the strategist of Konfidas cybersecurity consulting firm, which works with Israeli leading firms.
Dr. Eyal Pinko
Senior Research Fellow
Eyal Pinko served in the Israeli navy for 23 years and for 5 more years as the head of division at the Ministry of Defense (Civilian rank equal to RADM). A highly decorated scientist, Dr. Pinko holds Israel's Security Award, the Prime Minister's decoration of excellence, DDR&D Decoration of Excellence, and the IDF Commander in Chief's Decoration of Excellence. Since August 2017, he is a senior private consultant for cyber, maritime cyber and business intelligence. He holds bachelor’s degree with honor in electronics engineering, two master’s degrees with honor in political science and in organizational development, and recently completed his PhD at Bar-Ilan University. His research focuses on strategy, asymmetrical and hybrid warfare, maritime cyber and naval weapon systems.
Dr. Nir Levitan
Research Fellow
Dr. Nir Levitan holds a Ph.D. from Bar-Ilan University's Graduate Program in Conflict Resolution, Management and Negotiation (CRMN) and was a recipient of the President's Doctoral Fellowships of Excellence Program.
Currently he is a Research Fellow at the Center for Koldkrigsstudier at the University of Southern Denmark and a Research fellow at “Alma Research and Education Center''. Dr. Levitan teaches in the Special Studies Program for Security Forces at Bar-Ilan University. He is a research associate in several academic projects.
His research focuses on Unofficial & Official Diplomacy, Scandinavia, Middle East peace process, Conflict Resolution & Management and Scandinavian mediation.
Dr. Levitan lectures in academic and non-academic forums. He writes op-eds regularly for the press and appears as a commentator on Scandinavian issues in the Israeli media.