Ehud Olmert

Profile coming soon

Tony Abbott (AU)

Tony was elected Prime Minister by the Australian people on September 7, 2013 and served for two years.

In his time as PM, the carbon tax and mining tax were repealed, free-trade agreements were finalised with China, Japan and Korea; the people smuggling trade from Indonesia to Australia was halted; Australia became the second largest military contributor to the US-led campaign against Islamic State in Iraq; the biggest federally-funded infrastructure program in Australian history commenced; and Australia hosted the G20 meeting of global leaders in Brisbane in November 2014.

In 2014, and again in 2015, he spent a week running the government from a remote indigenous community.

As opposition leader at the 2010 election, he reduced a first-term Labor government to minority status before comprehensively winning the 2013 election.

Between 1996 and 2007, he was successively parliamentary secretary, minister, cabinet minister, and leader of the House of Representatives in the Howard government. As health minister, he expanded Medicare to include dentists, psychologists and other health professionals and resolved the medical indemnity crisis. As workplace relations minister, he boosted construction industry productivity through the establishment of a royal commission against union lawlessness. And as employment minister, he developed private-sector job placement services and work-for-the-dole for long-term unemployed people.

Tony served as the member for Warringah in the Australian parliament between 1994 and this year. As the local MP, he was instrumental in the creation of the Sydney Harbour Federation Trust to preserve the natural and built heritage of his electorate and elsewhere.

Before entering parliament, he was a journalist with The Australian, a senior adviser to opposition leader John Hewson, and director of Australians for Constitutional Monarchy. He has degrees in economics and law from Sydney University and in politics and philosophy from Oxford which he attended as a Rhodes Scholar.

He is the author of three books: The Minimal Monarchy (1995), How to Win the Constitutional War (1997), and Battlelines (2009).

He is a Member of the Australian War Memorial Council, and a Director of the Ramsay Centre for Western Civilisation.

Since 1998, he has convened the Pollie Pedal annual charity bike ride which has raised almost $7 million for organisations such as Soldier On, Carers Australia, and other charities. He still does surf patrols with the Queenscliff Surf Life Saving Club and serves as a Deputy Captain with the Davidson Rural Fire Brigade. He was appointed by the UK Government as an Advisor to the Board of Trade in 2020.

He is married to Margaret and they are the parents of three daughters – Louise, Frances and Bridget.

Paul Kelly (AU)

Profile coming soon

Nahum Barnea (IL)

Nahum Barnea is perhaps Israel’s most prominent journalist, has served in the IDF and has a BA in history and political science from Hebrew University in Jerusalem.

He journalism career started on a student newspaper and for 15 years from 1967 he worked for the Davar, becoming the paper’s correspondent in Washington.

He has also written for Ha’Ayin HaShevi’it and he founded and edited Koteret Rashit, a weekly newspaper.

Since 1989, Barnea has been a staff writer for Yedioth Ahronoth. Barnea was awarded the Sokolov Prize for journalism in 1981.

In a survey in 1998, and in 2007 he won the Israel Prize in the sphere of communications.

In February 1996, his son Yonatan was killed along with 44 others in by Hamas in the Jaffa Road bus bombings.

Joan Ryan (UK)

Rt Hon Joan Ryan is the honorary president of Labour Friends of Israel. She served as a member of the British House of Commons until November 2019 and served in the government of Tony Blair.

In February 2019, she resigned from Labour over the failure of its hard-left leader, Jeremy Corbyn, to tackle antisemitism in the party. Her resignation, which attracted widespread media coverage, sharply criticised Corbyn for “presiding over a culture of antisemitism and hatred of Israel”.

Joan was re-elected in the 2017 General Election with an increased majority of 10,247. She regained the seat in the 2015 General Election, having previously served as the representative for the constituency from 1997 to 2010. In Autumn 2019 she announced she would not be restanding for Parliament.

A former teacher, Joan held a senior role in a London local authority before being elected as an MP. She served in the whips office before Tony Blair appointed her to the Home Office. After Gordon Brown became prime minister in 2007, Joan was appointed vice-chair of the Labour party and became the government’s Special Representative to Cyprus.

Joan served as chair of Labour Friends of Israel from 2015-2019. In parliament, she led the campaign to prevent UK aid being used by the Palestinian Authority to incite violence and glorify terrorism. She also worked with the Alliance for Middle East Peace to promote the establishment of an International Fund for Israeli-Palestinian Peace. Thanks to her efforts, the British government last year became the first in the world to endorse the Fund. Following her appointment by the Speaker of the House of Commons, Joan joined the Panel of Chairs in 2017. Its members chair Public Bill Committees and other general committees, as well as debates in Westminster Hall.

During her time away from Parliament, Joan was the Chief Executive of the Global Tamil Forum working on human rights and humanitarian issues in Sri Lanka. She served as the Chair of the charity Riders for Health, from 2011-2015, which has helped to improve access to life-saving treatment and medical care for 21 million people across seven countries in sub-Saharan Africa. She was the deputy director of the successful NO to AV national referendum campaign on the UK voting system. In addition, Joan worked as a training consultant strengthening democracy and parliamentary procedures with a number of organisations.

John Spellar (UK)

John Spellar has been the Member of Parliament for Warley since 1992.

He is a Vice-Chair of Labour Friends of Israel.

His parliamentary career has included roles as Shadow Minister for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs; Minister in the Whip’s Office with the official role of Comptroller of Her Majesty’s Household; Opposition spokesman for Northern Ireland from 1994 to 1995, and for Defence from 1995 to 1997; Opposition Whip with responsibility for Employment, Trade and Industry and Parliamentary Business from 1992 to 1994.

Mr Spellar has been the national officer for the Electrical, Electronic, Telecommunications and Plumbing Union.

He studied philosophy, politics and economics at Oxford University.

Steve McCabe (UK)

Steve McCabe is the Member of Parliament for Birmingham, Selly Oak and Parliamentary Chair of Labour Friends of Israel since February 2020.

Previously he was as an Adviser for the Central Council for Education and Training in Social Work. He’s a former social worker.

During his parliamentary career he has served as Parliamentary Private Secretary to Rt Hon Charles Clarke during his spells as Education Secretary and Home Secretary. He also served as a Government Whip from 2006-2010 and was the Lord Commissioner who signed the orders to purchase Northern Rock.

Since the 2010 election he has served on the Home Affairs Select Committee and Labour’s Parliamentary Committee. From 2013-2015 Steve served as the Shadow Minister for Children and Families.

Since the 2015 election, Steve has been a member of the Work and Pensions Select Committee which he joined because of his view that we need new models of welfare if we are to preserve the essence of the Welfare State.

Christian Wakeford

profile coming soon

Mary Robinson

profile coming soon

Kevin Rudd

Kevin Rudd became President and CEO of Asia Society in January and has been president of the Asia Society Policy Institute since January 2015.

He served as Australia’s 26th Prime Minister from 2007 to 2010, then as Foreign Minister from 2010 to 2012, before returning as Prime Minister in 2013.

He is a leading international authority on China. He began his career as a China scholar, serving as an Australian diplomat in Beijing before entering Australian politics.

Rudd is a regular contributor to global media on international relations, climate change and China.

He has been featured in the Financial Times, The New York Times and Le Monde, and regularly appears on the BBC, CNN, CNBC, Fox and Bloomberg.

Michael Danby (AU)

Member of Parliament

The Hon. Michael Danby is a seven-term MP in the Labor Party, the opposition in the Australian Federal Parliament. He was first elected as member for Melbourne Ports in 1998. Since his election to federal parliament his main areas of interest have been foreign affairs, defence, national security, immigration, electoral matters, human rights and the environment. Michael is a member of the International Advisory Committee of the Henry Jackson Society (London) and NGO Monitor (Jerusalem). He recently gave a major paper in the Japanese Diet to “China Initiatives” on the growth of Beijing’s military “hard power”. In London last month he appeared on a Henry Jackson Society panel focusing on the integration of Beijing “Sharp Power” with its new assertive military stance. In 2016 he addressed the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva, criticising it for concentrating on the Israel-Palestinian conflict to the exclusion if vital human rights violations. In the Parliament Michael served as a one of two opposition whips (2001-2007); Parliamentary Secretary to the Opposition Leader; Parliamentary Secretary for the Arts (Assistant minister in the Gillard government); was a member of the Parliamentary Electoral Matters Committee and became Deputy Chair of the Joint Standing committee on Electoral Matters (2006); Chair of the Joint-Standing Committee on Migration (2007-2010); and Chair of the Joint Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade. He is presently deputy chair of the Joint Standing Committee on Treaties and deputy chair of both the Australia/Tibet Parliamentary Friendship Group and the Australia/USA Parliamentary Friendship Group.

Prof. Thomas J Borody

Professor Thomas J Borody is a gastroenterologist well known for developing so-called “triple therapy” for Helicobacter pylori and pioneering the novel therapy called fecal microbiota transplantation.

Based in Sydney, he is recognised for his innovative clinical work and research into complex gastrointestinal disorders and infective disorders.

His breakthrough treatment for stomach ulcers is reported to have prevented more than 18,000 premature deaths in Australia alone and saved the Australian healthcare system more than $10 billion.

Sen. David Fawcett (AU)

David Julian Fawcett (BSc, MBA, MAICD, QTP, psc) served in the Australian Defence Force for more than 22 years. An Army pilot, he flew helicopters and fixed wing aircraft and was the senior flying instructor at the School of Army Aviation in Queensland.

Graduating as an experimental test pilot from the Empire Test Pilots’ School (UK), he finished his full time career in Defence as the Commanding Officer of the RAAF Aircraft Research and Development Unit.

Elected to the House of Representatives as the Member for Wakefield (South Australia) in 2004, he served in the Parliament until 2007. David continued to fly as a test pilot and ran a small business working in the Defence and aviation sectors before being elected to the Senate in 2010, 2016 and again this year.

With tertiary qualifications in science and business administration, he is known for his evidence- based approach to policy development and oversight with a focus on outcomes that are in the national interest.

David is a strong advocate for reform and investment that lead to a more effective and efficient national defence capability. This work has led to reform of the governance underpinning Defence and a sovereign defence industry being formally recognised as one of the fundamental inputs to defence capability. His widely respected policy understanding has led to a number of appointments, including as chair of the Parliamentary Joint Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade and member of the Parliamentary Joint Committee on Intelligence and Security.

He was appointed the Assistant Minister for Defence in during the 45th Parliament.

David’s experience in aviation has helped to facilitate change in Australia’s aviation policy and approach to aviation safety regulation. As chair of the Parliamentary Joint Committee on Corporations and Financial Services in the 44th Parliament, he led an inquiry into the educational and professional standards of the financial advice industry. This body of work has been a catalyst for significant legislative and industry-led reforms in the finance sector.

David has been an active member of the Parliamentary Friends of Israel since his election in 2004 and was chair of the group from 2014 to 2018.

Having lived in Asia, the UK and across Australia, David is proud to call South Australia home. He is a keen sailor and is married to Lorna with two adult daughters.

Roger Franklin

profile coming soon

Prof. Eyal Leshem

Prof. Eyal Leshem, MD, DTM&H(Glasg.) is board certified in internal medicine and infectious diseases, the director of the Center for Travel Medicine and Tropical Diseases, Sheba Medical Center, Tel Hashomer in Israel, and a consultant to the world Health Organization (WHO). Dr. Leshem is a clinical associate professor in internal medicine and infectious diseases at the School of Medicine in Tel Aviv University. He has lead and co-authored over a hundred articles and book chapters.

Prof. Leshem received his medical degree from Technion – Israel Institute of Technology. He completed a residency in internal medicine and a fellowship in infectious diseases at the Sheba Medical Center. In 2014, he graduated from his training as an epidemic intelligence service (EIS) officer at the CDC. During his training he investigated multiple outbreaks including acute gastroenteritis, enterovirus D68 associated acute flaccid myelitis, fungal meningitis and MERS-CoV.

Upon graduating from EIS, Prof. Leshem worked as a medical epidemiologist in the viral gastroenteritis team. His work focused on diarrheal diseases surveillance, rotavirus vaccine impact and viral disease outbreak investigations. Prof. Leshem participated in CDC and WHO led surveillance and evaluation projects assessing vaccine impact and effectiveness in Haiti, Burkina Faso, Togo, the Philippines, Brazil, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan, Moldova, the United States and Israel.

During the COVID-19 pandemic Prof. Leshem participated in the Lancet COVID-19 Commission Task Force on Public Health and studied of BNT162b2 vaccine impact and effectiveness. Other research interests include vaccine preventable diseases, arboviruses, and malaria epidemiology. Prof. Leshem serves as councilor and co-chair of the Asia Pacific Travel Health Society scientific committee, as past chair of the International Society for Travel Medicine pediatric traveler interest group and as an associate editor of the Journal of Travel Medicine.

Paul Israel

Paul Israel, born in Melbourne has lived over 30 years in Israel, he is the Executive Director of the Israel-Australia, New-Zealand & Oceania Chamber of Commerce, an Independent, Non-Profit organisation dedicated to the promotion of bi-lateral trade and relations.

For the past two decades, Paul has assisted Israeli and Australasian companies do business with each other by helping with key introductions, and matchmaking. Mr Israel has spent most of his career giving advice to Executives from both countries, helping with strategy, planning, innovation, technology scouting, in-country support, cultural differences and most importantly building relationships including investments that add real value and stand the test of time.

Mr Israel has been involved in supporting various bi-lateral initiatives including the establishment of the Australia-Israel Leadership Dialogue.

Paul has a Bachelor of Business (Marketing) and Bachler of Arts (Psychology) from Monash University.

Paul lives in Rehovot (South of Tel-Aviv) with his wife- Sigal & their three boys, Shalev- 18, Naveh- 16 & Afek- 13.

Mati Gill

Mati is the CEO of AION Labs, an Israel-based innovation lab using AI for drug discovery and development, a coalition between Pfizer, Amazon Web Services (AWS), AstraZeneca, Teva, Merck and the Israel Biotech Fund (IBF). Mati has held leadership roles within the biopharma industry for over a decade, formerly serving as a senior executive at Teva Pharmaceuticals.

Mati currently sits on the board of the Israel-America Chamber of Commerce, and leads the Sanhedrin Forum for young professionals after founding it in 2009. Prior to his term in industry, Mati was Chief of Staff for Israel’s Minister of Public Security and Israel Executive Director of the Leadership Dialogue Institute. An IDF military veteran, Mati holds an LLB and an MBA in Healthcare and Innovation from Reichman University. He lives in Tel Aviv with his wife and three children.

Avi Luvton

Avi Luvton is vice-president, International Collaboration Division, at the Israel Innovation Authority where he is in charge of promoting international collaboration in innovative R&D between Israeli companies and counterpart organisations abroad, to create a competitive advantage for Israeli companies in global markets, and to provide international markets access to Israel’s disruptive technologies.

Luvton joined the Israel Innovation Authority in 2009 as the senior director of Asia Pacific operations, where he was responsible for cultivating strategic relationships with government partners, innovation agencies and leading multinational companies across Asia, resulting in over 20 cooperation agreements with Israel and hundreds of joint R&D initiatives between Israeli and Asian companies.

He has held several management positions in Bezeq, Israel’s largest telecommunications company. He served as head of the network engineering division of the technological department and led several central projects, such as IP/VPN, broadband internet, phone number mobility, NGN and more.

He holds a bachelor’s degree in computer science from the Open University of Israel and an MBA from Ben-Gurion University of the Negev.

Jonathan Medved

Jon Medved is the founder and CEO or OurCrowd, a serial entrepreneur and, according to the Washington Post, “one of Israel’s leading high-tech venture capitalists”.

In The New York Times’ “Israel at 60″ report, Medved was named one of the top 10 most influential Americans who have impacted Israel.

OurCrowd, the world’s largest equity crowdfunding platform for accredited investors and has raised more than $1bn for more than 170 companies since its launch in February 2013.

Bloomberg Businessweek said that OurCrowd “has blown up the exclusivity around tech fundraising” and The Jerusalem Post added that “It has taken OurCrowd only a matter of months to become one of Israel’s most active funds”.

Before OurCrowd, Medved was the co-founder and CEO of Vringo (Nasdaq:VRNG) and the co-founder and general partner of Israel Seed Partners, with $262m under management.

Ayal Kimhi

Professor Ayal Kimhi is vice-president and head of research at the Shoresh Institution.

He is also the Sir Henry d’Avigdor Goldsmid Professor in Agricultural Economics, serving as the head of the Department of Environmental Economics and Management at the Hebrew University.

He was previously the deputy director and head of research at the Taub Centre for Social Policy Studies.

Kimhi received his PhD in economics from the University of Chicago.

His research spans the fields of labor economics, family economics, applied econometrics, agricultural economics, and development economics.

He has held visiting positions at the Universities of Maryland, Yale, Pennsylvania, Nagoya, Leuven, Sydney and at the Paris School of Economics, and has published more than 50 articles in refereed academic journals.

Mary Easson (AU)

Chief Executive

Mary Easson has been involved as co-chair of the Australian Israel Leadership Dialogue for 10 years. She is a former Federal Member of the Australian Parliament, serving in the Keating Labor Government until 1996. Mary has served on the board of Australia’s largest insurance company, chairing its risk management and audit committee. Through her business, Probity International, she has advised listed and unlisted international and Australian companies. She graduated with a Masters of Philosophy from the School of Business at the University of NSW. She was chair of the advisory board of the Institute for Research into Retirement Policy and Management, the Sydney Business School.

She is author of Keating’s & Kelty’s Super Legacy: The Birth and Relentless Threats to the Australian System of Superannuation (Connor Court 2017).

Henry Ergas (AU)

Economist, columnist

After studying economics, Henry worked at the OECD in Paris, where he was responsible for structural adjustment issues and counselor for microeconomic policies in the economics department.

He has written on a broad range of topics, including innovation, labour markets, regulation, tax and health policies, and taught at a number of universities, including France’s École nationale de la statistique et de l’administration économique, the Kennedy School of Government and (most recently) the University of Wollongong, as well as being a columnist for The Australian. Additionally, he has been a member of and chaired a number of government inquiries, covering intellectual property law, telecommunications regulation, export infrastructure and defence. His most recent publications include work on the history of ideas, public economics and Australian economic history. He was made an Officer in the Order of Australia in 2016.

Lord Ian Austin (UK)

Lord Austin is the British trade envoy to Israel and a member of the House of Lords. He served as a member of the British House of Commons until November 2019 and in the government of Gordon Brown. Ian is one of the most outspoken voices for Israel and against antisemitism in Parliament.

He is a Non-affiliated Life peer who was been a member of the House of Lords since 14 September 2020.

Ian resigned from the Labour party in February 2019, blaming its leader Jeremy Corbyn for “creating a culture of extremism and intolerance” and a failure to tackle antisemitism within the party. “I grew up listening to my dad, who was a refugee from the Holocaust, teaching me about the evils of hatred and prejudice,” he said. “One of the main reasons I joined the Labour Party more than 35 years ago was to fight racism and I could never have believed I would be leaving the Labour party because of racism too.”

He was appointed the prime ministerial trade envoy to Israel in July 2019, tasked with helping to grow trade between the UK and the Jewish state. Commenting on his appointment at the time, Ian said he was looking forward to “working with the Department for Trade and the brilliant team at our embassy in Israel who are working so hard to help British companies win business in Israel and strengthen the trading relationship between the two countries”

Ian is the founding chairman of the cross-party Mainstream, the campaign against extremism, designed to encourage a return to respectable and responsible politics, and to banish extremism from British politics once and for all.

In November 2019, Ian announced he would not be standing in the 2019 general election and instead urged voters to support Boris Johnson to stop Jeremy Corbyn, who he described “as completely unfit to lead our country”. He outlined how he had “joined the Labour party as a teenager. I worked for the Labour party. In my 30s I was a government adviser, in my 40s I was an MP and a minister. So it’s really come to something when I tell decent. traditional, patriotic Labour voters that they should be voting for Boris Johnson at this election.”

Ian was raised in Dudley before graduating from Essex University with a degree in Government and Politics. He started his career as a sports journalist before becoming a local councillor. He became press officer for the West Midlands Labour Party and then was the Deputy Director of Communications for the Scottish Labour Party, before becoming a political advisor to Gordon Brown in 1999.

Ian was first elected to his home seat of Dudley North in 2005 and became Parliamentary Private Secretary to the Prime Minister in 2007. In opposition, Ian was the Shadow Minister for Communities and Local Government; Culture, Media, and Sport; and Work and Pensions.

In parliament, Ian has led the campaign in support of people-to-people projects in Israel and Palestine. He has been a long-standing advocate of these groups that are vital in laying the foundations for a lasting peace. Ian is also one of the leading voices in parliament for Holocaust education and Holocaust memorial. He chaired the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Holocaust Memorial and recently led a session in the House of Commons chamber on Holocaust Memorial Day 2019.

Ian was until recently a member of the Foreign Affairs Committee, a position he held since September 2017, and has previously been a member of the Home Affairs and Education select committees. He is also a member of the parliamentary Panel of Chairs, responsible for chairing Public Bill Committees and Westminster Hall debates.

In addition to foreign affairs, Ian takes a particular interest in education, regional economic development and housing issues.

Robert Jenrick

profile coming soon

Avi Dichter (IL)

Member of the Knesset

Mr. Avi Dicter is a member of the Knesset from the Likud party. He is currently the Chairman of the Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee. MK Dicter is former Minister of Public Security, Minister of Home Front Defense and former Director of Shin Bet – the Israel Security Agency.

Additionally, and not less importantly for Mr. Dicter, as the son of Holocaust survivors, he took a volunteer position as Chairman of the Foundation for the Benefit of Holocaust Victims in Israel between 2013-2015.

Born in 1952 in Israel, Mr. Dicter served in the Israel Defense Forces elite commando unit known as Sayeret Matkal. Upon finishing his military service in 1974, he joined the Shin Bet where he advanced up the ranks from air marshal to Director of the Agency. He held this position from 2000-2005, a period of significant Palestinian terrorist activity which included the Al-Aqsa Intifada or Second Intifada. Mr. Dicter is credited with reforming the Shin Bet to effectively deal with this challenge, leading to a dramatic reduction in the number of terrorist attacks and to a restoration of public morale and safety.

