Department Staff
Prof. Yaacov Vertzberger
Yaacov Vertzberger is Professor Emeritus in the Department of International Relations at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. Research areas: International Relations Theory, Southeast Asia, Political Economy, Political Psychology
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He was a leading figure in political psychology and foreign policy decision-making, particularly in analyzing how cognitive processes—perception, information processing, and risk evaluation—shaped leaders’ choices. He also pioneered the integration of East and South Asian area studies into international relations theory. His research explored historical analogy in decision-making, collective political trauma, and misperception in international conflict. Through his teaching and scholarship, Vertzberger helped establish political psychology as a central field within Israeli international relations.
Selected works:
- Misperceptions In Foreign Policymaking: The Sino-indian Conflict 1959-1962 (Westview, 1984)
- The World in Their Minds: Information Processing, Cognition, and Perception in Foreign Policy Decision Making (Stanford University Press, 1993)
- Risk Taking and Decision Making: Foreign Military Intervention Decisions (Stanford University Press, 1998)
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Prof. Emanuel Adler
Emanuel Adler is a political scientist and Prof Emeritus at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and moved to the University of Toronto, where he held the Andrea & Charles Bronfman Chair in Israel Studies.
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He was a foundational figure in the development of constructivist theory in international relations, particularly noted for his work on epistemic communities, social learning, and security communities. Adler earned his PhD in political science from the University of California, Berkeley, after completing BA and MA degrees in history and international relations at the Hebrew University. During his time in Israel, he mentored a generation of scholars, helping to embed Israeli work in wider international-theoretical debates. He also served as editor of International Organization and was elected Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada.
Selected works:
- Communitarian International Relations: The Epistemic Foundations of International Relations (Routledge, 2005)
- Security Communities (Cambridge University Press, 1998, with Michael Barnett)
- The Power of Ideology: The Quest for Technological Autonomy in Argentina and Brazil (University of California Press, 1987)
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Tariq Akash
Technology and International Politics. Robotics and Asymmetrical warfare., AI, Big Data, Social Media and their effect on the World Order.
Lee Amram-Eilat
The connections between states and online social networks
Dr. Zafrir Asaf
Research interests: Finance and business development in emerging markets
Dr. Yael Assor
Tuesday, 11:30-12:30
Research interests: Global health, Gender and motherhood in war,peace, and conflict, Economies of care
Prof. Yaacov Bar-Siman-Tov
Yaacov Bar-Siman-Tov (z”l) was Professor of International Relations at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, where he held the Giancarlo Elia Valori Chair for the Study of Peace and Regional Cooperation.
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A leading scholar of conflict resolution, he founded and directed the Swiss Center for Conflict Research, Management and Resolution, the first academic center of its kind in Israel. His research focused on international conflict management, negotiation, decision-making, and the Arab–Israeli conflict. Bar-Siman-Tov also headed the Jerusalem Institute for Israel Studies and served in senior academic positions at the Hebrew University, including Director of the Leonard Davis Institute of International Relations. He was widely recognized as a pioneer in the study of peace and conflict resolution in Israel and received the Israeli Association for International Studies’ Lifetime Achievement Award.
Selected works:
- The Israeli-Egyptian War of Attrition 1969-1970: A Case Study of Limited Local War (Columbia, 1980)
- Israel and the Peace Process, 1977–1982: In Search of Legitimacy for Peace (SUNY Press, 1994)
- Justice and Peace in the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict (Routledge, 2014)
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Dr. Eitan Barak
office: 5303
