The Advisory Board
Tommy Steiner
Advisory Board Member
Tommy Steiner is the Policy Director of SIGNAL and is affiliated with several international policy institutes. Tommy is an Honorary Fellow of the Middle East Institute (MEI) at the National University of Singapore, an Associate Fellow at the Henry Jackson Society, and a Senior Fellow at Cevro Institute’s Prague Center for Transatlantic Relations (PCTR).
Concurrently, Tommy is an Adjunct Lecturer and teaches International Relations and Strategic Studies at the Lauder School of Government at IDC Herzliya, Israel. Until recently, Tommy was a senior research fellow at IDC Herzliya’s Institute for Policy and Strategy. A member of the founding team of the Annual Herzliya Conference Series
Tommy served as the executive director of the Atlantic Forum of Israel, a network-based policy organization that promoted and advanced Israel’s relations with the Transatlantic Community and Europe, and which was especially instrumental in enhancing NATO-Israel relations.
Tommy’s fields of expertise include, global politics and international security, transatlantic relations, international relations of the Middle East, and Israel’s foreign relations. In his areas of expertise.
Arik Segal
Advisory Board Member
Arik Segal is a mediator and an educator who specializes in the design and facilitation of innovative dialogue structures. He established and manages “Conntix” – a consultancy that aims to connect people through innovation and technology. Born in Canada and raised in Israel, he holds an HBA in International Relations from the University of Toronto and a Master’s degree from Tel Aviv University in Diplomacy Studies, as well as a Mediator's certificate from Gevim Group. Among his projects are a unique crisis management initiative between Israel and Turkey and an online-offline dialogue project between hundreds of Israeli and Arab young leaders. He also leads several digital campaign projects that fight against the spread online disinformation. Arik is an award-winning lecturer at Reichman and Bar-Ilan Universities, where he teaches courses about innovative conflict resolution, digital political campaigns and international negotiations. He trains influencers, community managers and security agencies about the challenges of online communication such as: “Fake News”, hate speech and online incitement. Arik teaches in the Rotary Peace Fellowship, in Chulalongkorn, Thailand and had the opportunity to give a guest lecture at Harvard Kennedy School.
Robert J. Silverman
Advisory Board Member
Robert J. Silverman is a lecturer in Middle Eastern and Islamic Studies at Shalem College and Executive Editor of The Jerusalem Strategic Tribune, a foreign affairs journal that highlights American and Israeli writers. Formerly a senior United States diplomat, he held key positions at the State Department, including political counselor to the U.S. embassy in Israel, economic counselor to the U.S. embassy in Saudi Arabia, Charge d’Affaires to the U.S. Embassy in Sweden, and director of the Iraq Reconstruction office in the Bureau of Near Eastern Affairs.
Silverman, who received a Master of Public Administration from Princeton University and a law degree from the University of Michigan, also served as the elected president of the American Foreign Service Association, a 17,000-member organization.
Currently, Robert J. Silverman is the president of IJMA – The Inter Jewish Muslim Alliance, an American non-profit organization. This organization brings together Jewish and Muslim leaders from civil society in the U.S. and Germany to combat inter-communal bigotry and advocate for shared public policy goals.
Jonathan Kessler
Advisory Board Member
Jonathan Kessler has devoted his professional life to assembling thought-leaders and strengthening inter-communal alliances. For 18 years he was a member of AIPAC’s senior staff, having previously served as executive director of the Center for Middle East Peace, executive editor of Middle East Insight magazine and president of a consulting firm specializing in Middle East public diplomacy. In these positions, he met with the leaders of Israel, Palestine, Egypt, Jordan, Syria, Lebanon, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, and the UAE. Jonathan has appeared as an analyst for MSNBC, CNN, C-SPAN and Voice of America, and served on the Executive Board of Seeds of Peace, Board of Directors of MAZON: A Jewish Response to Hunger, and Board of Trustees of PANIM: Institute for Jewish Leadership and Values. He has spoken before audiences in all 50 states, England and Australia, and has led numerous missions to Israel and the Arab world.
Shai Bazak
Advisory Board Member
Shai Bazak is a former Israeli diplomat, media, politics, business and international relations expert.
Shai Bazak was born in Jerusalem in 1968. Graduated with a master's degree in political science and public administration
at Bar Ilan University and worked as a journalist at the Israel News Agency "Atim".
Bazak has been involved in the political system in Israel for many years as a consultant and speaker in the Knesset and the government and in various organizations. He was an adviser and communications director of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, between 1994-1998.
Bazak served twice as the head of Israel's diplomatic mission in the US, as the consul general in Miami and as the consul general of
Israel in Boston.
Between these positions, Bazak managed an American investment fund in Israel, was a lecturer in communications at Reichman University in Herzliya. Advised international organizations, participated as a commentator on political and intl' issues in many radio and television programs and published many opinion columns
in newspapers, and was also a member of the Council of the Second Authority for Television and Radio in Israel.
Bezeq also served as the head of the Israel National Fund's delegation in London, headed an intl' business consulting company, and managed
in Israel the Elnet organization, with which he brought many delegations of members of parliament from Europe to Israel and organized conferences and dialogues
Strategists with many diplomats from Israel, Europe, the USA and Arab countries
Today he is a consultant in intl' matters to companies, organizations and governments in Israel and around the world
He has many connections in the political, business, media, philanthropic and diplomatic system in Israel.