Before reaching the top post at Shin-Bet, initially as an appointee of Prime Minister Ehud Barak and then, Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, he served as director of the Southern District, including Gaza, Director of the Security and Protection Division – a position he took on after the assassination of the late Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin – and as Deputy Director of the Agency.

As Minister of Public Security Mr. Dicter built Israel’s Witness Protection Program, and formed a national crime-fighting unit – Lahav 433 – modeled after the FBI. Additionally, he succeeded in passing the Communications Data Law and at the same time implementing the electronic gathering of fast, accurate and actionable intelligence. This led to the jailing of most of the heads of the largest crime organizations.

During his term as Minister of Public Security, he also introduced and signed cooperation agreements with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, with Canada’s Ministry of Public Safety, and with countries in the European Union.

During last few years Avi has been promoting the basic law: “Israel as the National State of the Jewish People”.

MK Avi Dicter holds a BA in Social Sciences from Bar-Ilan University, and an Executive MBA from Tel Aviv University. He also served as a research fellow at the Brookings Institute in Washington, D.C. He speaks Hebrew, Arabic and English fluently. He is married to Ilana Dicter, and has three children and seven grandchildren.

Alexander Downer

Alexander Downer is the executive chair of the International School for Government at King’s College in London.

He was Australia’s Minister for Foreign Affairs from 1996 to 2007, and was High Commissioner to the United Kingdom from 2014 to 2018.

He is also a former Leader of the Opposition as federal leader of the Liberal Party.

With then Israeli Foreign Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, he issued a unique joint communique in December 2002 establishing the Australia Israel Cultural Exchange, the forerunner to the International Strategic Leadership Dialogue Institute.

Sen. Kimberley Kitching (AU)

Chosen by the Parliament of Victoria in 2016 to represent that State in the Senate.

Committee service

• Senate Select: Exposure Draft of the Marriage Amendment (Same-Sex Marriage) Bill from 1.12.2016 to 15.2.2017; Strengthening Multiculturalism from 23.3.2017 to 17.8.2017; Obesity Epidemic in Australia from 10.5.2018 to 5.12.2018; Foreign Interference through Social Media from 5.12.2019.
• Senate Legislative and General Purpose Standing: Education and Employment: Legislation from 8.11.2016 to 11.2016; Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade: References from 8.11.2016 (Chair from 3.7.2019); Finance and Public Administration: Legislation from 8.11.2016; Education and Employment: References from 8.11.2016 to 22.11.2016; Finance and Public Administration: References from 8.11.2016; Legal and Constitutional Affairs: References from 22.6.2017 to 1.7.2019; Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade: Legislation from 15.12.2017 to 15.12.2017 (Substitute member from 15.12.2017 to 15.12.2017); Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade: Legislation from 2.7.2019 (Deputy Chair from 3.7.2019).
• Joint Standing: Treaties from 11.2016 to 1.7.2019; Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade from 15.2.2018.
• Shadow Assistant Minister for Government Accountability from 6.2019.
• Deputy Manager of Opposition Business in the Senate from 6.2019.

Party positions

• Member of the Australian Labor Party Legal Affairs Policy Committee,
• Delegate to the Australian Labor Party State Conference,
• Member of the Australian Labor Party Administrative Committee,
• Delegate to the Australian Labor Party Melbourne Federal Electorate Council,
• Delegate to the Australian Labor Party National Conference,

Qualifications and occupation before entering Federal Parliament

• BA (University of Queensland).
• LLB (University of Queensland).
• Manager, private Information Technology and Human Resources
• Senior Advisor, Treasurer of Victoria and Minister for Industry, Trade, Major Projects and Information Technology (Vic).
• General Manager, Health Workers Union

John Fitzgerald

John Fitzgerald is Emeritus Professor in the Centre for Social Impact at Swinburne University of Technology in Melbourne where he headed the Asia-Pacific philanthropy studies program from 2013 to 2017.

Previously, he had served five years as China Representative of The Ford Foundation in Beijing and before that again as director of the International Centre of Excellence in Asia-Pacific Studies at the Australian National University.

From 2015 to 2017 he was the elected president of the Australian Academy of the Humanities.

His research focuses on the history of nationalism, public administration, and philanthropy in China, and on the histories of the Chinese diaspora, and his public commentaries focus on China-Australia relations.

His books include Big White Lie: Chinese Australians in White Australia, awarded the Ernest Scott Prize of the Australian Historical Association, and Awakening China, awarded the Joseph Levenson Prize of the US Association for Asian Studies.

He has a Ph.D. from ANU and held a Fulbright postdoctoral fellowship at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. He is a graduate of the University of Sydney.

Paul Monk

Paul Monk has a first class honours degree in European history from Melbourne University.

He has a PhD in international relations from the Australian National University with an acclaimed doctoral dissertation on American counter-insurgency strategy throughout the Cold War in Southeast Asia and Central America.

He was recruited to the intelligence service working on East Asia from 1990.

By 1992 he was head of the Japan and Koreas Desk and in 1994 was appointed head of the China Desk in the Defence Intelligence Organisation.

He then taught Chinese politics and strategic affairs, before co-founding a consulting company in 2000 which specialises in applied cognitive science and structured argumentation. He is a commentator on cultural and international affairs and a published poet.

Michael Easson (AU)

Michael Easson is executive chair of EG Funds Management, with offices in Sydney, Australia, and Austin, Texas, and co-founder and executive director of the building technology company Willow Inc., with offices in Sydney, New York, London and Tel Aviv. He is the first independent chair of the Association of Superannuation Funds of Australia. After serving in several significant positions in the Australian trade union movement, for the last 25 years Michael has worked in business, including serving on boards in many fields including insurance, infrastructure, construction, sport, and the arts. He has a long standing interest in and has written articles on the Middle East and Australian foreign policy. He has a BA (Hons.) in politics from the University of NSW (UNSW); a MSc from Campion Hall, the University of Oxford; a PhD in History from the Australia Defence Academy, UNSW; and a PhD in transp

Anne-Marie Brady

Anne-Marie Brady is a professor of political science at the University of Canterbury.

She specialises in Chinese domestic and foreign politics, Antarctic and Arctic politics, Pacific politics, and New Zealand foreign policy. Her research on Antarctic politics, China’s polar interests, and the Chinese Communist Party’s domestic and foreign policy, in particular, foreign interference activities, has led to policy adjustments by the US, New Zealand, Australian, British and Canadian governments and the European Union.

She has a BA (Chinese and political studies) from the University of Auckland, a Masters of Asian Studies with first class honours and has a PhD in East Asian Studies from the Australian National University.

John Lee (AU)

Dr John Lee is a senior fellow and adjunct professor at the United States Studies Centre at the University of Sydney. He is also a senior fellow at the Hudson Institute in Washington DC.

From 2016-2018, he was senior adviser to Australian Minister for Foreign Affairs, Julie Bishop. In this role, he served as the principal adviser on Asia and for economic, strategic and political affairs in the Indo-Pacific region.

John was also appointed the Foreign Minister’s lead adviser on the 2017 Foreign Policy White Paper, the first comprehensive foreign affairs blueprint for Australia since 2003 and written to guide Australia’s external engagement for the next 10 years and beyond.

He is one of the foremost experts on the Chinese political-economy and on strategic and economic affairs pertaining to the Indo-Pacific.

His articles have been published in leading policy and academic journals in the United States, Asia and Australia and his first book was entitled Will China Fail? – published 2007 and updated and published again in 2009.

His opinions are published frequently by The Australian and has been published in more than 50 major newspapers and current affairs magazines in the United States, Asia, Europe, the Middle East and Oceania.

He received his Masters and Doctorate in International Relations from the University of Oxford and his Bachelor of Laws and Arts (1st Class – Philosophy) degrees from the University of New South Wales.

Dr Lee is based in Sydney, Australia.

Rowan Callick

Author and columnist Rowan Callick graduated with a BA Honours from Exeter University.

He worked for a daily newspaper in Britain before moving first to Papua New Guinea then Australia, spending 20 years on the Australian Financial Review, finally as Asia Pacific Editor.

He was China correspondent for the AFR from 1996-2000. From 1990-1992 he was a senior writer with Time. He joined The Australian in 2006, as China correspondent.

After three years in Beijing, he became The Australian’s Asia-Pacific editor in 2009. He returned to Beijing as China Correspondent from the 2016 to 2018 and continues to contribute to the newspaper.

He was appointed a fellow of the Australian Institute of International Affairs in 2013. His books include Comrades & Capitalists – Hong Kong Since the Handover, and Party Time: Who Runs China and How. He has won the Graham Perkin Award for Journalist of the Year and two Walkley Awards, Australian journalism’s highest honour.

Christopher Pyne (AU)

Christopher Pyne served as the 54th Australian Defence Minister, and was responsible for delivering the $200 billion build-up of Australia’s military capability, the largest in Australia’s peacetime history.

Serving previously as Minister for Defence Industry, Christopher assisted in the development of the 2016 Defence White Paper and implementing the Integrated Investment Program.

During his time as a Cabinet Minister in the Defence portfolio, Christopher:

• Awarded the $35 billion Hunter Class Anti-Submarine Warfare frigates contract to BAES;
• Backed in the $50 billion Attack Class Submarine project by Defence and Naval Group Australia;
• Awarded the $3.7 billion Arafura Class Offshore Patrol Vessel project to Luerssen Australia, CIVMEC and the ASC;
• Awarded the $5.2 billion Combat Reconnaissance Vehicle project to Rheinmettal Australia; and
• Secured Australia as the Asia Pacific hub for the sustainment and maintenance of the F35-A Joint Strike

Christopher also worked to ensure the growth and sustainment of Australia’s Defence Industry, and thus implemented Australia’s Defence Export Strategy, Defence Industrial Capability Plan, and the Naval Shipbuilding Plan. He also created the Defence Cooperative Research Centre, the Centre for Defence Industry Capability, the Defence Innovation Hub, and the Next Generation Technology Fund.

On an international scale, Christopher was responsible for creating the Pacific Step Up to strengthen Australia’s strategic role in the South Pacific, and was the architect of the Australian Government’s position that Jerusalem should be the capital of Israel and East Jerusalem the capital of a future Palestinian state.

Christopher also worked to strengthen Australia’s defence ties with other countries, establishing the Australia France Initiative to take advantage of the close relationship with France through the Attack Class Submarine Project. He settled Defence Memoranda of Understanding with Israel, China, and Switzerland, and initiated Memoranda of Understanding with the United Arab Emirates and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

Christopher was also the driving force behind the establishment of the Australia Space Agency.

Christopher was a Minister in the Howard, Abbott, Turnbull and Morrison Governments, holding various portfolios including Ageing, Education, Industry Innovation and Science, and Defence.

As a Minister for Education and Minister for Industry Innovation and Science, respectively, Christopher delivered the National Innovation and Science Agenda, reformed the national curriculum, introduced compulsory literacy and numeracy testing for Australian teaching graduates and expanded phonics teaching.

Stephen Crabb (UK)

Stephen Crabb is a Welsh Conservative and since 2005 has served as the Member of Parliament for Preseli Pembrokeshire.

Since January last year he has served as the chairman of the Welsh Affairs Select Committee.

He has served as Secretary of State for Work and Pensions and was previously a government whip, a junior minister for Wales and the Secretary of State for Wales.

He has degrees from Bristol University (BSc) and London Business School (MBA).

Theresa Villiers (UK)

Theresa Villiers has served as the Member of Parliament for Chipping Barnet since 2005, having previously served as a Member of the European Parliament from 1999 to 2005.

A member of the Conservative Party, Villiers was Minister of State for Rail and Aviation from 2010 to 2012, Secretary of State for Northern Ireland from 2012 to 2016 and Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs from 2019 to 2020.

She has a Bachelor of Laws degree with first-class honours in 1990 from the University of Bristol, and a postgraduate degree of Bachelor of Civil Law from Jesus College, Oxford.

She has also worked as a lecturer at King’s College, London

Michael Gapes

Michael Gapes was the Member of Parliament for Ilford South from 1992 to 2019.

He studied economics at Fitzwilliam College, Cambridge and later was chair of the National Organisation of Labour Students.

In Parliament he chaired the Foreign Affairs Select Committee from 2005 to 2010.

In February 2019, Gapes left the Labour Party in protest at Jeremy Corbyn‘s leadership to form The Independent Group, later Change UK, along with six other Labour MPs.

Lord Stuart Polak (UK)

CFI Honorary President

Lord Polak was elevated to the House of Lords in October 2015. He has sat on the EU Security and Justice Sub-Committee since May 2016, and sat on the European Union Committee from October 2018 until July 2019.

Lord Polak was appointed as only the second Director of Conservative Friends of Israel in 1989, a position which he held until 2015 when he was made Honorary President.

In March 2015, he was awarded the CBE for political services to Conservative Friends of Israel.

Born in Liverpool in 1961 where he grew up and was educated, Lord Polak began his career working for the Board of Deputies of British Jews in 1984 as Education Director.

He has coordinated and led more than 150 Conservative Friends of Israel delegations of politicians to Israel over 28 years and through this he has developed extensive relationships with MPs, Peers, MEPs and advisors throughout all levels of the Conservative Party.

Mark Regev (IL)

Mark Regev is senior adviser on foreign affairs and international communications to the Israeli Prime Minister and a weekly columnist in the Jerusalem Post.

He was international spokesperson for the Prime Minister’s Office from 2007 to 2015.

He served as Ambassador of Israel to the United Kingdom from 2016 to 2020.

He received his bachelor’s degree in political science and history at Melbourne University, and master’s degrees in political science from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, and in management from Boston University. Regev began his career as a lecturer on international relations and strategy at the Israel Defence Forces’ Staff College.

He joined Israel’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs in 1990, serving as deputy chief of mission at the Consulate General in Hong Kong, and spokesman at the Israeli Embassy in Beijing. He also served as spokesman at the Embassy in Washington. Regev was the spokesman for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Jerusalem from 2004 to 2007.

Boaz Ganor (IL)

Founder and executive director, International Institute for Counter-Terrorism

Professor Boaz Ganor is Ronald Lauder Chair for Counter-Terrorism and dean of the Lauder School of Government, Diplomacy and Strategy, Interdisciplinary Center, Herzliya, Israel. He serves as the founding president of the International Academic Counter-Terrorism Community, an international association of academic institutions, experts, and researchers in fields related to the study of terrorism and counter- terrorism. Boaz previously held positions at Stanford University, UC Berkeley, the Hoover Institution (Koret Distinguished Visiting Fellow), the Monterey Institute of International Studies, MIPT (The National Memorial for the Prevention of Terrorism), Hebrew University and Bar Ilan University. He was also a member of the international advisory team of the Manhattan Institute to the New York Police Department.

He is a member of the International Advisory Council of the International Centre for Political Violence and Terrorism Research at the Institute of Defence and Strategic Studies, Nanyang Technological University, The Republic of Singapore. He is also a co-founder of the International Centre for the Study of Radicalisation and Political Violence, a partnership between the University of Pennsylvania, Israel’s Interdisciplinary Centre, London’s King’s College and and the Regional Center on Conflict Prevention in Jordan. Since 2014, Ron has been a member of the executive committee of the academic advisory to the Institute for the Study of Global Anti-Semitism and Policy.

He has given briefings and/or testimonies to the United Nations Counter-Terrorism Executive Directorate, the Australian Parliament, the US Congress, the US Army, the FBI, the US Department of Homeland Security, as well as numerous intelligence, security and police services throughout the world. In 2001, Ron was appointed as a member of the advisory committee of the Israel National Security Council on Counter-Terrorism, and he has previously served as a member of the Israeli delegation to the Trilateral (American-Palestinian-Israeli) Committee for Monitoring Incitement to Violence and Terror. He also advised the Israeli delegation for peace negotiations with Jordan. In 1995, he was a consultant to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on his book Fighting Terrorism – How democracies can defeat domestic and international terrorism.

Ron has published numerous articles on terrorism and counter-terrorism. His book The Counter-Terrorism Puzzle – A Guide for Decision Makers (Transaction Publishers, 2005), is used as a text book in universities worldwide and his upcoming book, Global Alert: Modern terrorism rationality and the challenge to the democratic world will be published by Columbia University Press. He is also the editor of Countering Suicide Terrorism (2001) and Post-Modern Terrorism (2006). He a frequent media and television commentator and has appeared on the BBC, CNN, CBS, ABC, and in The New York Times, the Guardian, The Wall Street Journal, the Jerusalem Post, Haaretz and many other Israeli and international publications.

Dr. Liam Fox (UK)

The Rt Hon Dr Liam Fox MP has been Member of Parliament for North Somerset since 1992.  In John Major’s Government he served as a Minister at the Foreign & Commonwealth Office and as Government Whip (Lord Commissioner of the Treasury).  He had previously served as Parliamentary Private Secretary to Michael Howard, then Home Secretary.

Between 1997 and 2010, he held several roles on the Conservative Party Opposition Front Bench such as Constitutional Affairs Spokesman, Shadow Health Secretary, Conservative Party Chairman, Shadow Foreign Secretary and Shadow Defence Secretary.

In May 2010, Prime Minister David Cameron appointed him Secretary of State for Defence.  In 2013, he published ‘Rising Tides’ a book analysing crucial world issues with Tony Blair, Condoleezza Rice, Malcolm Rifkind and Donald Rumsfeld.

Between July 2016 and July 2019, he served in Prime Minister Theresa May’s Government as Secretary of State for International Trade and President of the Board of Trade.  As International Trade Secretary he was tasked with creating the UK’s first Independent Trade Policy for forty years post-Brexit.  During his time in post he strongly argued for global trade liberalisation, championed free trade and supported a rules-based system with WTO reform.

Before entering politics, Dr Fox worked as an NHS doctor and then as a family GP.  He is also a former Civilian Army Medical Officer and Divisional Surgeon with St John Ambulance.  In 2012, he founded the military charity ‘Give Us Time’.

He was born in Scotland and attended St Bride’s High School, the biggest comprehensive state school in Europe, before studying medicine at the University of Glasgow Medical School.

Itamar Marcus (IL)

Itamar Marcus, founder and director of Palestinian Media Watch is one of the foremost authorities on Palestinian ideology and policy. Marcus has published hundreds of reports and articles on Palestinian society, education, and media exposing PA hate and terror promotion in education, sports, culture and other frameworks the PA controls. PMW’s work has changed the way the world sees the Palestinian Authority.

Marcus has made numerous presentations to legislators, governments, and other decision-makers. His book Deception, co-authored with Nan Jacques Zilberdik, was acclaimed by the founder of Human Rights Watch, Robert Bernstein, as “one of the most important books you handle in your lives.”

Marcus was appointed by the Israeli Government to represent Israel in negotiations on incitement with the Palestinian Authority (PA) in 1999. He has received awards from ZOA, Israel Media Watch, and EMET, and was recognized as being among the world’s “top 100 people positively influencing Jewish life or the State of Israel,” by The Algemeiner newspaper.

Dr. Jonathan Barnett

Coming soon.

Albert Dadon

Albert is a musician, entrepreneur, and chairman and founder of the International Institute for Strategic Leadership Dialogue.

He is the founder and executive chairman of Ubertas Group, a prominent property development company of medium and high-density projects in residential apartments and hotels.

He supports numerous philanthropic initiatives and works for the community in a range of activities covering international affairs and cultural events.

In 2008, he was awarded an Order of Australia for services to the arts, particularly through the Melbourne International Jazz Festival, to the community through philanthropic support for cultural and charitable organisations, and to business. He founded the Australia Israel Cultural Exchange in 2002, an organisation launched through a joint communiqué between the Australian and Israeli Governments (the only such joint communiqué to date). The organisation was launched simultaneously by the then respective Foreign Ministers of the two countries, Alexander Downer and Benjamin Netanyahu.

He then launched the Australia Israel UK Leadership Dialogue to promotes trilateral relations between Australia, Israel and the United Kingdom. It evolved from the first forum that took place in Israel in June, 2009, under the leadership of then Deputy Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard and five Dialogues took place. This year it is reorganised and expanded into the International Institute of Strategic Leadership Dialogue.

Mr Dadon is also an active performing jazz musician and has released a dozen albums since 1990. Last year he was awarded the Chevalier of

Nir Shaviv

profile coming soon

Ian Plimer

Professor Ian Plimer is Australia’s best-known geologist.

He is Emeritus Professor of Earth Sciences at the University of Melbourne, where he was Professor and Head of Earth Sciences (1991-2005) after serving at the University of Newcastle (1985-1991) as Professor and Head of Geology.

He was Professor of Mining Geology at The University of Adelaide (2006-2012) and in 1991 was also German Research Foundation Professor of Ore Deposits at the Ludwig Maximilians Universität, München.

He has served on the staff of the University of New England, the University of New South Wales and Macquarie University.

He has published more than 120 scientific papers on geology and was one of the trinity of editors for the five-volume Encyclopedia of Geology and is a well-known commentator in newspapers and magazines.

Plimer won the Leopold von Buch Plakette (German Geological Society), the Clarke Medal (Royal Society of NSW), the Sir Willis Connolly Medal (Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy). He is a Fellow of the Australian Academy of Technological Sciences and Engineering and an Honorary Fellow of the Geological Society of London. He has been an adviser to governments and corporations and a regular broadcaster.

He worked for North Broken Hill Ltd, has been a consultant to many major mining companies and has been a director of numerous exploration public companies listed in London, Toronto and Sydney.

A new Broken Hill mineral, plimerite, was named in recognition of his contribution to Broken Hill geology.

Peter Ridd

Peter Ridd is a geophysicist with more than 100 publications and 35 years’ experience working on the Great Barrier Reef and instrumentation development.

He worked on the physical oceanography of the reef, and also developed a wide range of world-first optical and electronic instruments for measuring environmental conditions near corals and other ecosystems.

He was head of physics at James Cook University for more than a decade before being sacked, in 2018, for questioning the quality assurance systems used by reef science institutions.

Some of the poor-quality work relates to the affect, or lack of affect, of climate change, and agriculture, on the reef.

Ridd now works, unpaid, with agricultural organisations, to improve quality assurance systems of “science” used by Australian governments to make environmental laws and regulations that seriously affect farmers.

