Major General (Ret.) Yaacov Amidror

Senior Fellow at the Jerusalem Institute for Strategic Studies (JISS); Distinguished Fellow of JINSA's Gemunder Center in Washington; Former National Security Advisor to the Prime Minister of Israel and Head of Israel's National Security Council

Bio Current as of November 6, 2020

Major General Yaacov Amidror served as the National Security Advisor to the P.M of Israel and the Head of the National Security Council, for more than 2.5 years (April 2011- November 2013). Major General Yaacov Amidror served with the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) for 36 years (1966-2002).

• During his long military career, Gen. Amidror held the following positions:
  Commander of IDF Military Colleges, including The National Defense College, Staff and Command College, and Junior (tactical) Command Academy.
  Military Secretary for the Minister of Defense.
• Director of the Intelligence Analysis Division, responsible for National Intelligence Assessment.
• Head of a large-scale technology project.

General Amidror received a Masters Degree in Political Science from the University of Haifa and
various other degrees and certificates from IDF colleges.

After his retirement, he served as Senior Research Fellow to the Institute for Middle East
Research in Washington (in 2002).

M.G Amidror is now the Anne and Greg Rosshandler Senior Fellow at the Jerusalem Institute for
Strategic Studies, and a Distinguished Fellow of JINSA’s Gemunder Center in Washington.

He is a member of several large Israeli companies’ boards as well as numerous high-tech start-
ups.

• Since retiring from the armed forces, General Amidror has published:
  ״Reflections on Army and Security״, a book containing several articles on the subject
  of military affairs and national security, April 2002 (in Hebrew).
• A second book : ״Intelligence, Theory and Practice״, March 2006 (in Hebrew).
• A monograph: ״A Strategic Prospective, Winning Counterinsurgency War, the Israeli
• Experience״. Published by The Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs, November 2008
  (in English).
• “Perfect storm: the implications of Middle East chaos”, BESA Memorandum, July
  2015 (in Hebrew & English & digital version in Arabic and Chinese )
• “Israel’s Inelegant Options in Judea and Samaria Withdrawal, Annexation, and
  Continues management”, BESA Memorandum, April 2017 (in Hebrew & English)

His articles appear frequently in Israeli and international publications.

He was the head of a committee nominated by the PM to fix the Cabinet process after
Operation in Gaza Strip, all the recommendations were accepted by the government (2017).

General Amidror was born in Israel in 1948, he is married to Dorith and they have 5 children.