He is also an adjunct fellow at the Institute of Public Affairs.

Benny Peiser

profile coming soon

Benny Peiser

profile coming soon

Peter Ridd

Peter Ridd is a geophysicist with more than 100 publications and 35 years’ experience working on the Great Barrier Reef and instrumentation development.

He worked on the physical oceanography of the reef, and also developed a wide range of world-first optical and electronic instruments for measuring environmental conditions near corals and other ecosystems.

He was head of physics at James Cook University for more than a decade before being sacked, in 2018, for questioning the quality assurance systems used by reef science institutions.

Some of the poor-quality work relates to the affect, or lack of affect, of climate change, and agriculture, on the reef.

Ridd now works, unpaid, with agricultural organisations, to improve quality assurance systems of “science” used by Australian governments to make environmental laws and regulations that seriously affect farmers.

He is also an adjunct fellow at the Institute of Public Affairs.

Benny Peiser

profile coming soon

Ian Plimer

Professor Ian Plimer is Australia’s best-known geologist.

He is Emeritus Professor of Earth Sciences at the University of Melbourne, where he was Professor and Head of Earth Sciences (1991-2005) after serving at the University of Newcastle (1985-1991) as Professor and Head of Geology.

He was Professor of Mining Geology at The University of Adelaide (2006-2012) and in 1991 was also German Research Foundation Professor of Ore Deposits at the Ludwig Maximilians Universität, München.

He has served on the staff of the University of New England, the University of New South Wales and Macquarie University.

He has published more than 120 scientific papers on geology and was one of the trinity of editors for the five-volume Encyclopedia of Geology and is a well-known commentator in newspapers and magazines.

Plimer won the Leopold von Buch Plakette (German Geological Society), the Clarke Medal (Royal Society of NSW), the Sir Willis Connolly Medal (Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy). He is a Fellow of the Australian Academy of Technological Sciences and Engineering and an Honorary Fellow of the Geological Society of London. He has been an adviser to governments and corporations and a regular broadcaster.

He worked for North Broken Hill Ltd, has been a consultant to many major mining companies and has been a director of numerous exploration public companies listed in London, Toronto and Sydney.

A new Broken Hill mineral, plimerite, was named in recognition of his contribution to Broken Hill geology.

Peter Ridd

Peter Ridd is a geophysicist with more than 100 publications and 35 years’ experience working on the Great Barrier Reef and instrumentation development.

He worked on the physical oceanography of the reef, and also developed a wide range of world-first optical and electronic instruments for measuring environmental conditions near corals and other ecosystems.

He was head of physics at James Cook University for more than a decade before being sacked, in 2018, for questioning the quality assurance systems used by reef science institutions.

Some of the poor-quality work relates to the affect, or lack of affect, of climate change, and agriculture, on the reef.

Ridd now works, unpaid, with agricultural organisations, to improve quality assurance systems of “science” used by Australian governments to make environmental laws and regulations that seriously affect farmers.

He is also an adjunct fellow at the Institute of Public Affairs.

Benny Peiser

profile coming soon

Nir Shaviv

profile coming soon

Ian Plimer

Professor Ian Plimer is Australia’s best-known geologist.

He is Emeritus Professor of Earth Sciences at the University of Melbourne, where he was Professor and Head of Earth Sciences (1991-2005) after serving at the University of Newcastle (1985-1991) as Professor and Head of Geology.

He was Professor of Mining Geology at The University of Adelaide (2006-2012) and in 1991 was also German Research Foundation Professor of Ore Deposits at the Ludwig Maximilians Universität, München.

He has served on the staff of the University of New England, the University of New South Wales and Macquarie University.

He has published more than 120 scientific papers on geology and was one of the trinity of editors for the five-volume Encyclopedia of Geology and is a well-known commentator in newspapers and magazines.

Plimer won the Leopold von Buch Plakette (German Geological Society), the Clarke Medal (Royal Society of NSW), the Sir Willis Connolly Medal (Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy). He is a Fellow of the Australian Academy of Technological Sciences and Engineering and an Honorary Fellow of the Geological Society of London. He has been an adviser to governments and corporations and a regular broadcaster.

He worked for North Broken Hill Ltd, has been a consultant to many major mining companies and has been a director of numerous exploration public companies listed in London, Toronto and Sydney.

A new Broken Hill mineral, plimerite, was named in recognition of his contribution to Broken Hill geology.

Peter Ridd

Peter Ridd is a geophysicist with more than 100 publications and 35 years’ experience working on the Great Barrier Reef and instrumentation development.

He worked on the physical oceanography of the reef, and also developed a wide range of world-first optical and electronic instruments for measuring environmental conditions near corals and other ecosystems.

He was head of physics at James Cook University for more than a decade before being sacked, in 2018, for questioning the quality assurance systems used by reef science institutions.

Some of the poor-quality work relates to the affect, or lack of affect, of climate change, and agriculture, on the reef.

Ridd now works, unpaid, with agricultural organisations, to improve quality assurance systems of “science” used by Australian governments to make environmental laws and regulations that seriously affect farmers.

He is also an adjunct fellow at the Institute of Public Affairs.

Benny Peiser

profile coming soon

Albert Dadon

Albert is a musician, entrepreneur, and chairman and founder of the International Institute for Strategic Leadership Dialogue.

He is the founder and executive chairman of Ubertas Group, a prominent property development company of medium and high-density projects in residential apartments and hotels.

He supports numerous philanthropic initiatives and works for the community in a range of activities covering international affairs and cultural events.

In 2008, he was awarded an Order of Australia for services to the arts, particularly through the Melbourne International Jazz Festival, to the community through philanthropic support for cultural and charitable organisations, and to business. He founded the Australia Israel Cultural Exchange in 2002, an organisation launched through a joint communiqué between the Australian and Israeli Governments (the only such joint communiqué to date). The organisation was launched simultaneously by the then respective Foreign Ministers of the two countries, Alexander Downer and Benjamin Netanyahu.

He then launched the Australia Israel UK Leadership Dialogue to promotes trilateral relations between Australia, Israel and the United Kingdom. It evolved from the first forum that took place in Israel in June, 2009, under the leadership of then Deputy Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard and five Dialogues took place. This year it is reorganised and expanded into the International Institute of Strategic Leadership Dialogue.

Mr Dadon is also an active performing jazz musician and has released a dozen albums since 1990. Last year he was awarded the Chevalier of

Nir Shaviv

profile coming soon

Ian Plimer

Professor Ian Plimer is Australia’s best-known geologist.

He is Emeritus Professor of Earth Sciences at the University of Melbourne, where he was Professor and Head of Earth Sciences (1991-2005) after serving at the University of Newcastle (1985-1991) as Professor and Head of Geology.

He was Professor of Mining Geology at The University of Adelaide (2006-2012) and in 1991 was also German Research Foundation Professor of Ore Deposits at the Ludwig Maximilians Universität, München.

He has served on the staff of the University of New England, the University of New South Wales and Macquarie University.

He has published more than 120 scientific papers on geology and was one of the trinity of editors for the five-volume Encyclopedia of Geology and is a well-known commentator in newspapers and magazines.

Plimer won the Leopold von Buch Plakette (German Geological Society), the Clarke Medal (Royal Society of NSW), the Sir Willis Connolly Medal (Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy). He is a Fellow of the Australian Academy of Technological Sciences and Engineering and an Honorary Fellow of the Geological Society of London. He has been an adviser to governments and corporations and a regular broadcaster.

He worked for North Broken Hill Ltd, has been a consultant to many major mining companies and has been a director of numerous exploration public companies listed in London, Toronto and Sydney.

A new Broken Hill mineral, plimerite, was named in recognition of his contribution to Broken Hill geology.

Peter Ridd

Peter Ridd is a geophysicist with more than 100 publications and 35 years’ experience working on the Great Barrier Reef and instrumentation development.

He worked on the physical oceanography of the reef, and also developed a wide range of world-first optical and electronic instruments for measuring environmental conditions near corals and other ecosystems.

He was head of physics at James Cook University for more than a decade before being sacked, in 2018, for questioning the quality assurance systems used by reef science institutions.

Some of the poor-quality work relates to the affect, or lack of affect, of climate change, and agriculture, on the reef.

Ridd now works, unpaid, with agricultural organisations, to improve quality assurance systems of “science” used by Australian governments to make environmental laws and regulations that seriously affect farmers.

He is also an adjunct fellow at the Institute of Public Affairs.

Benny Peiser

profile coming soon

Dr. Jonathan Barnett

Coming soon.

Albert Dadon

Albert is a musician, entrepreneur, and chairman and founder of the International Institute for Strategic Leadership Dialogue.

He is the founder and executive chairman of Ubertas Group, a prominent property development company of medium and high-density projects in residential apartments and hotels.

He supports numerous philanthropic initiatives and works for the community in a range of activities covering international affairs and cultural events.

In 2008, he was awarded an Order of Australia for services to the arts, particularly through the Melbourne International Jazz Festival, to the community through philanthropic support for cultural and charitable organisations, and to business. He founded the Australia Israel Cultural Exchange in 2002, an organisation launched through a joint communiqué between the Australian and Israeli Governments (the only such joint communiqué to date). The organisation was launched simultaneously by the then respective Foreign Ministers of the two countries, Alexander Downer and Benjamin Netanyahu.

He then launched the Australia Israel UK Leadership Dialogue to promotes trilateral relations between Australia, Israel and the United Kingdom. It evolved from the first forum that took place in Israel in June, 2009, under the leadership of then Deputy Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard and five Dialogues took place. This year it is reorganised and expanded into the International Institute of Strategic Leadership Dialogue.

Mr Dadon is also an active performing jazz musician and has released a dozen albums since 1990. Last year he was awarded the Chevalier of

Nir Shaviv

profile coming soon

Ian Plimer

Professor Ian Plimer is Australia’s best-known geologist.

He is Emeritus Professor of Earth Sciences at the University of Melbourne, where he was Professor and Head of Earth Sciences (1991-2005) after serving at the University of Newcastle (1985-1991) as Professor and Head of Geology.

He was Professor of Mining Geology at The University of Adelaide (2006-2012) and in 1991 was also German Research Foundation Professor of Ore Deposits at the Ludwig Maximilians Universität, München.

He has served on the staff of the University of New England, the University of New South Wales and Macquarie University.

He has published more than 120 scientific papers on geology and was one of the trinity of editors for the five-volume Encyclopedia of Geology and is a well-known commentator in newspapers and magazines.

Plimer won the Leopold von Buch Plakette (German Geological Society), the Clarke Medal (Royal Society of NSW), the Sir Willis Connolly Medal (Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy). He is a Fellow of the Australian Academy of Technological Sciences and Engineering and an Honorary Fellow of the Geological Society of London. He has been an adviser to governments and corporations and a regular broadcaster.

He worked for North Broken Hill Ltd, has been a consultant to many major mining companies and has been a director of numerous exploration public companies listed in London, Toronto and Sydney.

A new Broken Hill mineral, plimerite, was named in recognition of his contribution to Broken Hill geology.

Peter Ridd

Peter Ridd is a geophysicist with more than 100 publications and 35 years’ experience working on the Great Barrier Reef and instrumentation development.

He worked on the physical oceanography of the reef, and also developed a wide range of world-first optical and electronic instruments for measuring environmental conditions near corals and other ecosystems.

He was head of physics at James Cook University for more than a decade before being sacked, in 2018, for questioning the quality assurance systems used by reef science institutions.

Some of the poor-quality work relates to the affect, or lack of affect, of climate change, and agriculture, on the reef.

Ridd now works, unpaid, with agricultural organisations, to improve quality assurance systems of “science” used by Australian governments to make environmental laws and regulations that seriously affect farmers.

He is also an adjunct fellow at the Institute of Public Affairs.

Benny Peiser

profile coming soon

Itamar Marcus (IL)

Itamar Marcus, founder and director of Palestinian Media Watch is one of the foremost authorities on Palestinian ideology and policy. Marcus has published hundreds of reports and articles on Palestinian society, education, and media exposing PA hate and terror promotion in education, sports, culture and other frameworks the PA controls. PMW’s work has changed the way the world sees the Palestinian Authority.

Marcus has made numerous presentations to legislators, governments, and other decision-makers. His book Deception, co-authored with Nan Jacques Zilberdik, was acclaimed by the founder of Human Rights Watch, Robert Bernstein, as “one of the most important books you handle in your lives.”

Marcus was appointed by the Israeli Government to represent Israel in negotiations on incitement with the Palestinian Authority (PA) in 1999. He has received awards from ZOA, Israel Media Watch, and EMET, and was recognized as being among the world’s “top 100 people positively influencing Jewish life or the State of Israel,” by The Algemeiner newspaper.

Dr. Jonathan Barnett

Coming soon.

Albert Dadon

Albert is a musician, entrepreneur, and chairman and founder of the International Institute for Strategic Leadership Dialogue.

He is the founder and executive chairman of Ubertas Group, a prominent property development company of medium and high-density projects in residential apartments and hotels.

He supports numerous philanthropic initiatives and works for the community in a range of activities covering international affairs and cultural events.

In 2008, he was awarded an Order of Australia for services to the arts, particularly through the Melbourne International Jazz Festival, to the community through philanthropic support for cultural and charitable organisations, and to business. He founded the Australia Israel Cultural Exchange in 2002, an organisation launched through a joint communiqué between the Australian and Israeli Governments (the only such joint communiqué to date). The organisation was launched simultaneously by the then respective Foreign Ministers of the two countries, Alexander Downer and Benjamin Netanyahu.

He then launched the Australia Israel UK Leadership Dialogue to promotes trilateral relations between Australia, Israel and the United Kingdom. It evolved from the first forum that took place in Israel in June, 2009, under the leadership of then Deputy Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard and five Dialogues took place. This year it is reorganised and expanded into the International Institute of Strategic Leadership Dialogue.

Mr Dadon is also an active performing jazz musician and has released a dozen albums since 1990. Last year he was awarded the Chevalier of

Nir Shaviv

profile coming soon

Ian Plimer

Professor Ian Plimer is Australia’s best-known geologist.

He is Emeritus Professor of Earth Sciences at the University of Melbourne, where he was Professor and Head of Earth Sciences (1991-2005) after serving at the University of Newcastle (1985-1991) as Professor and Head of Geology.

He was Professor of Mining Geology at The University of Adelaide (2006-2012) and in 1991 was also German Research Foundation Professor of Ore Deposits at the Ludwig Maximilians Universität, München.

He has served on the staff of the University of New England, the University of New South Wales and Macquarie University.

He has published more than 120 scientific papers on geology and was one of the trinity of editors for the five-volume Encyclopedia of Geology and is a well-known commentator in newspapers and magazines.

Plimer won the Leopold von Buch Plakette (German Geological Society), the Clarke Medal (Royal Society of NSW), the Sir Willis Connolly Medal (Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy). He is a Fellow of the Australian Academy of Technological Sciences and Engineering and an Honorary Fellow of the Geological Society of London. He has been an adviser to governments and corporations and a regular broadcaster.

He worked for North Broken Hill Ltd, has been a consultant to many major mining companies and has been a director of numerous exploration public companies listed in London, Toronto and Sydney.

A new Broken Hill mineral, plimerite, was named in recognition of his contribution to Broken Hill geology.

Peter Ridd

Peter Ridd is a geophysicist with more than 100 publications and 35 years’ experience working on the Great Barrier Reef and instrumentation development.

He worked on the physical oceanography of the reef, and also developed a wide range of world-first optical and electronic instruments for measuring environmental conditions near corals and other ecosystems.

He was head of physics at James Cook University for more than a decade before being sacked, in 2018, for questioning the quality assurance systems used by reef science institutions.

Some of the poor-quality work relates to the affect, or lack of affect, of climate change, and agriculture, on the reef.

Ridd now works, unpaid, with agricultural organisations, to improve quality assurance systems of “science” used by Australian governments to make environmental laws and regulations that seriously affect farmers.

He is also an adjunct fellow at the Institute of Public Affairs.

Benny Peiser

profile coming soon

Dr. Liam Fox (UK)

The Rt Hon Dr Liam Fox MP has been Member of Parliament for North Somerset since 1992.  In John Major’s Government he served as a Minister at the Foreign & Commonwealth Office and as Government Whip (Lord Commissioner of the Treasury).  He had previously served as Parliamentary Private Secretary to Michael Howard, then Home Secretary.

Between 1997 and 2010, he held several roles on the Conservative Party Opposition Front Bench such as Constitutional Affairs Spokesman, Shadow Health Secretary, Conservative Party Chairman, Shadow Foreign Secretary and Shadow Defence Secretary.

In May 2010, Prime Minister David Cameron appointed him Secretary of State for Defence.  In 2013, he published ‘Rising Tides’ a book analysing crucial world issues with Tony Blair, Condoleezza Rice, Malcolm Rifkind and Donald Rumsfeld.

Between July 2016 and July 2019, he served in Prime Minister Theresa May’s Government as Secretary of State for International Trade and President of the Board of Trade.  As International Trade Secretary he was tasked with creating the UK’s first Independent Trade Policy for forty years post-Brexit.  During his time in post he strongly argued for global trade liberalisation, championed free trade and supported a rules-based system with WTO reform.

Before entering politics, Dr Fox worked as an NHS doctor and then as a family GP.  He is also a former Civilian Army Medical Officer and Divisional Surgeon with St John Ambulance.  In 2012, he founded the military charity ‘Give Us Time’.

He was born in Scotland and attended St Bride’s High School, the biggest comprehensive state school in Europe, before studying medicine at the University of Glasgow Medical School.

Itamar Marcus (IL)

Itamar Marcus, founder and director of Palestinian Media Watch is one of the foremost authorities on Palestinian ideology and policy. Marcus has published hundreds of reports and articles on Palestinian society, education, and media exposing PA hate and terror promotion in education, sports, culture and other frameworks the PA controls. PMW’s work has changed the way the world sees the Palestinian Authority.

Marcus has made numerous presentations to legislators, governments, and other decision-makers. His book Deception, co-authored with Nan Jacques Zilberdik, was acclaimed by the founder of Human Rights Watch, Robert Bernstein, as “one of the most important books you handle in your lives.”

Marcus was appointed by the Israeli Government to represent Israel in negotiations on incitement with the Palestinian Authority (PA) in 1999. He has received awards from ZOA, Israel Media Watch, and EMET, and was recognized as being among the world’s “top 100 people positively influencing Jewish life or the State of Israel,” by The Algemeiner newspaper.

Dr. Jonathan Barnett

Coming soon.

Albert Dadon

Albert is a musician, entrepreneur, and chairman and founder of the International Institute for Strategic Leadership Dialogue.

He is the founder and executive chairman of Ubertas Group, a prominent property development company of medium and high-density projects in residential apartments and hotels.

He supports numerous philanthropic initiatives and works for the community in a range of activities covering international affairs and cultural events.

In 2008, he was awarded an Order of Australia for services to the arts, particularly through the Melbourne International Jazz Festival, to the community through philanthropic support for cultural and charitable organisations, and to business. He founded the Australia Israel Cultural Exchange in 2002, an organisation launched through a joint communiqué between the Australian and Israeli Governments (the only such joint communiqué to date). The organisation was launched simultaneously by the then respective Foreign Ministers of the two countries, Alexander Downer and Benjamin Netanyahu.

He then launched the Australia Israel UK Leadership Dialogue to promotes trilateral relations between Australia, Israel and the United Kingdom. It evolved from the first forum that took place in Israel in June, 2009, under the leadership of then Deputy Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard and five Dialogues took place. This year it is reorganised and expanded into the International Institute of Strategic Leadership Dialogue.

Mr Dadon is also an active performing jazz musician and has released a dozen albums since 1990. Last year he was awarded the Chevalier of

Nir Shaviv

profile coming soon

Ian Plimer

Professor Ian Plimer is Australia’s best-known geologist.

He is Emeritus Professor of Earth Sciences at the University of Melbourne, where he was Professor and Head of Earth Sciences (1991-2005) after serving at the University of Newcastle (1985-1991) as Professor and Head of Geology.

He was Professor of Mining Geology at The University of Adelaide (2006-2012) and in 1991 was also German Research Foundation Professor of Ore Deposits at the Ludwig Maximilians Universität, München.

He has served on the staff of the University of New England, the University of New South Wales and Macquarie University.

He has published more than 120 scientific papers on geology and was one of the trinity of editors for the five-volume Encyclopedia of Geology and is a well-known commentator in newspapers and magazines.

Plimer won the Leopold von Buch Plakette (German Geological Society), the Clarke Medal (Royal Society of NSW), the Sir Willis Connolly Medal (Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy). He is a Fellow of the Australian Academy of Technological Sciences and Engineering and an Honorary Fellow of the Geological Society of London. He has been an adviser to governments and corporations and a regular broadcaster.

He worked for North Broken Hill Ltd, has been a consultant to many major mining companies and has been a director of numerous exploration public companies listed in London, Toronto and Sydney.

A new Broken Hill mineral, plimerite, was named in recognition of his contribution to Broken Hill geology.

Peter Ridd

Peter Ridd is a geophysicist with more than 100 publications and 35 years’ experience working on the Great Barrier Reef and instrumentation development.

He worked on the physical oceanography of the reef, and also developed a wide range of world-first optical and electronic instruments for measuring environmental conditions near corals and other ecosystems.

He was head of physics at James Cook University for more than a decade before being sacked, in 2018, for questioning the quality assurance systems used by reef science institutions.

Some of the poor-quality work relates to the affect, or lack of affect, of climate change, and agriculture, on the reef.

Ridd now works, unpaid, with agricultural organisations, to improve quality assurance systems of “science” used by Australian governments to make environmental laws and regulations that seriously affect farmers.

He is also an adjunct fellow at the Institute of Public Affairs.

Benny Peiser

profile coming soon

Boaz Ganor (IL)

Founder and executive director, International Institute for Counter-Terrorism

Professor Boaz Ganor is Ronald Lauder Chair for Counter-Terrorism and dean of the Lauder School of Government, Diplomacy and Strategy, Interdisciplinary Center, Herzliya, Israel. He serves as the founding president of the International Academic Counter-Terrorism Community, an international association of academic institutions, experts, and researchers in fields related to the study of terrorism and counter- terrorism. Boaz previously held positions at Stanford University, UC Berkeley, the Hoover Institution (Koret Distinguished Visiting Fellow), the Monterey Institute of International Studies, MIPT (The National Memorial for the Prevention of Terrorism), Hebrew University and Bar Ilan University. He was also a member of the international advisory team of the Manhattan Institute to the New York Police Department.

He is a member of the International Advisory Council of the International Centre for Political Violence and Terrorism Research at the Institute of Defence and Strategic Studies, Nanyang Technological University, The Republic of Singapore. He is also a co-founder of the International Centre for the Study of Radicalisation and Political Violence, a partnership between the University of Pennsylvania, Israel’s Interdisciplinary Centre, London’s King’s College and and the Regional Center on Conflict Prevention in Jordan. Since 2014, Ron has been a member of the executive committee of the academic advisory to the Institute for the Study of Global Anti-Semitism and Policy.

He has given briefings and/or testimonies to the United Nations Counter-Terrorism Executive Directorate, the Australian Parliament, the US Congress, the US Army, the FBI, the US Department of Homeland Security, as well as numerous intelligence, security and police services throughout the world. In 2001, Ron was appointed as a member of the advisory committee of the Israel National Security Council on Counter-Terrorism, and he has previously served as a member of the Israeli delegation to the Trilateral (American-Palestinian-Israeli) Committee for Monitoring Incitement to Violence and Terror. He also advised the Israeli delegation for peace negotiations with Jordan. In 1995, he was a consultant to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on his book Fighting Terrorism – How democracies can defeat domestic and international terrorism.

Ron has published numerous articles on terrorism and counter-terrorism. His book The Counter-Terrorism Puzzle – A Guide for Decision Makers (Transaction Publishers, 2005), is used as a text book in universities worldwide and his upcoming book, Global Alert: Modern terrorism rationality and the challenge to the democratic world will be published by Columbia University Press. He is also the editor of Countering Suicide Terrorism (2001) and Post-Modern Terrorism (2006). He a frequent media and television commentator and has appeared on the BBC, CNN, CBS, ABC, and in The New York Times, the Guardian, The Wall Street Journal, the Jerusalem Post, Haaretz and many other Israeli and international publications.

Dr. Liam Fox (UK)

The Rt Hon Dr Liam Fox MP has been Member of Parliament for North Somerset since 1992.  In John Major’s Government he served as a Minister at the Foreign & Commonwealth Office and as Government Whip (Lord Commissioner of the Treasury).  He had previously served as Parliamentary Private Secretary to Michael Howard, then Home Secretary.

Between 1997 and 2010, he held several roles on the Conservative Party Opposition Front Bench such as Constitutional Affairs Spokesman, Shadow Health Secretary, Conservative Party Chairman, Shadow Foreign Secretary and Shadow Defence Secretary.

In May 2010, Prime Minister David Cameron appointed him Secretary of State for Defence.  In 2013, he published ‘Rising Tides’ a book analysing crucial world issues with Tony Blair, Condoleezza Rice, Malcolm Rifkind and Donald Rumsfeld.

Between July 2016 and July 2019, he served in Prime Minister Theresa May’s Government as Secretary of State for International Trade and President of the Board of Trade.  As International Trade Secretary he was tasked with creating the UK’s first Independent Trade Policy for forty years post-Brexit.  During his time in post he strongly argued for global trade liberalisation, championed free trade and supported a rules-based system with WTO reform.

Before entering politics, Dr Fox worked as an NHS doctor and then as a family GP.  He is also a former Civilian Army Medical Officer and Divisional Surgeon with St John Ambulance.  In 2012, he founded the military charity ‘Give Us Time’.

He was born in Scotland and attended St Bride’s High School, the biggest comprehensive state school in Europe, before studying medicine at the University of Glasgow Medical School.

Itamar Marcus (IL)

Itamar Marcus, founder and director of Palestinian Media Watch is one of the foremost authorities on Palestinian ideology and policy. Marcus has published hundreds of reports and articles on Palestinian society, education, and media exposing PA hate and terror promotion in education, sports, culture and other frameworks the PA controls. PMW’s work has changed the way the world sees the Palestinian Authority.

Marcus has made numerous presentations to legislators, governments, and other decision-makers. His book Deception, co-authored with Nan Jacques Zilberdik, was acclaimed by the founder of Human Rights Watch, Robert Bernstein, as “one of the most important books you handle in your lives.”

Marcus was appointed by the Israeli Government to represent Israel in negotiations on incitement with the Palestinian Authority (PA) in 1999. He has received awards from ZOA, Israel Media Watch, and EMET, and was recognized as being among the world’s “top 100 people positively influencing Jewish life or the State of Israel,” by The Algemeiner newspaper.

Dr. Jonathan Barnett

Coming soon.

Albert Dadon

Albert is a musician, entrepreneur, and chairman and founder of the International Institute for Strategic Leadership Dialogue.

He is the founder and executive chairman of Ubertas Group, a prominent property development company of medium and high-density projects in residential apartments and hotels.

He supports numerous philanthropic initiatives and works for the community in a range of activities covering international affairs and cultural events.

In 2008, he was awarded an Order of Australia for services to the arts, particularly through the Melbourne International Jazz Festival, to the community through philanthropic support for cultural and charitable organisations, and to business. He founded the Australia Israel Cultural Exchange in 2002, an organisation launched through a joint communiqué between the Australian and Israeli Governments (the only such joint communiqué to date). The organisation was launched simultaneously by the then respective Foreign Ministers of the two countries, Alexander Downer and Benjamin Netanyahu.

He then launched the Australia Israel UK Leadership Dialogue to promotes trilateral relations between Australia, Israel and the United Kingdom. It evolved from the first forum that took place in Israel in June, 2009, under the leadership of then Deputy Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard and five Dialogues took place. This year it is reorganised and expanded into the International Institute of Strategic Leadership Dialogue.

Mr Dadon is also an active performing jazz musician and has released a dozen albums since 1990. Last year he was awarded the Chevalier of

Nir Shaviv

profile coming soon

Ian Plimer

Professor Ian Plimer is Australia’s best-known geologist.

He is Emeritus Professor of Earth Sciences at the University of Melbourne, where he was Professor and Head of Earth Sciences (1991-2005) after serving at the University of Newcastle (1985-1991) as Professor and Head of Geology.

He was Professor of Mining Geology at The University of Adelaide (2006-2012) and in 1991 was also German Research Foundation Professor of Ore Deposits at the Ludwig Maximilians Universität, München.

He has served on the staff of the University of New England, the University of New South Wales and Macquarie University.

He has published more than 120 scientific papers on geology and was one of the trinity of editors for the five-volume Encyclopedia of Geology and is a well-known commentator in newspapers and magazines.

Plimer won the Leopold von Buch Plakette (German Geological Society), the Clarke Medal (Royal Society of NSW), the Sir Willis Connolly Medal (Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy). He is a Fellow of the Australian Academy of Technological Sciences and Engineering and an Honorary Fellow of the Geological Society of London. He has been an adviser to governments and corporations and a regular broadcaster.

He worked for North Broken Hill Ltd, has been a consultant to many major mining companies and has been a director of numerous exploration public companies listed in London, Toronto and Sydney.

A new Broken Hill mineral, plimerite, was named in recognition of his contribution to Broken Hill geology.

Peter Ridd

Peter Ridd is a geophysicist with more than 100 publications and 35 years’ experience working on the Great Barrier Reef and instrumentation development.

He worked on the physical oceanography of the reef, and also developed a wide range of world-first optical and electronic instruments for measuring environmental conditions near corals and other ecosystems.

He was head of physics at James Cook University for more than a decade before being sacked, in 2018, for questioning the quality assurance systems used by reef science institutions.

Some of the poor-quality work relates to the affect, or lack of affect, of climate change, and agriculture, on the reef.

Ridd now works, unpaid, with agricultural organisations, to improve quality assurance systems of “science” used by Australian governments to make environmental laws and regulations that seriously affect farmers.

He is also an adjunct fellow at the Institute of Public Affairs.

Benny Peiser

profile coming soon

Mark Regev (IL)

Mark Regev is senior adviser on foreign affairs and international communications to the Israeli Prime Minister and a weekly columnist in the Jerusalem Post.

He was international spokesperson for the Prime Minister’s Office from 2007 to 2015.

He served as Ambassador of Israel to the United Kingdom from 2016 to 2020.

He received his bachelor’s degree in political science and history at Melbourne University, and master’s degrees in political science from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, and in management from Boston University. Regev began his career as a lecturer on international relations and strategy at the Israel Defence Forces’ Staff College.

He joined Israel’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs in 1990, serving as deputy chief of mission at the Consulate General in Hong Kong, and spokesman at the Israeli Embassy in Beijing. He also served as spokesman at the Embassy in Washington. Regev was the spokesman for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Jerusalem from 2004 to 2007.

Boaz Ganor (IL)

Founder and executive director, International Institute for Counter-Terrorism

Professor Boaz Ganor is Ronald Lauder Chair for Counter-Terrorism and dean of the Lauder School of Government, Diplomacy and Strategy, Interdisciplinary Center, Herzliya, Israel. He serves as the founding president of the International Academic Counter-Terrorism Community, an international association of academic institutions, experts, and researchers in fields related to the study of terrorism and counter- terrorism. Boaz previously held positions at Stanford University, UC Berkeley, the Hoover Institution (Koret Distinguished Visiting Fellow), the Monterey Institute of International Studies, MIPT (The National Memorial for the Prevention of Terrorism), Hebrew University and Bar Ilan University. He was also a member of the international advisory team of the Manhattan Institute to the New York Police Department.

He is a member of the International Advisory Council of the International Centre for Political Violence and Terrorism Research at the Institute of Defence and Strategic Studies, Nanyang Technological University, The Republic of Singapore. He is also a co-founder of the International Centre for the Study of Radicalisation and Political Violence, a partnership between the University of Pennsylvania, Israel’s Interdisciplinary Centre, London’s King’s College and and the Regional Center on Conflict Prevention in Jordan. Since 2014, Ron has been a member of the executive committee of the academic advisory to the Institute for the Study of Global Anti-Semitism and Policy.

He has given briefings and/or testimonies to the United Nations Counter-Terrorism Executive Directorate, the Australian Parliament, the US Congress, the US Army, the FBI, the US Department of Homeland Security, as well as numerous intelligence, security and police services throughout the world. In 2001, Ron was appointed as a member of the advisory committee of the Israel National Security Council on Counter-Terrorism, and he has previously served as a member of the Israeli delegation to the Trilateral (American-Palestinian-Israeli) Committee for Monitoring Incitement to Violence and Terror. He also advised the Israeli delegation for peace negotiations with Jordan. In 1995, he was a consultant to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on his book Fighting Terrorism – How democracies can defeat domestic and international terrorism.

Ron has published numerous articles on terrorism and counter-terrorism. His book The Counter-Terrorism Puzzle – A Guide for Decision Makers (Transaction Publishers, 2005), is used as a text book in universities worldwide and his upcoming book, Global Alert: Modern terrorism rationality and the challenge to the democratic world will be published by Columbia University Press. He is also the editor of Countering Suicide Terrorism (2001) and Post-Modern Terrorism (2006). He a frequent media and television commentator and has appeared on the BBC, CNN, CBS, ABC, and in The New York Times, the Guardian, The Wall Street Journal, the Jerusalem Post, Haaretz and many other Israeli and international publications.

Dr. Liam Fox (UK)

The Rt Hon Dr Liam Fox MP has been Member of Parliament for North Somerset since 1992.  In John Major’s Government he served as a Minister at the Foreign & Commonwealth Office and as Government Whip (Lord Commissioner of the Treasury).  He had previously served as Parliamentary Private Secretary to Michael Howard, then Home Secretary.

Between 1997 and 2010, he held several roles on the Conservative Party Opposition Front Bench such as Constitutional Affairs Spokesman, Shadow Health Secretary, Conservative Party Chairman, Shadow Foreign Secretary and Shadow Defence Secretary.

In May 2010, Prime Minister David Cameron appointed him Secretary of State for Defence.  In 2013, he published ‘Rising Tides’ a book analysing crucial world issues with Tony Blair, Condoleezza Rice, Malcolm Rifkind and Donald Rumsfeld.

Between July 2016 and July 2019, he served in Prime Minister Theresa May’s Government as Secretary of State for International Trade and President of the Board of Trade.  As International Trade Secretary he was tasked with creating the UK’s first Independent Trade Policy for forty years post-Brexit.  During his time in post he strongly argued for global trade liberalisation, championed free trade and supported a rules-based system with WTO reform.

Before entering politics, Dr Fox worked as an NHS doctor and then as a family GP.  He is also a former Civilian Army Medical Officer and Divisional Surgeon with St John Ambulance.  In 2012, he founded the military charity ‘Give Us Time’.

He was born in Scotland and attended St Bride’s High School, the biggest comprehensive state school in Europe, before studying medicine at the University of Glasgow Medical School.

Itamar Marcus (IL)

Itamar Marcus, founder and director of Palestinian Media Watch is one of the foremost authorities on Palestinian ideology and policy. Marcus has published hundreds of reports and articles on Palestinian society, education, and media exposing PA hate and terror promotion in education, sports, culture and other frameworks the PA controls. PMW’s work has changed the way the world sees the Palestinian Authority.

Marcus has made numerous presentations to legislators, governments, and other decision-makers. His book Deception, co-authored with Nan Jacques Zilberdik, was acclaimed by the founder of Human Rights Watch, Robert Bernstein, as “one of the most important books you handle in your lives.”

Marcus was appointed by the Israeli Government to represent Israel in negotiations on incitement with the Palestinian Authority (PA) in 1999. He has received awards from ZOA, Israel Media Watch, and EMET, and was recognized as being among the world’s “top 100 people positively influencing Jewish life or the State of Israel,” by The Algemeiner newspaper.

Dr. Jonathan Barnett

Coming soon.

Albert Dadon

Albert is a musician, entrepreneur, and chairman and founder of the International Institute for Strategic Leadership Dialogue.

He is the founder and executive chairman of Ubertas Group, a prominent property development company of medium and high-density projects in residential apartments and hotels.

He supports numerous philanthropic initiatives and works for the community in a range of activities covering international affairs and cultural events.

In 2008, he was awarded an Order of Australia for services to the arts, particularly through the Melbourne International Jazz Festival, to the community through philanthropic support for cultural and charitable organisations, and to business. He founded the Australia Israel Cultural Exchange in 2002, an organisation launched through a joint communiqué between the Australian and Israeli Governments (the only such joint communiqué to date). The organisation was launched simultaneously by the then respective Foreign Ministers of the two countries, Alexander Downer and Benjamin Netanyahu.

He then launched the Australia Israel UK Leadership Dialogue to promotes trilateral relations between Australia, Israel and the United Kingdom. It evolved from the first forum that took place in Israel in June, 2009, under the leadership of then Deputy Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard and five Dialogues took place. This year it is reorganised and expanded into the International Institute of Strategic Leadership Dialogue.

Mr Dadon is also an active performing jazz musician and has released a dozen albums since 1990. Last year he was awarded the Chevalier of

Nir Shaviv

profile coming soon

Ian Plimer

Professor Ian Plimer is Australia’s best-known geologist.

He is Emeritus Professor of Earth Sciences at the University of Melbourne, where he was Professor and Head of Earth Sciences (1991-2005) after serving at the University of Newcastle (1985-1991) as Professor and Head of Geology.

He was Professor of Mining Geology at The University of Adelaide (2006-2012) and in 1991 was also German Research Foundation Professor of Ore Deposits at the Ludwig Maximilians Universität, München.

He has served on the staff of the University of New England, the University of New South Wales and Macquarie University.

He has published more than 120 scientific papers on geology and was one of the trinity of editors for the five-volume Encyclopedia of Geology and is a well-known commentator in newspapers and magazines.

Plimer won the Leopold von Buch Plakette (German Geological Society), the Clarke Medal (Royal Society of NSW), the Sir Willis Connolly Medal (Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy). He is a Fellow of the Australian Academy of Technological Sciences and Engineering and an Honorary Fellow of the Geological Society of London. He has been an adviser to governments and corporations and a regular broadcaster.

He worked for North Broken Hill Ltd, has been a consultant to many major mining companies and has been a director of numerous exploration public companies listed in London, Toronto and Sydney.

A new Broken Hill mineral, plimerite, was named in recognition of his contribution to Broken Hill geology.

Peter Ridd

Peter Ridd is a geophysicist with more than 100 publications and 35 years’ experience working on the Great Barrier Reef and instrumentation development.

He worked on the physical oceanography of the reef, and also developed a wide range of world-first optical and electronic instruments for measuring environmental conditions near corals and other ecosystems.

He was head of physics at James Cook University for more than a decade before being sacked, in 2018, for questioning the quality assurance systems used by reef science institutions.

Some of the poor-quality work relates to the affect, or lack of affect, of climate change, and agriculture, on the reef.

Ridd now works, unpaid, with agricultural organisations, to improve quality assurance systems of “science” used by Australian governments to make environmental laws and regulations that seriously affect farmers.

He is also an adjunct fellow at the Institute of Public Affairs.

Benny Peiser

profile coming soon

Lord Stuart Polak (UK)

CFI Honorary President

Lord Polak was elevated to the House of Lords in October 2015. He has sat on the EU Security and Justice Sub-Committee since May 2016, and sat on the European Union Committee from October 2018 until July 2019.

Lord Polak was appointed as only the second Director of Conservative Friends of Israel in 1989, a position which he held until 2015 when he was made Honorary President.

In March 2015, he was awarded the CBE for political services to Conservative Friends of Israel.

Born in Liverpool in 1961 where he grew up and was educated, Lord Polak began his career working for the Board of Deputies of British Jews in 1984 as Education Director.

He has coordinated and led more than 150 Conservative Friends of Israel delegations of politicians to Israel over 28 years and through this he has developed extensive relationships with MPs, Peers, MEPs and advisors throughout all levels of the Conservative Party.

Mark Regev (IL)

Mark Regev is senior adviser on foreign affairs and international communications to the Israeli Prime Minister and a weekly columnist in the Jerusalem Post.

He was international spokesperson for the Prime Minister’s Office from 2007 to 2015.

He served as Ambassador of Israel to the United Kingdom from 2016 to 2020.

He received his bachelor’s degree in political science and history at Melbourne University, and master’s degrees in political science from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, and in management from Boston University. Regev began his career as a lecturer on international relations and strategy at the Israel Defence Forces’ Staff College.

He joined Israel’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs in 1990, serving as deputy chief of mission at the Consulate General in Hong Kong, and spokesman at the Israeli Embassy in Beijing. He also served as spokesman at the Embassy in Washington. Regev was the spokesman for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Jerusalem from 2004 to 2007.

Boaz Ganor (IL)

Founder and executive director, International Institute for Counter-Terrorism

Professor Boaz Ganor is Ronald Lauder Chair for Counter-Terrorism and dean of the Lauder School of Government, Diplomacy and Strategy, Interdisciplinary Center, Herzliya, Israel. He serves as the founding president of the International Academic Counter-Terrorism Community, an international association of academic institutions, experts, and researchers in fields related to the study of terrorism and counter- terrorism. Boaz previously held positions at Stanford University, UC Berkeley, the Hoover Institution (Koret Distinguished Visiting Fellow), the Monterey Institute of International Studies, MIPT (The National Memorial for the Prevention of Terrorism), Hebrew University and Bar Ilan University. He was also a member of the international advisory team of the Manhattan Institute to the New York Police Department.

He is a member of the International Advisory Council of the International Centre for Political Violence and Terrorism Research at the Institute of Defence and Strategic Studies, Nanyang Technological University, The Republic of Singapore. He is also a co-founder of the International Centre for the Study of Radicalisation and Political Violence, a partnership between the University of Pennsylvania, Israel’s Interdisciplinary Centre, London’s King’s College and and the Regional Center on Conflict Prevention in Jordan. Since 2014, Ron has been a member of the executive committee of the academic advisory to the Institute for the Study of Global Anti-Semitism and Policy.

He has given briefings and/or testimonies to the United Nations Counter-Terrorism Executive Directorate, the Australian Parliament, the US Congress, the US Army, the FBI, the US Department of Homeland Security, as well as numerous intelligence, security and police services throughout the world. In 2001, Ron was appointed as a member of the advisory committee of the Israel National Security Council on Counter-Terrorism, and he has previously served as a member of the Israeli delegation to the Trilateral (American-Palestinian-Israeli) Committee for Monitoring Incitement to Violence and Terror. He also advised the Israeli delegation for peace negotiations with Jordan. In 1995, he was a consultant to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on his book Fighting Terrorism – How democracies can defeat domestic and international terrorism.

Ron has published numerous articles on terrorism and counter-terrorism. His book The Counter-Terrorism Puzzle – A Guide for Decision Makers (Transaction Publishers, 2005), is used as a text book in universities worldwide and his upcoming book, Global Alert: Modern terrorism rationality and the challenge to the democratic world will be published by Columbia University Press. He is also the editor of Countering Suicide Terrorism (2001) and Post-Modern Terrorism (2006). He a frequent media and television commentator and has appeared on the BBC, CNN, CBS, ABC, and in The New York Times, the Guardian, The Wall Street Journal, the Jerusalem Post, Haaretz and many other Israeli and international publications.

Dr. Liam Fox (UK)

The Rt Hon Dr Liam Fox MP has been Member of Parliament for North Somerset since 1992.  In John Major’s Government he served as a Minister at the Foreign & Commonwealth Office and as Government Whip (Lord Commissioner of the Treasury).  He had previously served as Parliamentary Private Secretary to Michael Howard, then Home Secretary.

Between 1997 and 2010, he held several roles on the Conservative Party Opposition Front Bench such as Constitutional Affairs Spokesman, Shadow Health Secretary, Conservative Party Chairman, Shadow Foreign Secretary and Shadow Defence Secretary.

In May 2010, Prime Minister David Cameron appointed him Secretary of State for Defence.  In 2013, he published ‘Rising Tides’ a book analysing crucial world issues with Tony Blair, Condoleezza Rice, Malcolm Rifkind and Donald Rumsfeld.

Between July 2016 and July 2019, he served in Prime Minister Theresa May’s Government as Secretary of State for International Trade and President of the Board of Trade.  As International Trade Secretary he was tasked with creating the UK’s first Independent Trade Policy for forty years post-Brexit.  During his time in post he strongly argued for global trade liberalisation, championed free trade and supported a rules-based system with WTO reform.

Before entering politics, Dr Fox worked as an NHS doctor and then as a family GP.  He is also a former Civilian Army Medical Officer and Divisional Surgeon with St John Ambulance.  In 2012, he founded the military charity ‘Give Us Time’.

He was born in Scotland and attended St Bride’s High School, the biggest comprehensive state school in Europe, before studying medicine at the University of Glasgow Medical School.

Itamar Marcus (IL)

Itamar Marcus, founder and director of Palestinian Media Watch is one of the foremost authorities on Palestinian ideology and policy. Marcus has published hundreds of reports and articles on Palestinian society, education, and media exposing PA hate and terror promotion in education, sports, culture and other frameworks the PA controls. PMW’s work has changed the way the world sees the Palestinian Authority.

Marcus has made numerous presentations to legislators, governments, and other decision-makers. His book Deception, co-authored with Nan Jacques Zilberdik, was acclaimed by the founder of Human Rights Watch, Robert Bernstein, as “one of the most important books you handle in your lives.”

Marcus was appointed by the Israeli Government to represent Israel in negotiations on incitement with the Palestinian Authority (PA) in 1999. He has received awards from ZOA, Israel Media Watch, and EMET, and was recognized as being among the world’s “top 100 people positively influencing Jewish life or the State of Israel,” by The Algemeiner newspaper.

Dr. Jonathan Barnett

Coming soon.

Albert Dadon

Albert is a musician, entrepreneur, and chairman and founder of the International Institute for Strategic Leadership Dialogue.

He is the founder and executive chairman of Ubertas Group, a prominent property development company of medium and high-density projects in residential apartments and hotels.

He supports numerous philanthropic initiatives and works for the community in a range of activities covering international affairs and cultural events.

In 2008, he was awarded an Order of Australia for services to the arts, particularly through the Melbourne International Jazz Festival, to the community through philanthropic support for cultural and charitable organisations, and to business. He founded the Australia Israel Cultural Exchange in 2002, an organisation launched through a joint communiqué between the Australian and Israeli Governments (the only such joint communiqué to date). The organisation was launched simultaneously by the then respective Foreign Ministers of the two countries, Alexander Downer and Benjamin Netanyahu.

He then launched the Australia Israel UK Leadership Dialogue to promotes trilateral relations between Australia, Israel and the United Kingdom. It evolved from the first forum that took place in Israel in June, 2009, under the leadership of then Deputy Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard and five Dialogues took place. This year it is reorganised and expanded into the International Institute of Strategic Leadership Dialogue.

Mr Dadon is also an active performing jazz musician and has released a dozen albums since 1990. Last year he was awarded the Chevalier of

Nir Shaviv

profile coming soon

Ian Plimer

Professor Ian Plimer is Australia’s best-known geologist.

He is Emeritus Professor of Earth Sciences at the University of Melbourne, where he was Professor and Head of Earth Sciences (1991-2005) after serving at the University of Newcastle (1985-1991) as Professor and Head of Geology.

He was Professor of Mining Geology at The University of Adelaide (2006-2012) and in 1991 was also German Research Foundation Professor of Ore Deposits at the Ludwig Maximilians Universität, München.

He has served on the staff of the University of New England, the University of New South Wales and Macquarie University.

He has published more than 120 scientific papers on geology and was one of the trinity of editors for the five-volume Encyclopedia of Geology and is a well-known commentator in newspapers and magazines.

Plimer won the Leopold von Buch Plakette (German Geological Society), the Clarke Medal (Royal Society of NSW), the Sir Willis Connolly Medal (Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy). He is a Fellow of the Australian Academy of Technological Sciences and Engineering and an Honorary Fellow of the Geological Society of London. He has been an adviser to governments and corporations and a regular broadcaster.

He worked for North Broken Hill Ltd, has been a consultant to many major mining companies and has been a director of numerous exploration public companies listed in London, Toronto and Sydney.

A new Broken Hill mineral, plimerite, was named in recognition of his contribution to Broken Hill geology.

Peter Ridd

Peter Ridd is a geophysicist with more than 100 publications and 35 years’ experience working on the Great Barrier Reef and instrumentation development.

He worked on the physical oceanography of the reef, and also developed a wide range of world-first optical and electronic instruments for measuring environmental conditions near corals and other ecosystems.

He was head of physics at James Cook University for more than a decade before being sacked, in 2018, for questioning the quality assurance systems used by reef science institutions.

Some of the poor-quality work relates to the affect, or lack of affect, of climate change, and agriculture, on the reef.

Ridd now works, unpaid, with agricultural organisations, to improve quality assurance systems of “science” used by Australian governments to make environmental laws and regulations that seriously affect farmers.

He is also an adjunct fellow at the Institute of Public Affairs.

Benny Peiser

profile coming soon

Michael Gapes

Michael Gapes was the Member of Parliament for Ilford South from 1992 to 2019.

He studied economics at Fitzwilliam College, Cambridge and later was chair of the National Organisation of Labour Students.

In Parliament he chaired the Foreign Affairs Select Committee from 2005 to 2010.

In February 2019, Gapes left the Labour Party in protest at Jeremy Corbyn‘s leadership to form The Independent Group, later Change UK, along with six other Labour MPs.

Lord Stuart Polak (UK)

CFI Honorary President

Lord Polak was elevated to the House of Lords in October 2015. He has sat on the EU Security and Justice Sub-Committee since May 2016, and sat on the European Union Committee from October 2018 until July 2019.

Lord Polak was appointed as only the second Director of Conservative Friends of Israel in 1989, a position which he held until 2015 when he was made Honorary President.

In March 2015, he was awarded the CBE for political services to Conservative Friends of Israel.

Born in Liverpool in 1961 where he grew up and was educated, Lord Polak began his career working for the Board of Deputies of British Jews in 1984 as Education Director.

He has coordinated and led more than 150 Conservative Friends of Israel delegations of politicians to Israel over 28 years and through this he has developed extensive relationships with MPs, Peers, MEPs and advisors throughout all levels of the Conservative Party.

Mark Regev (IL)

Mark Regev is senior adviser on foreign affairs and international communications to the Israeli Prime Minister and a weekly columnist in the Jerusalem Post.

He was international spokesperson for the Prime Minister’s Office from 2007 to 2015.

He served as Ambassador of Israel to the United Kingdom from 2016 to 2020.

He received his bachelor’s degree in political science and history at Melbourne University, and master’s degrees in political science from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, and in management from Boston University. Regev began his career as a lecturer on international relations and strategy at the Israel Defence Forces’ Staff College.

He joined Israel’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs in 1990, serving as deputy chief of mission at the Consulate General in Hong Kong, and spokesman at the Israeli Embassy in Beijing. He also served as spokesman at the Embassy in Washington. Regev was the spokesman for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Jerusalem from 2004 to 2007.

Boaz Ganor (IL)

Founder and executive director, International Institute for Counter-Terrorism

Professor Boaz Ganor is Ronald Lauder Chair for Counter-Terrorism and dean of the Lauder School of Government, Diplomacy and Strategy, Interdisciplinary Center, Herzliya, Israel. He serves as the founding president of the International Academic Counter-Terrorism Community, an international association of academic institutions, experts, and researchers in fields related to the study of terrorism and counter- terrorism. Boaz previously held positions at Stanford University, UC Berkeley, the Hoover Institution (Koret Distinguished Visiting Fellow), the Monterey Institute of International Studies, MIPT (The National Memorial for the Prevention of Terrorism), Hebrew University and Bar Ilan University. He was also a member of the international advisory team of the Manhattan Institute to the New York Police Department.

He is a member of the International Advisory Council of the International Centre for Political Violence and Terrorism Research at the Institute of Defence and Strategic Studies, Nanyang Technological University, The Republic of Singapore. He is also a co-founder of the International Centre for the Study of Radicalisation and Political Violence, a partnership between the University of Pennsylvania, Israel’s Interdisciplinary Centre, London’s King’s College and and the Regional Center on Conflict Prevention in Jordan. Since 2014, Ron has been a member of the executive committee of the academic advisory to the Institute for the Study of Global Anti-Semitism and Policy.

He has given briefings and/or testimonies to the United Nations Counter-Terrorism Executive Directorate, the Australian Parliament, the US Congress, the US Army, the FBI, the US Department of Homeland Security, as well as numerous intelligence, security and police services throughout the world. In 2001, Ron was appointed as a member of the advisory committee of the Israel National Security Council on Counter-Terrorism, and he has previously served as a member of the Israeli delegation to the Trilateral (American-Palestinian-Israeli) Committee for Monitoring Incitement to Violence and Terror. He also advised the Israeli delegation for peace negotiations with Jordan. In 1995, he was a consultant to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on his book Fighting Terrorism – How democracies can defeat domestic and international terrorism.

Ron has published numerous articles on terrorism and counter-terrorism. His book The Counter-Terrorism Puzzle – A Guide for Decision Makers (Transaction Publishers, 2005), is used as a text book in universities worldwide and his upcoming book, Global Alert: Modern terrorism rationality and the challenge to the democratic world will be published by Columbia University Press. He is also the editor of Countering Suicide Terrorism (2001) and Post-Modern Terrorism (2006). He a frequent media and television commentator and has appeared on the BBC, CNN, CBS, ABC, and in The New York Times, the Guardian, The Wall Street Journal, the Jerusalem Post, Haaretz and many other Israeli and international publications.

Dr. Liam Fox (UK)

The Rt Hon Dr Liam Fox MP has been Member of Parliament for North Somerset since 1992.  In John Major’s Government he served as a Minister at the Foreign & Commonwealth Office and as Government Whip (Lord Commissioner of the Treasury).  He had previously served as Parliamentary Private Secretary to Michael Howard, then Home Secretary.

Between 1997 and 2010, he held several roles on the Conservative Party Opposition Front Bench such as Constitutional Affairs Spokesman, Shadow Health Secretary, Conservative Party Chairman, Shadow Foreign Secretary and Shadow Defence Secretary.

In May 2010, Prime Minister David Cameron appointed him Secretary of State for Defence.  In 2013, he published ‘Rising Tides’ a book analysing crucial world issues with Tony Blair, Condoleezza Rice, Malcolm Rifkind and Donald Rumsfeld.

Between July 2016 and July 2019, he served in Prime Minister Theresa May’s Government as Secretary of State for International Trade and President of the Board of Trade.  As International Trade Secretary he was tasked with creating the UK’s first Independent Trade Policy for forty years post-Brexit.  During his time in post he strongly argued for global trade liberalisation, championed free trade and supported a rules-based system with WTO reform.

Before entering politics, Dr Fox worked as an NHS doctor and then as a family GP.  He is also a former Civilian Army Medical Officer and Divisional Surgeon with St John Ambulance.  In 2012, he founded the military charity ‘Give Us Time’.

He was born in Scotland and attended St Bride’s High School, the biggest comprehensive state school in Europe, before studying medicine at the University of Glasgow Medical School.

Itamar Marcus (IL)

Itamar Marcus, founder and director of Palestinian Media Watch is one of the foremost authorities on Palestinian ideology and policy. Marcus has published hundreds of reports and articles on Palestinian society, education, and media exposing PA hate and terror promotion in education, sports, culture and other frameworks the PA controls. PMW’s work has changed the way the world sees the Palestinian Authority.

Marcus has made numerous presentations to legislators, governments, and other decision-makers. His book Deception, co-authored with Nan Jacques Zilberdik, was acclaimed by the founder of Human Rights Watch, Robert Bernstein, as “one of the most important books you handle in your lives.”

Marcus was appointed by the Israeli Government to represent Israel in negotiations on incitement with the Palestinian Authority (PA) in 1999. He has received awards from ZOA, Israel Media Watch, and EMET, and was recognized as being among the world’s “top 100 people positively influencing Jewish life or the State of Israel,” by The Algemeiner newspaper.

Dr. Jonathan Barnett

Coming soon.

Albert Dadon

Albert is a musician, entrepreneur, and chairman and founder of the International Institute for Strategic Leadership Dialogue.

He is the founder and executive chairman of Ubertas Group, a prominent property development company of medium and high-density projects in residential apartments and hotels.

He supports numerous philanthropic initiatives and works for the community in a range of activities covering international affairs and cultural events.

In 2008, he was awarded an Order of Australia for services to the arts, particularly through the Melbourne International Jazz Festival, to the community through philanthropic support for cultural and charitable organisations, and to business. He founded the Australia Israel Cultural Exchange in 2002, an organisation launched through a joint communiqué between the Australian and Israeli Governments (the only such joint communiqué to date). The organisation was launched simultaneously by the then respective Foreign Ministers of the two countries, Alexander Downer and Benjamin Netanyahu.

He then launched the Australia Israel UK Leadership Dialogue to promotes trilateral relations between Australia, Israel and the United Kingdom. It evolved from the first forum that took place in Israel in June, 2009, under the leadership of then Deputy Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard and five Dialogues took place. This year it is reorganised and expanded into the International Institute of Strategic Leadership Dialogue.

Mr Dadon is also an active performing jazz musician and has released a dozen albums since 1990. Last year he was awarded the Chevalier of

Nir Shaviv

profile coming soon

Ian Plimer

Professor Ian Plimer is Australia’s best-known geologist.

He is Emeritus Professor of Earth Sciences at the University of Melbourne, where he was Professor and Head of Earth Sciences (1991-2005) after serving at the University of Newcastle (1985-1991) as Professor and Head of Geology.

He was Professor of Mining Geology at The University of Adelaide (2006-2012) and in 1991 was also German Research Foundation Professor of Ore Deposits at the Ludwig Maximilians Universität, München.

He has served on the staff of the University of New England, the University of New South Wales and Macquarie University.

He has published more than 120 scientific papers on geology and was one of the trinity of editors for the five-volume Encyclopedia of Geology and is a well-known commentator in newspapers and magazines.

Plimer won the Leopold von Buch Plakette (German Geological Society), the Clarke Medal (Royal Society of NSW), the Sir Willis Connolly Medal (Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy). He is a Fellow of the Australian Academy of Technological Sciences and Engineering and an Honorary Fellow of the Geological Society of London. He has been an adviser to governments and corporations and a regular broadcaster.

He worked for North Broken Hill Ltd, has been a consultant to many major mining companies and has been a director of numerous exploration public companies listed in London, Toronto and Sydney.

A new Broken Hill mineral, plimerite, was named in recognition of his contribution to Broken Hill geology.

Peter Ridd

Peter Ridd is a geophysicist with more than 100 publications and 35 years’ experience working on the Great Barrier Reef and instrumentation development.

He worked on the physical oceanography of the reef, and also developed a wide range of world-first optical and electronic instruments for measuring environmental conditions near corals and other ecosystems.

He was head of physics at James Cook University for more than a decade before being sacked, in 2018, for questioning the quality assurance systems used by reef science institutions.

Some of the poor-quality work relates to the affect, or lack of affect, of climate change, and agriculture, on the reef.

Ridd now works, unpaid, with agricultural organisations, to improve quality assurance systems of “science” used by Australian governments to make environmental laws and regulations that seriously affect farmers.

He is also an adjunct fellow at the Institute of Public Affairs.

Benny Peiser

profile coming soon

Theresa Villiers (UK)

Theresa Villiers has served as the Member of Parliament for Chipping Barnet since 2005, having previously served as a Member of the European Parliament from 1999 to 2005.

A member of the Conservative Party, Villiers was Minister of State for Rail and Aviation from 2010 to 2012, Secretary of State for Northern Ireland from 2012 to 2016 and Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs from 2019 to 2020.

She has a Bachelor of Laws degree with first-class honours in 1990 from the University of Bristol, and a postgraduate degree of Bachelor of Civil Law from Jesus College, Oxford.

She has also worked as a lecturer at King’s College, London

Michael Gapes

Michael Gapes was the Member of Parliament for Ilford South from 1992 to 2019.

He studied economics at Fitzwilliam College, Cambridge and later was chair of the National Organisation of Labour Students.

In Parliament he chaired the Foreign Affairs Select Committee from 2005 to 2010.

In February 2019, Gapes left the Labour Party in protest at Jeremy Corbyn‘s leadership to form The Independent Group, later Change UK, along with six other Labour MPs.

Lord Stuart Polak (UK)

CFI Honorary President

Lord Polak was elevated to the House of Lords in October 2015. He has sat on the EU Security and Justice Sub-Committee since May 2016, and sat on the European Union Committee from October 2018 until July 2019.

Lord Polak was appointed as only the second Director of Conservative Friends of Israel in 1989, a position which he held until 2015 when he was made Honorary President.

In March 2015, he was awarded the CBE for political services to Conservative Friends of Israel.

Born in Liverpool in 1961 where he grew up and was educated, Lord Polak began his career working for the Board of Deputies of British Jews in 1984 as Education Director.

He has coordinated and led more than 150 Conservative Friends of Israel delegations of politicians to Israel over 28 years and through this he has developed extensive relationships with MPs, Peers, MEPs and advisors throughout all levels of the Conservative Party.

Mark Regev (IL)

Mark Regev is senior adviser on foreign affairs and international communications to the Israeli Prime Minister and a weekly columnist in the Jerusalem Post.

He was international spokesperson for the Prime Minister’s Office from 2007 to 2015.

He served as Ambassador of Israel to the United Kingdom from 2016 to 2020.

He received his bachelor’s degree in political science and history at Melbourne University, and master’s degrees in political science from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, and in management from Boston University. Regev began his career as a lecturer on international relations and strategy at the Israel Defence Forces’ Staff College.

He joined Israel’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs in 1990, serving as deputy chief of mission at the Consulate General in Hong Kong, and spokesman at the Israeli Embassy in Beijing. He also served as spokesman at the Embassy in Washington. Regev was the spokesman for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Jerusalem from 2004 to 2007.

Boaz Ganor (IL)

Founder and executive director, International Institute for Counter-Terrorism

Professor Boaz Ganor is Ronald Lauder Chair for Counter-Terrorism and dean of the Lauder School of Government, Diplomacy and Strategy, Interdisciplinary Center, Herzliya, Israel. He serves as the founding president of the International Academic Counter-Terrorism Community, an international association of academic institutions, experts, and researchers in fields related to the study of terrorism and counter- terrorism. Boaz previously held positions at Stanford University, UC Berkeley, the Hoover Institution (Koret Distinguished Visiting Fellow), the Monterey Institute of International Studies, MIPT (The National Memorial for the Prevention of Terrorism), Hebrew University and Bar Ilan University. He was also a member of the international advisory team of the Manhattan Institute to the New York Police Department.

He is a member of the International Advisory Council of the International Centre for Political Violence and Terrorism Research at the Institute of Defence and Strategic Studies, Nanyang Technological University, The Republic of Singapore. He is also a co-founder of the International Centre for the Study of Radicalisation and Political Violence, a partnership between the University of Pennsylvania, Israel’s Interdisciplinary Centre, London’s King’s College and and the Regional Center on Conflict Prevention in Jordan. Since 2014, Ron has been a member of the executive committee of the academic advisory to the Institute for the Study of Global Anti-Semitism and Policy.

He has given briefings and/or testimonies to the United Nations Counter-Terrorism Executive Directorate, the Australian Parliament, the US Congress, the US Army, the FBI, the US Department of Homeland Security, as well as numerous intelligence, security and police services throughout the world. In 2001, Ron was appointed as a member of the advisory committee of the Israel National Security Council on Counter-Terrorism, and he has previously served as a member of the Israeli delegation to the Trilateral (American-Palestinian-Israeli) Committee for Monitoring Incitement to Violence and Terror. He also advised the Israeli delegation for peace negotiations with Jordan. In 1995, he was a consultant to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on his book Fighting Terrorism – How democracies can defeat domestic and international terrorism.

Ron has published numerous articles on terrorism and counter-terrorism. His book The Counter-Terrorism Puzzle – A Guide for Decision Makers (Transaction Publishers, 2005), is used as a text book in universities worldwide and his upcoming book, Global Alert: Modern terrorism rationality and the challenge to the democratic world will be published by Columbia University Press. He is also the editor of Countering Suicide Terrorism (2001) and Post-Modern Terrorism (2006). He a frequent media and television commentator and has appeared on the BBC, CNN, CBS, ABC, and in The New York Times, the Guardian, The Wall Street Journal, the Jerusalem Post, Haaretz and many other Israeli and international publications.

Dr. Liam Fox (UK)

The Rt Hon Dr Liam Fox MP has been Member of Parliament for North Somerset since 1992.  In John Major’s Government he served as a Minister at the Foreign & Commonwealth Office and as Government Whip (Lord Commissioner of the Treasury).  He had previously served as Parliamentary Private Secretary to Michael Howard, then Home Secretary.

Between 1997 and 2010, he held several roles on the Conservative Party Opposition Front Bench such as Constitutional Affairs Spokesman, Shadow Health Secretary, Conservative Party Chairman, Shadow Foreign Secretary and Shadow Defence Secretary.

In May 2010, Prime Minister David Cameron appointed him Secretary of State for Defence.  In 2013, he published ‘Rising Tides’ a book analysing crucial world issues with Tony Blair, Condoleezza Rice, Malcolm Rifkind and Donald Rumsfeld.

Between July 2016 and July 2019, he served in Prime Minister Theresa May’s Government as Secretary of State for International Trade and President of the Board of Trade.  As International Trade Secretary he was tasked with creating the UK’s first Independent Trade Policy for forty years post-Brexit.  During his time in post he strongly argued for global trade liberalisation, championed free trade and supported a rules-based system with WTO reform.

Before entering politics, Dr Fox worked as an NHS doctor and then as a family GP.  He is also a former Civilian Army Medical Officer and Divisional Surgeon with St John Ambulance.  In 2012, he founded the military charity ‘Give Us Time’.

He was born in Scotland and attended St Bride’s High School, the biggest comprehensive state school in Europe, before studying medicine at the University of Glasgow Medical School.

Itamar Marcus (IL)

Itamar Marcus, founder and director of Palestinian Media Watch is one of the foremost authorities on Palestinian ideology and policy. Marcus has published hundreds of reports and articles on Palestinian society, education, and media exposing PA hate and terror promotion in education, sports, culture and other frameworks the PA controls. PMW’s work has changed the way the world sees the Palestinian Authority.

Marcus has made numerous presentations to legislators, governments, and other decision-makers. His book Deception, co-authored with Nan Jacques Zilberdik, was acclaimed by the founder of Human Rights Watch, Robert Bernstein, as “one of the most important books you handle in your lives.”

Marcus was appointed by the Israeli Government to represent Israel in negotiations on incitement with the Palestinian Authority (PA) in 1999. He has received awards from ZOA, Israel Media Watch, and EMET, and was recognized as being among the world’s “top 100 people positively influencing Jewish life or the State of Israel,” by The Algemeiner newspaper.

Dr. Jonathan Barnett

Coming soon.

Albert Dadon

Albert is a musician, entrepreneur, and chairman and founder of the International Institute for Strategic Leadership Dialogue.

He is the founder and executive chairman of Ubertas Group, a prominent property development company of medium and high-density projects in residential apartments and hotels.

He supports numerous philanthropic initiatives and works for the community in a range of activities covering international affairs and cultural events.

In 2008, he was awarded an Order of Australia for services to the arts, particularly through the Melbourne International Jazz Festival, to the community through philanthropic support for cultural and charitable organisations, and to business. He founded the Australia Israel Cultural Exchange in 2002, an organisation launched through a joint communiqué between the Australian and Israeli Governments (the only such joint communiqué to date). The organisation was launched simultaneously by the then respective Foreign Ministers of the two countries, Alexander Downer and Benjamin Netanyahu.

He then launched the Australia Israel UK Leadership Dialogue to promotes trilateral relations between Australia, Israel and the United Kingdom. It evolved from the first forum that took place in Israel in June, 2009, under the leadership of then Deputy Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard and five Dialogues took place. This year it is reorganised and expanded into the International Institute of Strategic Leadership Dialogue.

Mr Dadon is also an active performing jazz musician and has released a dozen albums since 1990. Last year he was awarded the Chevalier of

Nir Shaviv

profile coming soon

Ian Plimer

Professor Ian Plimer is Australia’s best-known geologist.

He is Emeritus Professor of Earth Sciences at the University of Melbourne, where he was Professor and Head of Earth Sciences (1991-2005) after serving at the University of Newcastle (1985-1991) as Professor and Head of Geology.

He was Professor of Mining Geology at The University of Adelaide (2006-2012) and in 1991 was also German Research Foundation Professor of Ore Deposits at the Ludwig Maximilians Universität, München.

He has served on the staff of the University of New England, the University of New South Wales and Macquarie University.

He has published more than 120 scientific papers on geology and was one of the trinity of editors for the five-volume Encyclopedia of Geology and is a well-known commentator in newspapers and magazines.

Plimer won the Leopold von Buch Plakette (German Geological Society), the Clarke Medal (Royal Society of NSW), the Sir Willis Connolly Medal (Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy). He is a Fellow of the Australian Academy of Technological Sciences and Engineering and an Honorary Fellow of the Geological Society of London. He has been an adviser to governments and corporations and a regular broadcaster.

He worked for North Broken Hill Ltd, has been a consultant to many major mining companies and has been a director of numerous exploration public companies listed in London, Toronto and Sydney.

A new Broken Hill mineral, plimerite, was named in recognition of his contribution to Broken Hill geology.

Peter Ridd

Peter Ridd is a geophysicist with more than 100 publications and 35 years’ experience working on the Great Barrier Reef and instrumentation development.

He worked on the physical oceanography of the reef, and also developed a wide range of world-first optical and electronic instruments for measuring environmental conditions near corals and other ecosystems.

He was head of physics at James Cook University for more than a decade before being sacked, in 2018, for questioning the quality assurance systems used by reef science institutions.

Some of the poor-quality work relates to the affect, or lack of affect, of climate change, and agriculture, on the reef.

Ridd now works, unpaid, with agricultural organisations, to improve quality assurance systems of “science” used by Australian governments to make environmental laws and regulations that seriously affect farmers.

He is also an adjunct fellow at the Institute of Public Affairs.

Benny Peiser

profile coming soon

Stephen Crabb (UK)

Stephen Crabb is a Welsh Conservative and since 2005 has served as the Member of Parliament for Preseli Pembrokeshire.

Since January last year he has served as the chairman of the Welsh Affairs Select Committee.

He has served as Secretary of State for Work and Pensions and was previously a government whip, a junior minister for Wales and the Secretary of State for Wales.

He has degrees from Bristol University (BSc) and London Business School (MBA).

Theresa Villiers (UK)

Theresa Villiers has served as the Member of Parliament for Chipping Barnet since 2005, having previously served as a Member of the European Parliament from 1999 to 2005.

A member of the Conservative Party, Villiers was Minister of State for Rail and Aviation from 2010 to 2012, Secretary of State for Northern Ireland from 2012 to 2016 and Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs from 2019 to 2020.

She has a Bachelor of Laws degree with first-class honours in 1990 from the University of Bristol, and a postgraduate degree of Bachelor of Civil Law from Jesus College, Oxford.

She has also worked as a lecturer at King’s College, London

Michael Gapes

Michael Gapes was the Member of Parliament for Ilford South from 1992 to 2019.

He studied economics at Fitzwilliam College, Cambridge and later was chair of the National Organisation of Labour Students.

In Parliament he chaired the Foreign Affairs Select Committee from 2005 to 2010.

In February 2019, Gapes left the Labour Party in protest at Jeremy Corbyn‘s leadership to form The Independent Group, later Change UK, along with six other Labour MPs.

Lord Stuart Polak (UK)

CFI Honorary President

Lord Polak was elevated to the House of Lords in October 2015. He has sat on the EU Security and Justice Sub-Committee since May 2016, and sat on the European Union Committee from October 2018 until July 2019.

Lord Polak was appointed as only the second Director of Conservative Friends of Israel in 1989, a position which he held until 2015 when he was made Honorary President.

In March 2015, he was awarded the CBE for political services to Conservative Friends of Israel.

Born in Liverpool in 1961 where he grew up and was educated, Lord Polak began his career working for the Board of Deputies of British Jews in 1984 as Education Director.

He has coordinated and led more than 150 Conservative Friends of Israel delegations of politicians to Israel over 28 years and through this he has developed extensive relationships with MPs, Peers, MEPs and advisors throughout all levels of the Conservative Party.

Mark Regev (IL)

Mark Regev is senior adviser on foreign affairs and international communications to the Israeli Prime Minister and a weekly columnist in the Jerusalem Post.

He was international spokesperson for the Prime Minister’s Office from 2007 to 2015.

He served as Ambassador of Israel to the United Kingdom from 2016 to 2020.

He received his bachelor’s degree in political science and history at Melbourne University, and master’s degrees in political science from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, and in management from Boston University. Regev began his career as a lecturer on international relations and strategy at the Israel Defence Forces’ Staff College.

He joined Israel’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs in 1990, serving as deputy chief of mission at the Consulate General in Hong Kong, and spokesman at the Israeli Embassy in Beijing. He also served as spokesman at the Embassy in Washington. Regev was the spokesman for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Jerusalem from 2004 to 2007.

Boaz Ganor (IL)

Founder and executive director, International Institute for Counter-Terrorism

Professor Boaz Ganor is Ronald Lauder Chair for Counter-Terrorism and dean of the Lauder School of Government, Diplomacy and Strategy, Interdisciplinary Center, Herzliya, Israel. He serves as the founding president of the International Academic Counter-Terrorism Community, an international association of academic institutions, experts, and researchers in fields related to the study of terrorism and counter- terrorism. Boaz previously held positions at Stanford University, UC Berkeley, the Hoover Institution (Koret Distinguished Visiting Fellow), the Monterey Institute of International Studies, MIPT (The National Memorial for the Prevention of Terrorism), Hebrew University and Bar Ilan University. He was also a member of the international advisory team of the Manhattan Institute to the New York Police Department.

He is a member of the International Advisory Council of the International Centre for Political Violence and Terrorism Research at the Institute of Defence and Strategic Studies, Nanyang Technological University, The Republic of Singapore. He is also a co-founder of the International Centre for the Study of Radicalisation and Political Violence, a partnership between the University of Pennsylvania, Israel’s Interdisciplinary Centre, London’s King’s College and and the Regional Center on Conflict Prevention in Jordan. Since 2014, Ron has been a member of the executive committee of the academic advisory to the Institute for the Study of Global Anti-Semitism and Policy.

He has given briefings and/or testimonies to the United Nations Counter-Terrorism Executive Directorate, the Australian Parliament, the US Congress, the US Army, the FBI, the US Department of Homeland Security, as well as numerous intelligence, security and police services throughout the world. In 2001, Ron was appointed as a member of the advisory committee of the Israel National Security Council on Counter-Terrorism, and he has previously served as a member of the Israeli delegation to the Trilateral (American-Palestinian-Israeli) Committee for Monitoring Incitement to Violence and Terror. He also advised the Israeli delegation for peace negotiations with Jordan. In 1995, he was a consultant to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on his book Fighting Terrorism – How democracies can defeat domestic and international terrorism.

Ron has published numerous articles on terrorism and counter-terrorism. His book The Counter-Terrorism Puzzle – A Guide for Decision Makers (Transaction Publishers, 2005), is used as a text book in universities worldwide and his upcoming book, Global Alert: Modern terrorism rationality and the challenge to the democratic world will be published by Columbia University Press. He is also the editor of Countering Suicide Terrorism (2001) and Post-Modern Terrorism (2006). He a frequent media and television commentator and has appeared on the BBC, CNN, CBS, ABC, and in The New York Times, the Guardian, The Wall Street Journal, the Jerusalem Post, Haaretz and many other Israeli and international publications.

Dr. Liam Fox (UK)

The Rt Hon Dr Liam Fox MP has been Member of Parliament for North Somerset since 1992.  In John Major’s Government he served as a Minister at the Foreign & Commonwealth Office and as Government Whip (Lord Commissioner of the Treasury).  He had previously served as Parliamentary Private Secretary to Michael Howard, then Home Secretary.

Between 1997 and 2010, he held several roles on the Conservative Party Opposition Front Bench such as Constitutional Affairs Spokesman, Shadow Health Secretary, Conservative Party Chairman, Shadow Foreign Secretary and Shadow Defence Secretary.

In May 2010, Prime Minister David Cameron appointed him Secretary of State for Defence.  In 2013, he published ‘Rising Tides’ a book analysing crucial world issues with Tony Blair, Condoleezza Rice, Malcolm Rifkind and Donald Rumsfeld.

Between July 2016 and July 2019, he served in Prime Minister Theresa May’s Government as Secretary of State for International Trade and President of the Board of Trade.  As International Trade Secretary he was tasked with creating the UK’s first Independent Trade Policy for forty years post-Brexit.  During his time in post he strongly argued for global trade liberalisation, championed free trade and supported a rules-based system with WTO reform.

Before entering politics, Dr Fox worked as an NHS doctor and then as a family GP.  He is also a former Civilian Army Medical Officer and Divisional Surgeon with St John Ambulance.  In 2012, he founded the military charity ‘Give Us Time’.

He was born in Scotland and attended St Bride’s High School, the biggest comprehensive state school in Europe, before studying medicine at the University of Glasgow Medical School.

Itamar Marcus (IL)

Itamar Marcus, founder and director of Palestinian Media Watch is one of the foremost authorities on Palestinian ideology and policy. Marcus has published hundreds of reports and articles on Palestinian society, education, and media exposing PA hate and terror promotion in education, sports, culture and other frameworks the PA controls. PMW’s work has changed the way the world sees the Palestinian Authority.

Marcus has made numerous presentations to legislators, governments, and other decision-makers. His book Deception, co-authored with Nan Jacques Zilberdik, was acclaimed by the founder of Human Rights Watch, Robert Bernstein, as “one of the most important books you handle in your lives.”

Marcus was appointed by the Israeli Government to represent Israel in negotiations on incitement with the Palestinian Authority (PA) in 1999. He has received awards from ZOA, Israel Media Watch, and EMET, and was recognized as being among the world’s “top 100 people positively influencing Jewish life or the State of Israel,” by The Algemeiner newspaper.

Dr. Jonathan Barnett

Coming soon.

Albert Dadon

Albert is a musician, entrepreneur, and chairman and founder of the International Institute for Strategic Leadership Dialogue.

He is the founder and executive chairman of Ubertas Group, a prominent property development company of medium and high-density projects in residential apartments and hotels.

He supports numerous philanthropic initiatives and works for the community in a range of activities covering international affairs and cultural events.

In 2008, he was awarded an Order of Australia for services to the arts, particularly through the Melbourne International Jazz Festival, to the community through philanthropic support for cultural and charitable organisations, and to business. He founded the Australia Israel Cultural Exchange in 2002, an organisation launched through a joint communiqué between the Australian and Israeli Governments (the only such joint communiqué to date). The organisation was launched simultaneously by the then respective Foreign Ministers of the two countries, Alexander Downer and Benjamin Netanyahu.

He then launched the Australia Israel UK Leadership Dialogue to promotes trilateral relations between Australia, Israel and the United Kingdom. It evolved from the first forum that took place in Israel in June, 2009, under the leadership of then Deputy Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard and five Dialogues took place. This year it is reorganised and expanded into the International Institute of Strategic Leadership Dialogue.

Mr Dadon is also an active performing jazz musician and has released a dozen albums since 1990. Last year he was awarded the Chevalier of

Nir Shaviv

profile coming soon

Ian Plimer

Professor Ian Plimer is Australia’s best-known geologist.

He is Emeritus Professor of Earth Sciences at the University of Melbourne, where he was Professor and Head of Earth Sciences (1991-2005) after serving at the University of Newcastle (1985-1991) as Professor and Head of Geology.

He was Professor of Mining Geology at The University of Adelaide (2006-2012) and in 1991 was also German Research Foundation Professor of Ore Deposits at the Ludwig Maximilians Universität, München.

He has served on the staff of the University of New England, the University of New South Wales and Macquarie University.

He has published more than 120 scientific papers on geology and was one of the trinity of editors for the five-volume Encyclopedia of Geology and is a well-known commentator in newspapers and magazines.

Plimer won the Leopold von Buch Plakette (German Geological Society), the Clarke Medal (Royal Society of NSW), the Sir Willis Connolly Medal (Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy). He is a Fellow of the Australian Academy of Technological Sciences and Engineering and an Honorary Fellow of the Geological Society of London. He has been an adviser to governments and corporations and a regular broadcaster.

He worked for North Broken Hill Ltd, has been a consultant to many major mining companies and has been a director of numerous exploration public companies listed in London, Toronto and Sydney.

A new Broken Hill mineral, plimerite, was named in recognition of his contribution to Broken Hill geology.

Peter Ridd

Peter Ridd is a geophysicist with more than 100 publications and 35 years’ experience working on the Great Barrier Reef and instrumentation development.

He worked on the physical oceanography of the reef, and also developed a wide range of world-first optical and electronic instruments for measuring environmental conditions near corals and other ecosystems.

He was head of physics at James Cook University for more than a decade before being sacked, in 2018, for questioning the quality assurance systems used by reef science institutions.

Some of the poor-quality work relates to the affect, or lack of affect, of climate change, and agriculture, on the reef.

Ridd now works, unpaid, with agricultural organisations, to improve quality assurance systems of “science” used by Australian governments to make environmental laws and regulations that seriously affect farmers.

He is also an adjunct fellow at the Institute of Public Affairs.

Benny Peiser

profile coming soon

Christopher Pyne (AU)

Christopher Pyne served as the 54th Australian Defence Minister, and was responsible for delivering the $200 billion build-up of Australia’s military capability, the largest in Australia’s peacetime history.

Serving previously as Minister for Defence Industry, Christopher assisted in the development of the 2016 Defence White Paper and implementing the Integrated Investment Program.

During his time as a Cabinet Minister in the Defence portfolio, Christopher:

• Awarded the $35 billion Hunter Class Anti-Submarine Warfare frigates contract to BAES;
• Backed in the $50 billion Attack Class Submarine project by Defence and Naval Group Australia;
• Awarded the $3.7 billion Arafura Class Offshore Patrol Vessel project to Luerssen Australia, CIVMEC and the ASC;
• Awarded the $5.2 billion Combat Reconnaissance Vehicle project to Rheinmettal Australia; and
• Secured Australia as the Asia Pacific hub for the sustainment and maintenance of the F35-A Joint Strike

Christopher also worked to ensure the growth and sustainment of Australia’s Defence Industry, and thus implemented Australia’s Defence Export Strategy, Defence Industrial Capability Plan, and the Naval Shipbuilding Plan. He also created the Defence Cooperative Research Centre, the Centre for Defence Industry Capability, the Defence Innovation Hub, and the Next Generation Technology Fund.

On an international scale, Christopher was responsible for creating the Pacific Step Up to strengthen Australia’s strategic role in the South Pacific, and was the architect of the Australian Government’s position that Jerusalem should be the capital of Israel and East Jerusalem the capital of a future Palestinian state.

Christopher also worked to strengthen Australia’s defence ties with other countries, establishing the Australia France Initiative to take advantage of the close relationship with France through the Attack Class Submarine Project. He settled Defence Memoranda of Understanding with Israel, China, and Switzerland, and initiated Memoranda of Understanding with the United Arab Emirates and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

Christopher was also the driving force behind the establishment of the Australia Space Agency.

Christopher was a Minister in the Howard, Abbott, Turnbull and Morrison Governments, holding various portfolios including Ageing, Education, Industry Innovation and Science, and Defence.

As a Minister for Education and Minister for Industry Innovation and Science, respectively, Christopher delivered the National Innovation and Science Agenda, reformed the national curriculum, introduced compulsory literacy and numeracy testing for Australian teaching graduates and expanded phonics teaching.

Stephen Crabb (UK)

Stephen Crabb is a Welsh Conservative and since 2005 has served as the Member of Parliament for Preseli Pembrokeshire.

Since January last year he has served as the chairman of the Welsh Affairs Select Committee.

He has served as Secretary of State for Work and Pensions and was previously a government whip, a junior minister for Wales and the Secretary of State for Wales.

He has degrees from Bristol University (BSc) and London Business School (MBA).

Theresa Villiers (UK)

Theresa Villiers has served as the Member of Parliament for Chipping Barnet since 2005, having previously served as a Member of the European Parliament from 1999 to 2005.

A member of the Conservative Party, Villiers was Minister of State for Rail and Aviation from 2010 to 2012, Secretary of State for Northern Ireland from 2012 to 2016 and Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs from 2019 to 2020.

She has a Bachelor of Laws degree with first-class honours in 1990 from the University of Bristol, and a postgraduate degree of Bachelor of Civil Law from Jesus College, Oxford.

She has also worked as a lecturer at King’s College, London

Michael Gapes

Michael Gapes was the Member of Parliament for Ilford South from 1992 to 2019.

He studied economics at Fitzwilliam College, Cambridge and later was chair of the National Organisation of Labour Students.

In Parliament he chaired the Foreign Affairs Select Committee from 2005 to 2010.

In February 2019, Gapes left the Labour Party in protest at Jeremy Corbyn‘s leadership to form The Independent Group, later Change UK, along with six other Labour MPs.

Lord Stuart Polak (UK)

CFI Honorary President

Lord Polak was elevated to the House of Lords in October 2015. He has sat on the EU Security and Justice Sub-Committee since May 2016, and sat on the European Union Committee from October 2018 until July 2019.

Lord Polak was appointed as only the second Director of Conservative Friends of Israel in 1989, a position which he held until 2015 when he was made Honorary President.

In March 2015, he was awarded the CBE for political services to Conservative Friends of Israel.

Born in Liverpool in 1961 where he grew up and was educated, Lord Polak began his career working for the Board of Deputies of British Jews in 1984 as Education Director.

He has coordinated and led more than 150 Conservative Friends of Israel delegations of politicians to Israel over 28 years and through this he has developed extensive relationships with MPs, Peers, MEPs and advisors throughout all levels of the Conservative Party.

Mark Regev (IL)

Mark Regev is senior adviser on foreign affairs and international communications to the Israeli Prime Minister and a weekly columnist in the Jerusalem Post.

He was international spokesperson for the Prime Minister’s Office from 2007 to 2015.

He served as Ambassador of Israel to the United Kingdom from 2016 to 2020.

He received his bachelor’s degree in political science and history at Melbourne University, and master’s degrees in political science from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, and in management from Boston University. Regev began his career as a lecturer on international relations and strategy at the Israel Defence Forces’ Staff College.

He joined Israel’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs in 1990, serving as deputy chief of mission at the Consulate General in Hong Kong, and spokesman at the Israeli Embassy in Beijing. He also served as spokesman at the Embassy in Washington. Regev was the spokesman for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Jerusalem from 2004 to 2007.

Boaz Ganor (IL)

Founder and executive director, International Institute for Counter-Terrorism

Professor Boaz Ganor is Ronald Lauder Chair for Counter-Terrorism and dean of the Lauder School of Government, Diplomacy and Strategy, Interdisciplinary Center, Herzliya, Israel. He serves as the founding president of the International Academic Counter-Terrorism Community, an international association of academic institutions, experts, and researchers in fields related to the study of terrorism and counter- terrorism. Boaz previously held positions at Stanford University, UC Berkeley, the Hoover Institution (Koret Distinguished Visiting Fellow), the Monterey Institute of International Studies, MIPT (The National Memorial for the Prevention of Terrorism), Hebrew University and Bar Ilan University. He was also a member of the international advisory team of the Manhattan Institute to the New York Police Department.

He is a member of the International Advisory Council of the International Centre for Political Violence and Terrorism Research at the Institute of Defence and Strategic Studies, Nanyang Technological University, The Republic of Singapore. He is also a co-founder of the International Centre for the Study of Radicalisation and Political Violence, a partnership between the University of Pennsylvania, Israel’s Interdisciplinary Centre, London’s King’s College and and the Regional Center on Conflict Prevention in Jordan. Since 2014, Ron has been a member of the executive committee of the academic advisory to the Institute for the Study of Global Anti-Semitism and Policy.

He has given briefings and/or testimonies to the United Nations Counter-Terrorism Executive Directorate, the Australian Parliament, the US Congress, the US Army, the FBI, the US Department of Homeland Security, as well as numerous intelligence, security and police services throughout the world. In 2001, Ron was appointed as a member of the advisory committee of the Israel National Security Council on Counter-Terrorism, and he has previously served as a member of the Israeli delegation to the Trilateral (American-Palestinian-Israeli) Committee for Monitoring Incitement to Violence and Terror. He also advised the Israeli delegation for peace negotiations with Jordan. In 1995, he was a consultant to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on his book Fighting Terrorism – How democracies can defeat domestic and international terrorism.

Ron has published numerous articles on terrorism and counter-terrorism. His book The Counter-Terrorism Puzzle – A Guide for Decision Makers (Transaction Publishers, 2005), is used as a text book in universities worldwide and his upcoming book, Global Alert: Modern terrorism rationality and the challenge to the democratic world will be published by Columbia University Press. He is also the editor of Countering Suicide Terrorism (2001) and Post-Modern Terrorism (2006). He a frequent media and television commentator and has appeared on the BBC, CNN, CBS, ABC, and in The New York Times, the Guardian, The Wall Street Journal, the Jerusalem Post, Haaretz and many other Israeli and international publications.

Dr. Liam Fox (UK)

The Rt Hon Dr Liam Fox MP has been Member of Parliament for North Somerset since 1992.  In John Major’s Government he served as a Minister at the Foreign & Commonwealth Office and as Government Whip (Lord Commissioner of the Treasury).  He had previously served as Parliamentary Private Secretary to Michael Howard, then Home Secretary.

Between 1997 and 2010, he held several roles on the Conservative Party Opposition Front Bench such as Constitutional Affairs Spokesman, Shadow Health Secretary, Conservative Party Chairman, Shadow Foreign Secretary and Shadow Defence Secretary.

In May 2010, Prime Minister David Cameron appointed him Secretary of State for Defence.  In 2013, he published ‘Rising Tides’ a book analysing crucial world issues with Tony Blair, Condoleezza Rice, Malcolm Rifkind and Donald Rumsfeld.

Between July 2016 and July 2019, he served in Prime Minister Theresa May’s Government as Secretary of State for International Trade and President of the Board of Trade.  As International Trade Secretary he was tasked with creating the UK’s first Independent Trade Policy for forty years post-Brexit.  During his time in post he strongly argued for global trade liberalisation, championed free trade and supported a rules-based system with WTO reform.

Before entering politics, Dr Fox worked as an NHS doctor and then as a family GP.  He is also a former Civilian Army Medical Officer and Divisional Surgeon with St John Ambulance.  In 2012, he founded the military charity ‘Give Us Time’.

He was born in Scotland and attended St Bride’s High School, the biggest comprehensive state school in Europe, before studying medicine at the University of Glasgow Medical School.

Itamar Marcus (IL)

Itamar Marcus, founder and director of Palestinian Media Watch is one of the foremost authorities on Palestinian ideology and policy. Marcus has published hundreds of reports and articles on Palestinian society, education, and media exposing PA hate and terror promotion in education, sports, culture and other frameworks the PA controls. PMW’s work has changed the way the world sees the Palestinian Authority.

Marcus has made numerous presentations to legislators, governments, and other decision-makers. His book Deception, co-authored with Nan Jacques Zilberdik, was acclaimed by the founder of Human Rights Watch, Robert Bernstein, as “one of the most important books you handle in your lives.”

Marcus was appointed by the Israeli Government to represent Israel in negotiations on incitement with the Palestinian Authority (PA) in 1999. He has received awards from ZOA, Israel Media Watch, and EMET, and was recognized as being among the world’s “top 100 people positively influencing Jewish life or the State of Israel,” by The Algemeiner newspaper.

Dr. Jonathan Barnett

Coming soon.

Albert Dadon

Albert is a musician, entrepreneur, and chairman and founder of the International Institute for Strategic Leadership Dialogue.

He is the founder and executive chairman of Ubertas Group, a prominent property development company of medium and high-density projects in residential apartments and hotels.

He supports numerous philanthropic initiatives and works for the community in a range of activities covering international affairs and cultural events.

In 2008, he was awarded an Order of Australia for services to the arts, particularly through the Melbourne International Jazz Festival, to the community through philanthropic support for cultural and charitable organisations, and to business. He founded the Australia Israel Cultural Exchange in 2002, an organisation launched through a joint communiqué between the Australian and Israeli Governments (the only such joint communiqué to date). The organisation was launched simultaneously by the then respective Foreign Ministers of the two countries, Alexander Downer and Benjamin Netanyahu.

He then launched the Australia Israel UK Leadership Dialogue to promotes trilateral relations between Australia, Israel and the United Kingdom. It evolved from the first forum that took place in Israel in June, 2009, under the leadership of then Deputy Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard and five Dialogues took place. This year it is reorganised and expanded into the International Institute of Strategic Leadership Dialogue.

Mr Dadon is also an active performing jazz musician and has released a dozen albums since 1990. Last year he was awarded the Chevalier of

Nir Shaviv

profile coming soon

Ian Plimer

Professor Ian Plimer is Australia’s best-known geologist.

He is Emeritus Professor of Earth Sciences at the University of Melbourne, where he was Professor and Head of Earth Sciences (1991-2005) after serving at the University of Newcastle (1985-1991) as Professor and Head of Geology.

He was Professor of Mining Geology at The University of Adelaide (2006-2012) and in 1991 was also German Research Foundation Professor of Ore Deposits at the Ludwig Maximilians Universität, München.

He has served on the staff of the University of New England, the University of New South Wales and Macquarie University.

He has published more than 120 scientific papers on geology and was one of the trinity of editors for the five-volume Encyclopedia of Geology and is a well-known commentator in newspapers and magazines.

Plimer won the Leopold von Buch Plakette (German Geological Society), the Clarke Medal (Royal Society of NSW), the Sir Willis Connolly Medal (Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy). He is a Fellow of the Australian Academy of Technological Sciences and Engineering and an Honorary Fellow of the Geological Society of London. He has been an adviser to governments and corporations and a regular broadcaster.

He worked for North Broken Hill Ltd, has been a consultant to many major mining companies and has been a director of numerous exploration public companies listed in London, Toronto and Sydney.

A new Broken Hill mineral, plimerite, was named in recognition of his contribution to Broken Hill geology.

Peter Ridd

Peter Ridd is a geophysicist with more than 100 publications and 35 years’ experience working on the Great Barrier Reef and instrumentation development.

He worked on the physical oceanography of the reef, and also developed a wide range of world-first optical and electronic instruments for measuring environmental conditions near corals and other ecosystems.

He was head of physics at James Cook University for more than a decade before being sacked, in 2018, for questioning the quality assurance systems used by reef science institutions.

Some of the poor-quality work relates to the affect, or lack of affect, of climate change, and agriculture, on the reef.

Ridd now works, unpaid, with agricultural organisations, to improve quality assurance systems of “science” used by Australian governments to make environmental laws and regulations that seriously affect farmers.

He is also an adjunct fellow at the Institute of Public Affairs.

Benny Peiser

profile coming soon

Rowan Callick

Author and columnist Rowan Callick graduated with a BA Honours from Exeter University.

He worked for a daily newspaper in Britain before moving first to Papua New Guinea then Australia, spending 20 years on the Australian Financial Review, finally as Asia Pacific Editor.

He was China correspondent for the AFR from 1996-2000. From 1990-1992 he was a senior writer with Time. He joined The Australian in 2006, as China correspondent.

After three years in Beijing, he became The Australian’s Asia-Pacific editor in 2009. He returned to Beijing as China Correspondent from the 2016 to 2018 and continues to contribute to the newspaper.

He was appointed a fellow of the Australian Institute of International Affairs in 2013. His books include Comrades & Capitalists – Hong Kong Since the Handover, and Party Time: Who Runs China and How. He has won the Graham Perkin Award for Journalist of the Year and two Walkley Awards, Australian journalism’s highest honour.

Christopher Pyne (AU)

Christopher Pyne served as the 54th Australian Defence Minister, and was responsible for delivering the $200 billion build-up of Australia’s military capability, the largest in Australia’s peacetime history.

Serving previously as Minister for Defence Industry, Christopher assisted in the development of the 2016 Defence White Paper and implementing the Integrated Investment Program.

During his time as a Cabinet Minister in the Defence portfolio, Christopher:

• Awarded the $35 billion Hunter Class Anti-Submarine Warfare frigates contract to BAES;
• Backed in the $50 billion Attack Class Submarine project by Defence and Naval Group Australia;
• Awarded the $3.7 billion Arafura Class Offshore Patrol Vessel project to Luerssen Australia, CIVMEC and the ASC;
• Awarded the $5.2 billion Combat Reconnaissance Vehicle project to Rheinmettal Australia; and
• Secured Australia as the Asia Pacific hub for the sustainment and maintenance of the F35-A Joint Strike

Christopher also worked to ensure the growth and sustainment of Australia’s Defence Industry, and thus implemented Australia’s Defence Export Strategy, Defence Industrial Capability Plan, and the Naval Shipbuilding Plan. He also created the Defence Cooperative Research Centre, the Centre for Defence Industry Capability, the Defence Innovation Hub, and the Next Generation Technology Fund.

On an international scale, Christopher was responsible for creating the Pacific Step Up to strengthen Australia’s strategic role in the South Pacific, and was the architect of the Australian Government’s position that Jerusalem should be the capital of Israel and East Jerusalem the capital of a future Palestinian state.

Christopher also worked to strengthen Australia’s defence ties with other countries, establishing the Australia France Initiative to take advantage of the close relationship with France through the Attack Class Submarine Project. He settled Defence Memoranda of Understanding with Israel, China, and Switzerland, and initiated Memoranda of Understanding with the United Arab Emirates and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

Christopher was also the driving force behind the establishment of the Australia Space Agency.

Christopher was a Minister in the Howard, Abbott, Turnbull and Morrison Governments, holding various portfolios including Ageing, Education, Industry Innovation and Science, and Defence.

As a Minister for Education and Minister for Industry Innovation and Science, respectively, Christopher delivered the National Innovation and Science Agenda, reformed the national curriculum, introduced compulsory literacy and numeracy testing for Australian teaching graduates and expanded phonics teaching.

Stephen Crabb (UK)

Stephen Crabb is a Welsh Conservative and since 2005 has served as the Member of Parliament for Preseli Pembrokeshire.

Since January last year he has served as the chairman of the Welsh Affairs Select Committee.

He has served as Secretary of State for Work and Pensions and was previously a government whip, a junior minister for Wales and the Secretary of State for Wales.

He has degrees from Bristol University (BSc) and London Business School (MBA).

Theresa Villiers (UK)

Theresa Villiers has served as the Member of Parliament for Chipping Barnet since 2005, having previously served as a Member of the European Parliament from 1999 to 2005.

A member of the Conservative Party, Villiers was Minister of State for Rail and Aviation from 2010 to 2012, Secretary of State for Northern Ireland from 2012 to 2016 and Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs from 2019 to 2020.

She has a Bachelor of Laws degree with first-class honours in 1990 from the University of Bristol, and a postgraduate degree of Bachelor of Civil Law from Jesus College, Oxford.

She has also worked as a lecturer at King’s College, London

Michael Gapes

Michael Gapes was the Member of Parliament for Ilford South from 1992 to 2019.

He studied economics at Fitzwilliam College, Cambridge and later was chair of the National Organisation of Labour Students.

In Parliament he chaired the Foreign Affairs Select Committee from 2005 to 2010.

In February 2019, Gapes left the Labour Party in protest at Jeremy Corbyn‘s leadership to form The Independent Group, later Change UK, along with six other Labour MPs.

Lord Stuart Polak (UK)

CFI Honorary President

Lord Polak was elevated to the House of Lords in October 2015. He has sat on the EU Security and Justice Sub-Committee since May 2016, and sat on the European Union Committee from October 2018 until July 2019.

Lord Polak was appointed as only the second Director of Conservative Friends of Israel in 1989, a position which he held until 2015 when he was made Honorary President.

In March 2015, he was awarded the CBE for political services to Conservative Friends of Israel.

Born in Liverpool in 1961 where he grew up and was educated, Lord Polak began his career working for the Board of Deputies of British Jews in 1984 as Education Director.

He has coordinated and led more than 150 Conservative Friends of Israel delegations of politicians to Israel over 28 years and through this he has developed extensive relationships with MPs, Peers, MEPs and advisors throughout all levels of the Conservative Party.

Mark Regev (IL)

Mark Regev is senior adviser on foreign affairs and international communications to the Israeli Prime Minister and a weekly columnist in the Jerusalem Post.

He was international spokesperson for the Prime Minister’s Office from 2007 to 2015.

He served as Ambassador of Israel to the United Kingdom from 2016 to 2020.

He received his bachelor’s degree in political science and history at Melbourne University, and master’s degrees in political science from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, and in management from Boston University. Regev began his career as a lecturer on international relations and strategy at the Israel Defence Forces’ Staff College.

He joined Israel’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs in 1990, serving as deputy chief of mission at the Consulate General in Hong Kong, and spokesman at the Israeli Embassy in Beijing. He also served as spokesman at the Embassy in Washington. Regev was the spokesman for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Jerusalem from 2004 to 2007.

Boaz Ganor (IL)

Founder and executive director, International Institute for Counter-Terrorism

Professor Boaz Ganor is Ronald Lauder Chair for Counter-Terrorism and dean of the Lauder School of Government, Diplomacy and Strategy, Interdisciplinary Center, Herzliya, Israel. He serves as the founding president of the International Academic Counter-Terrorism Community, an international association of academic institutions, experts, and researchers in fields related to the study of terrorism and counter- terrorism. Boaz previously held positions at Stanford University, UC Berkeley, the Hoover Institution (Koret Distinguished Visiting Fellow), the Monterey Institute of International Studies, MIPT (The National Memorial for the Prevention of Terrorism), Hebrew University and Bar Ilan University. He was also a member of the international advisory team of the Manhattan Institute to the New York Police Department.

He is a member of the International Advisory Council of the International Centre for Political Violence and Terrorism Research at the Institute of Defence and Strategic Studies, Nanyang Technological University, The Republic of Singapore. He is also a co-founder of the International Centre for the Study of Radicalisation and Political Violence, a partnership between the University of Pennsylvania, Israel’s Interdisciplinary Centre, London’s King’s College and and the Regional Center on Conflict Prevention in Jordan. Since 2014, Ron has been a member of the executive committee of the academic advisory to the Institute for the Study of Global Anti-Semitism and Policy.

He has given briefings and/or testimonies to the United Nations Counter-Terrorism Executive Directorate, the Australian Parliament, the US Congress, the US Army, the FBI, the US Department of Homeland Security, as well as numerous intelligence, security and police services throughout the world. In 2001, Ron was appointed as a member of the advisory committee of the Israel National Security Council on Counter-Terrorism, and he has previously served as a member of the Israeli delegation to the Trilateral (American-Palestinian-Israeli) Committee for Monitoring Incitement to Violence and Terror. He also advised the Israeli delegation for peace negotiations with Jordan. In 1995, he was a consultant to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on his book Fighting Terrorism – How democracies can defeat domestic and international terrorism.

Ron has published numerous articles on terrorism and counter-terrorism. His book The Counter-Terrorism Puzzle – A Guide for Decision Makers (Transaction Publishers, 2005), is used as a text book in universities worldwide and his upcoming book, Global Alert: Modern terrorism rationality and the challenge to the democratic world will be published by Columbia University Press. He is also the editor of Countering Suicide Terrorism (2001) and Post-Modern Terrorism (2006). He a frequent media and television commentator and has appeared on the BBC, CNN, CBS, ABC, and in The New York Times, the Guardian, The Wall Street Journal, the Jerusalem Post, Haaretz and many other Israeli and international publications.

Dr. Liam Fox (UK)

The Rt Hon Dr Liam Fox MP has been Member of Parliament for North Somerset since 1992.  In John Major’s Government he served as a Minister at the Foreign & Commonwealth Office and as Government Whip (Lord Commissioner of the Treasury).  He had previously served as Parliamentary Private Secretary to Michael Howard, then Home Secretary.

Between 1997 and 2010, he held several roles on the Conservative Party Opposition Front Bench such as Constitutional Affairs Spokesman, Shadow Health Secretary, Conservative Party Chairman, Shadow Foreign Secretary and Shadow Defence Secretary.

In May 2010, Prime Minister David Cameron appointed him Secretary of State for Defence.  In 2013, he published ‘Rising Tides’ a book analysing crucial world issues with Tony Blair, Condoleezza Rice, Malcolm Rifkind and Donald Rumsfeld.

Between July 2016 and July 2019, he served in Prime Minister Theresa May’s Government as Secretary of State for International Trade and President of the Board of Trade.  As International Trade Secretary he was tasked with creating the UK’s first Independent Trade Policy for forty years post-Brexit.  During his time in post he strongly argued for global trade liberalisation, championed free trade and supported a rules-based system with WTO reform.

Before entering politics, Dr Fox worked as an NHS doctor and then as a family GP.  He is also a former Civilian Army Medical Officer and Divisional Surgeon with St John Ambulance.  In 2012, he founded the military charity ‘Give Us Time’.

He was born in Scotland and attended St Bride’s High School, the biggest comprehensive state school in Europe, before studying medicine at the University of Glasgow Medical School.

Itamar Marcus (IL)

Itamar Marcus, founder and director of Palestinian Media Watch is one of the foremost authorities on Palestinian ideology and policy. Marcus has published hundreds of reports and articles on Palestinian society, education, and media exposing PA hate and terror promotion in education, sports, culture and other frameworks the PA controls. PMW’s work has changed the way the world sees the Palestinian Authority.

Marcus has made numerous presentations to legislators, governments, and other decision-makers. His book Deception, co-authored with Nan Jacques Zilberdik, was acclaimed by the founder of Human Rights Watch, Robert Bernstein, as “one of the most important books you handle in your lives.”

Marcus was appointed by the Israeli Government to represent Israel in negotiations on incitement with the Palestinian Authority (PA) in 1999. He has received awards from ZOA, Israel Media Watch, and EMET, and was recognized as being among the world’s “top 100 people positively influencing Jewish life or the State of Israel,” by The Algemeiner newspaper.

Dr. Jonathan Barnett

Coming soon.

Albert Dadon

Albert is a musician, entrepreneur, and chairman and founder of the International Institute for Strategic Leadership Dialogue.

He is the founder and executive chairman of Ubertas Group, a prominent property development company of medium and high-density projects in residential apartments and hotels.

He supports numerous philanthropic initiatives and works for the community in a range of activities covering international affairs and cultural events.

In 2008, he was awarded an Order of Australia for services to the arts, particularly through the Melbourne International Jazz Festival, to the community through philanthropic support for cultural and charitable organisations, and to business. He founded the Australia Israel Cultural Exchange in 2002, an organisation launched through a joint communiqué between the Australian and Israeli Governments (the only such joint communiqué to date). The organisation was launched simultaneously by the then respective Foreign Ministers of the two countries, Alexander Downer and Benjamin Netanyahu.

He then launched the Australia Israel UK Leadership Dialogue to promotes trilateral relations between Australia, Israel and the United Kingdom. It evolved from the first forum that took place in Israel in June, 2009, under the leadership of then Deputy Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard and five Dialogues took place. This year it is reorganised and expanded into the International Institute of Strategic Leadership Dialogue.

Mr Dadon is also an active performing jazz musician and has released a dozen albums since 1990. Last year he was awarded the Chevalier of

Nir Shaviv

profile coming soon

Ian Plimer

Professor Ian Plimer is Australia’s best-known geologist.

He is Emeritus Professor of Earth Sciences at the University of Melbourne, where he was Professor and Head of Earth Sciences (1991-2005) after serving at the University of Newcastle (1985-1991) as Professor and Head of Geology.

He was Professor of Mining Geology at The University of Adelaide (2006-2012) and in 1991 was also German Research Foundation Professor of Ore Deposits at the Ludwig Maximilians Universität, München.

He has served on the staff of the University of New England, the University of New South Wales and Macquarie University.

He has published more than 120 scientific papers on geology and was one of the trinity of editors for the five-volume Encyclopedia of Geology and is a well-known commentator in newspapers and magazines.

Plimer won the Leopold von Buch Plakette (German Geological Society), the Clarke Medal (Royal Society of NSW), the Sir Willis Connolly Medal (Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy). He is a Fellow of the Australian Academy of Technological Sciences and Engineering and an Honorary Fellow of the Geological Society of London. He has been an adviser to governments and corporations and a regular broadcaster.

He worked for North Broken Hill Ltd, has been a consultant to many major mining companies and has been a director of numerous exploration public companies listed in London, Toronto and Sydney.

A new Broken Hill mineral, plimerite, was named in recognition of his contribution to Broken Hill geology.

Peter Ridd

Peter Ridd is a geophysicist with more than 100 publications and 35 years’ experience working on the Great Barrier Reef and instrumentation development.

He worked on the physical oceanography of the reef, and also developed a wide range of world-first optical and electronic instruments for measuring environmental conditions near corals and other ecosystems.

He was head of physics at James Cook University for more than a decade before being sacked, in 2018, for questioning the quality assurance systems used by reef science institutions.

Some of the poor-quality work relates to the affect, or lack of affect, of climate change, and agriculture, on the reef.

Ridd now works, unpaid, with agricultural organisations, to improve quality assurance systems of “science” used by Australian governments to make environmental laws and regulations that seriously affect farmers.

He is also an adjunct fellow at the Institute of Public Affairs.

Benny Peiser

profile coming soon

John Lee (AU)

Dr John Lee is a senior fellow and adjunct professor at the United States Studies Centre at the University of Sydney. He is also a senior fellow at the Hudson Institute in Washington DC.

From 2016-2018, he was senior adviser to Australian Minister for Foreign Affairs, Julie Bishop. In this role, he served as the principal adviser on Asia and for economic, strategic and political affairs in the Indo-Pacific region.

John was also appointed the Foreign Minister’s lead adviser on the 2017 Foreign Policy White Paper, the first comprehensive foreign affairs blueprint for Australia since 2003 and written to guide Australia’s external engagement for the next 10 years and beyond.

He is one of the foremost experts on the Chinese political-economy and on strategic and economic affairs pertaining to the Indo-Pacific.

His articles have been published in leading policy and academic journals in the United States, Asia and Australia and his first book was entitled Will China Fail? – published 2007 and updated and published again in 2009.

His opinions are published frequently by The Australian and has been published in more than 50 major newspapers and current affairs magazines in the United States, Asia, Europe, the Middle East and Oceania.

He received his Masters and Doctorate in International Relations from the University of Oxford and his Bachelor of Laws and Arts (1st Class – Philosophy) degrees from the University of New South Wales.

Dr Lee is based in Sydney, Australia.

Rowan Callick

Author and columnist Rowan Callick graduated with a BA Honours from Exeter University.

He worked for a daily newspaper in Britain before moving first to Papua New Guinea then Australia, spending 20 years on the Australian Financial Review, finally as Asia Pacific Editor.

He was China correspondent for the AFR from 1996-2000. From 1990-1992 he was a senior writer with Time. He joined The Australian in 2006, as China correspondent.

After three years in Beijing, he became The Australian’s Asia-Pacific editor in 2009. He returned to Beijing as China Correspondent from the 2016 to 2018 and continues to contribute to the newspaper.

He was appointed a fellow of the Australian Institute of International Affairs in 2013. His books include Comrades & Capitalists – Hong Kong Since the Handover, and Party Time: Who Runs China and How. He has won the Graham Perkin Award for Journalist of the Year and two Walkley Awards, Australian journalism’s highest honour.

Christopher Pyne (AU)

Christopher Pyne served as the 54th Australian Defence Minister, and was responsible for delivering the $200 billion build-up of Australia’s military capability, the largest in Australia’s peacetime history.

Serving previously as Minister for Defence Industry, Christopher assisted in the development of the 2016 Defence White Paper and implementing the Integrated Investment Program.

During his time as a Cabinet Minister in the Defence portfolio, Christopher:

• Awarded the $35 billion Hunter Class Anti-Submarine Warfare frigates contract to BAES;
• Backed in the $50 billion Attack Class Submarine project by Defence and Naval Group Australia;
• Awarded the $3.7 billion Arafura Class Offshore Patrol Vessel project to Luerssen Australia, CIVMEC and the ASC;
• Awarded the $5.2 billion Combat Reconnaissance Vehicle project to Rheinmettal Australia; and
• Secured Australia as the Asia Pacific hub for the sustainment and maintenance of the F35-A Joint Strike

Christopher also worked to ensure the growth and sustainment of Australia’s Defence Industry, and thus implemented Australia’s Defence Export Strategy, Defence Industrial Capability Plan, and the Naval Shipbuilding Plan. He also created the Defence Cooperative Research Centre, the Centre for Defence Industry Capability, the Defence Innovation Hub, and the Next Generation Technology Fund.

On an international scale, Christopher was responsible for creating the Pacific Step Up to strengthen Australia’s strategic role in the South Pacific, and was the architect of the Australian Government’s position that Jerusalem should be the capital of Israel and East Jerusalem the capital of a future Palestinian state.

Christopher also worked to strengthen Australia’s defence ties with other countries, establishing the Australia France Initiative to take advantage of the close relationship with France through the Attack Class Submarine Project. He settled Defence Memoranda of Understanding with Israel, China, and Switzerland, and initiated Memoranda of Understanding with the United Arab Emirates and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

Christopher was also the driving force behind the establishment of the Australia Space Agency.

Christopher was a Minister in the Howard, Abbott, Turnbull and Morrison Governments, holding various portfolios including Ageing, Education, Industry Innovation and Science, and Defence.

As a Minister for Education and Minister for Industry Innovation and Science, respectively, Christopher delivered the National Innovation and Science Agenda, reformed the national curriculum, introduced compulsory literacy and numeracy testing for Australian teaching graduates and expanded phonics teaching.

Stephen Crabb (UK)

Stephen Crabb is a Welsh Conservative and since 2005 has served as the Member of Parliament for Preseli Pembrokeshire.

Since January last year he has served as the chairman of the Welsh Affairs Select Committee.

He has served as Secretary of State for Work and Pensions and was previously a government whip, a junior minister for Wales and the Secretary of State for Wales.

He has degrees from Bristol University (BSc) and London Business School (MBA).

Theresa Villiers (UK)

Theresa Villiers has served as the Member of Parliament for Chipping Barnet since 2005, having previously served as a Member of the European Parliament from 1999 to 2005.

A member of the Conservative Party, Villiers was Minister of State for Rail and Aviation from 2010 to 2012, Secretary of State for Northern Ireland from 2012 to 2016 and Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs from 2019 to 2020.

She has a Bachelor of Laws degree with first-class honours in 1990 from the University of Bristol, and a postgraduate degree of Bachelor of Civil Law from Jesus College, Oxford.

She has also worked as a lecturer at King’s College, London

Michael Gapes

Michael Gapes was the Member of Parliament for Ilford South from 1992 to 2019.

He studied economics at Fitzwilliam College, Cambridge and later was chair of the National Organisation of Labour Students.

In Parliament he chaired the Foreign Affairs Select Committee from 2005 to 2010.

In February 2019, Gapes left the Labour Party in protest at Jeremy Corbyn‘s leadership to form The Independent Group, later Change UK, along with six other Labour MPs.

Lord Stuart Polak (UK)

CFI Honorary President

Lord Polak was elevated to the House of Lords in October 2015. He has sat on the EU Security and Justice Sub-Committee since May 2016, and sat on the European Union Committee from October 2018 until July 2019.

Lord Polak was appointed as only the second Director of Conservative Friends of Israel in 1989, a position which he held until 2015 when he was made Honorary President.

In March 2015, he was awarded the CBE for political services to Conservative Friends of Israel.

Born in Liverpool in 1961 where he grew up and was educated, Lord Polak began his career working for the Board of Deputies of British Jews in 1984 as Education Director.

He has coordinated and led more than 150 Conservative Friends of Israel delegations of politicians to Israel over 28 years and through this he has developed extensive relationships with MPs, Peers, MEPs and advisors throughout all levels of the Conservative Party.

Mark Regev (IL)

Mark Regev is senior adviser on foreign affairs and international communications to the Israeli Prime Minister and a weekly columnist in the Jerusalem Post.

He was international spokesperson for the Prime Minister’s Office from 2007 to 2015.

He served as Ambassador of Israel to the United Kingdom from 2016 to 2020.

He received his bachelor’s degree in political science and history at Melbourne University, and master’s degrees in political science from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, and in management from Boston University. Regev began his career as a lecturer on international relations and strategy at the Israel Defence Forces’ Staff College.

He joined Israel’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs in 1990, serving as deputy chief of mission at the Consulate General in Hong Kong, and spokesman at the Israeli Embassy in Beijing. He also served as spokesman at the Embassy in Washington. Regev was the spokesman for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Jerusalem from 2004 to 2007.

Boaz Ganor (IL)

Founder and executive director, International Institute for Counter-Terrorism

Professor Boaz Ganor is Ronald Lauder Chair for Counter-Terrorism and dean of the Lauder School of Government, Diplomacy and Strategy, Interdisciplinary Center, Herzliya, Israel. He serves as the founding president of the International Academic Counter-Terrorism Community, an international association of academic institutions, experts, and researchers in fields related to the study of terrorism and counter- terrorism. Boaz previously held positions at Stanford University, UC Berkeley, the Hoover Institution (Koret Distinguished Visiting Fellow), the Monterey Institute of International Studies, MIPT (The National Memorial for the Prevention of Terrorism), Hebrew University and Bar Ilan University. He was also a member of the international advisory team of the Manhattan Institute to the New York Police Department.

He is a member of the International Advisory Council of the International Centre for Political Violence and Terrorism Research at the Institute of Defence and Strategic Studies, Nanyang Technological University, The Republic of Singapore. He is also a co-founder of the International Centre for the Study of Radicalisation and Political Violence, a partnership between the University of Pennsylvania, Israel’s Interdisciplinary Centre, London’s King’s College and and the Regional Center on Conflict Prevention in Jordan. Since 2014, Ron has been a member of the executive committee of the academic advisory to the Institute for the Study of Global Anti-Semitism and Policy.

He has given briefings and/or testimonies to the United Nations Counter-Terrorism Executive Directorate, the Australian Parliament, the US Congress, the US Army, the FBI, the US Department of Homeland Security, as well as numerous intelligence, security and police services throughout the world. In 2001, Ron was appointed as a member of the advisory committee of the Israel National Security Council on Counter-Terrorism, and he has previously served as a member of the Israeli delegation to the Trilateral (American-Palestinian-Israeli) Committee for Monitoring Incitement to Violence and Terror. He also advised the Israeli delegation for peace negotiations with Jordan. In 1995, he was a consultant to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on his book Fighting Terrorism – How democracies can defeat domestic and international terrorism.

Ron has published numerous articles on terrorism and counter-terrorism. His book The Counter-Terrorism Puzzle – A Guide for Decision Makers (Transaction Publishers, 2005), is used as a text book in universities worldwide and his upcoming book, Global Alert: Modern terrorism rationality and the challenge to the democratic world will be published by Columbia University Press. He is also the editor of Countering Suicide Terrorism (2001) and Post-Modern Terrorism (2006). He a frequent media and television commentator and has appeared on the BBC, CNN, CBS, ABC, and in The New York Times, the Guardian, The Wall Street Journal, the Jerusalem Post, Haaretz and many other Israeli and international publications.

Dr. Liam Fox (UK)

The Rt Hon Dr Liam Fox MP has been Member of Parliament for North Somerset since 1992.  In John Major’s Government he served as a Minister at the Foreign & Commonwealth Office and as Government Whip (Lord Commissioner of the Treasury).  He had previously served as Parliamentary Private Secretary to Michael Howard, then Home Secretary.

Between 1997 and 2010, he held several roles on the Conservative Party Opposition Front Bench such as Constitutional Affairs Spokesman, Shadow Health Secretary, Conservative Party Chairman, Shadow Foreign Secretary and Shadow Defence Secretary.

In May 2010, Prime Minister David Cameron appointed him Secretary of State for Defence.  In 2013, he published ‘Rising Tides’ a book analysing crucial world issues with Tony Blair, Condoleezza Rice, Malcolm Rifkind and Donald Rumsfeld.

Between July 2016 and July 2019, he served in Prime Minister Theresa May’s Government as Secretary of State for International Trade and President of the Board of Trade.  As International Trade Secretary he was tasked with creating the UK’s first Independent Trade Policy for forty years post-Brexit.  During his time in post he strongly argued for global trade liberalisation, championed free trade and supported a rules-based system with WTO reform.

Before entering politics, Dr Fox worked as an NHS doctor and then as a family GP.  He is also a former Civilian Army Medical Officer and Divisional Surgeon with St John Ambulance.  In 2012, he founded the military charity ‘Give Us Time’.

He was born in Scotland and attended St Bride’s High School, the biggest comprehensive state school in Europe, before studying medicine at the University of Glasgow Medical School.

Itamar Marcus (IL)

Itamar Marcus, founder and director of Palestinian Media Watch is one of the foremost authorities on Palestinian ideology and policy. Marcus has published hundreds of reports and articles on Palestinian society, education, and media exposing PA hate and terror promotion in education, sports, culture and other frameworks the PA controls. PMW’s work has changed the way the world sees the Palestinian Authority.

Marcus has made numerous presentations to legislators, governments, and other decision-makers. His book Deception, co-authored with Nan Jacques Zilberdik, was acclaimed by the founder of Human Rights Watch, Robert Bernstein, as “one of the most important books you handle in your lives.”

Marcus was appointed by the Israeli Government to represent Israel in negotiations on incitement with the Palestinian Authority (PA) in 1999. He has received awards from ZOA, Israel Media Watch, and EMET, and was recognized as being among the world’s “top 100 people positively influencing Jewish life or the State of Israel,” by The Algemeiner newspaper.

Dr. Jonathan Barnett

Coming soon.

Albert Dadon

Albert is a musician, entrepreneur, and chairman and founder of the International Institute for Strategic Leadership Dialogue.

He is the founder and executive chairman of Ubertas Group, a prominent property development company of medium and high-density projects in residential apartments and hotels.

He supports numerous philanthropic initiatives and works for the community in a range of activities covering international affairs and cultural events.

In 2008, he was awarded an Order of Australia for services to the arts, particularly through the Melbourne International Jazz Festival, to the community through philanthropic support for cultural and charitable organisations, and to business. He founded the Australia Israel Cultural Exchange in 2002, an organisation launched through a joint communiqué between the Australian and Israeli Governments (the only such joint communiqué to date). The organisation was launched simultaneously by the then respective Foreign Ministers of the two countries, Alexander Downer and Benjamin Netanyahu.

He then launched the Australia Israel UK Leadership Dialogue to promotes trilateral relations between Australia, Israel and the United Kingdom. It evolved from the first forum that took place in Israel in June, 2009, under the leadership of then Deputy Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard and five Dialogues took place. This year it is reorganised and expanded into the International Institute of Strategic Leadership Dialogue.

Mr Dadon is also an active performing jazz musician and has released a dozen albums since 1990. Last year he was awarded the Chevalier of

Nir Shaviv

profile coming soon

Ian Plimer

Professor Ian Plimer is Australia’s best-known geologist.

He is Emeritus Professor of Earth Sciences at the University of Melbourne, where he was Professor and Head of Earth Sciences (1991-2005) after serving at the University of Newcastle (1985-1991) as Professor and Head of Geology.

He was Professor of Mining Geology at The University of Adelaide (2006-2012) and in 1991 was also German Research Foundation Professor of Ore Deposits at the Ludwig Maximilians Universität, München.

He has served on the staff of the University of New England, the University of New South Wales and Macquarie University.

He has published more than 120 scientific papers on geology and was one of the trinity of editors for the five-volume Encyclopedia of Geology and is a well-known commentator in newspapers and magazines.

Plimer won the Leopold von Buch Plakette (German Geological Society), the Clarke Medal (Royal Society of NSW), the Sir Willis Connolly Medal (Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy). He is a Fellow of the Australian Academy of Technological Sciences and Engineering and an Honorary Fellow of the Geological Society of London. He has been an adviser to governments and corporations and a regular broadcaster.

He worked for North Broken Hill Ltd, has been a consultant to many major mining companies and has been a director of numerous exploration public companies listed in London, Toronto and Sydney.

A new Broken Hill mineral, plimerite, was named in recognition of his contribution to Broken Hill geology.

Peter Ridd

Peter Ridd is a geophysicist with more than 100 publications and 35 years’ experience working on the Great Barrier Reef and instrumentation development.

He worked on the physical oceanography of the reef, and also developed a wide range of world-first optical and electronic instruments for measuring environmental conditions near corals and other ecosystems.

He was head of physics at James Cook University for more than a decade before being sacked, in 2018, for questioning the quality assurance systems used by reef science institutions.

Some of the poor-quality work relates to the affect, or lack of affect, of climate change, and agriculture, on the reef.

Ridd now works, unpaid, with agricultural organisations, to improve quality assurance systems of “science” used by Australian governments to make environmental laws and regulations that seriously affect farmers.

He is also an adjunct fellow at the Institute of Public Affairs.

Benny Peiser

profile coming soon

Anne-Marie Brady

Anne-Marie Brady is a professor of political science at the University of Canterbury.

She specialises in Chinese domestic and foreign politics, Antarctic and Arctic politics, Pacific politics, and New Zealand foreign policy. Her research on Antarctic politics, China’s polar interests, and the Chinese Communist Party’s domestic and foreign policy, in particular, foreign interference activities, has led to policy adjustments by the US, New Zealand, Australian, British and Canadian governments and the European Union.

She has a BA (Chinese and political studies) from the University of Auckland, a Masters of Asian Studies with first class honours and has a PhD in East Asian Studies from the Australian National University.

John Lee (AU)

Dr John Lee is a senior fellow and adjunct professor at the United States Studies Centre at the University of Sydney. He is also a senior fellow at the Hudson Institute in Washington DC.

From 2016-2018, he was senior adviser to Australian Minister for Foreign Affairs, Julie Bishop. In this role, he served as the principal adviser on Asia and for economic, strategic and political affairs in the Indo-Pacific region.

John was also appointed the Foreign Minister’s lead adviser on the 2017 Foreign Policy White Paper, the first comprehensive foreign affairs blueprint for Australia since 2003 and written to guide Australia’s external engagement for the next 10 years and beyond.

He is one of the foremost experts on the Chinese political-economy and on strategic and economic affairs pertaining to the Indo-Pacific.

His articles have been published in leading policy and academic journals in the United States, Asia and Australia and his first book was entitled Will China Fail? – published 2007 and updated and published again in 2009.

His opinions are published frequently by The Australian and has been published in more than 50 major newspapers and current affairs magazines in the United States, Asia, Europe, the Middle East and Oceania.

He received his Masters and Doctorate in International Relations from the University of Oxford and his Bachelor of Laws and Arts (1st Class – Philosophy) degrees from the University of New South Wales.

Dr Lee is based in Sydney, Australia.

Rowan Callick

Author and columnist Rowan Callick graduated with a BA Honours from Exeter University.

He worked for a daily newspaper in Britain before moving first to Papua New Guinea then Australia, spending 20 years on the Australian Financial Review, finally as Asia Pacific Editor.

He was China correspondent for the AFR from 1996-2000. From 1990-1992 he was a senior writer with Time. He joined The Australian in 2006, as China correspondent.

After three years in Beijing, he became The Australian’s Asia-Pacific editor in 2009. He returned to Beijing as China Correspondent from the 2016 to 2018 and continues to contribute to the newspaper.

He was appointed a fellow of the Australian Institute of International Affairs in 2013. His books include Comrades & Capitalists – Hong Kong Since the Handover, and Party Time: Who Runs China and How. He has won the Graham Perkin Award for Journalist of the Year and two Walkley Awards, Australian journalism’s highest honour.

Christopher Pyne (AU)

Christopher Pyne served as the 54th Australian Defence Minister, and was responsible for delivering the $200 billion build-up of Australia’s military capability, the largest in Australia’s peacetime history.

Serving previously as Minister for Defence Industry, Christopher assisted in the development of the 2016 Defence White Paper and implementing the Integrated Investment Program.

During his time as a Cabinet Minister in the Defence portfolio, Christopher:

• Awarded the $35 billion Hunter Class Anti-Submarine Warfare frigates contract to BAES;
• Backed in the $50 billion Attack Class Submarine project by Defence and Naval Group Australia;
• Awarded the $3.7 billion Arafura Class Offshore Patrol Vessel project to Luerssen Australia, CIVMEC and the ASC;
• Awarded the $5.2 billion Combat Reconnaissance Vehicle project to Rheinmettal Australia; and
• Secured Australia as the Asia Pacific hub for the sustainment and maintenance of the F35-A Joint Strike

Christopher also worked to ensure the growth and sustainment of Australia’s Defence Industry, and thus implemented Australia’s Defence Export Strategy, Defence Industrial Capability Plan, and the Naval Shipbuilding Plan. He also created the Defence Cooperative Research Centre, the Centre for Defence Industry Capability, the Defence Innovation Hub, and the Next Generation Technology Fund.

On an international scale, Christopher was responsible for creating the Pacific Step Up to strengthen Australia’s strategic role in the South Pacific, and was the architect of the Australian Government’s position that Jerusalem should be the capital of Israel and East Jerusalem the capital of a future Palestinian state.

Christopher also worked to strengthen Australia’s defence ties with other countries, establishing the Australia France Initiative to take advantage of the close relationship with France through the Attack Class Submarine Project. He settled Defence Memoranda of Understanding with Israel, China, and Switzerland, and initiated Memoranda of Understanding with the United Arab Emirates and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

Christopher was also the driving force behind the establishment of the Australia Space Agency.

Christopher was a Minister in the Howard, Abbott, Turnbull and Morrison Governments, holding various portfolios including Ageing, Education, Industry Innovation and Science, and Defence.

As a Minister for Education and Minister for Industry Innovation and Science, respectively, Christopher delivered the National Innovation and Science Agenda, reformed the national curriculum, introduced compulsory literacy and numeracy testing for Australian teaching graduates and expanded phonics teaching.

Stephen Crabb (UK)

Stephen Crabb is a Welsh Conservative and since 2005 has served as the Member of Parliament for Preseli Pembrokeshire.

Since January last year he has served as the chairman of the Welsh Affairs Select Committee.

He has served as Secretary of State for Work and Pensions and was previously a government whip, a junior minister for Wales and the Secretary of State for Wales.

He has degrees from Bristol University (BSc) and London Business School (MBA).

Theresa Villiers (UK)

Theresa Villiers has served as the Member of Parliament for Chipping Barnet since 2005, having previously served as a Member of the European Parliament from 1999 to 2005.

A member of the Conservative Party, Villiers was Minister of State for Rail and Aviation from 2010 to 2012, Secretary of State for Northern Ireland from 2012 to 2016 and Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs from 2019 to 2020.

She has a Bachelor of Laws degree with first-class honours in 1990 from the University of Bristol, and a postgraduate degree of Bachelor of Civil Law from Jesus College, Oxford.

She has also worked as a lecturer at King’s College, London

Michael Gapes

Michael Gapes was the Member of Parliament for Ilford South from 1992 to 2019.

He studied economics at Fitzwilliam College, Cambridge and later was chair of the National Organisation of Labour Students.

In Parliament he chaired the Foreign Affairs Select Committee from 2005 to 2010.

In February 2019, Gapes left the Labour Party in protest at Jeremy Corbyn‘s leadership to form The Independent Group, later Change UK, along with six other Labour MPs.

Lord Stuart Polak (UK)

CFI Honorary President

Lord Polak was elevated to the House of Lords in October 2015. He has sat on the EU Security and Justice Sub-Committee since May 2016, and sat on the European Union Committee from October 2018 until July 2019.

Lord Polak was appointed as only the second Director of Conservative Friends of Israel in 1989, a position which he held until 2015 when he was made Honorary President.

In March 2015, he was awarded the CBE for political services to Conservative Friends of Israel.

Born in Liverpool in 1961 where he grew up and was educated, Lord Polak began his career working for the Board of Deputies of British Jews in 1984 as Education Director.

He has coordinated and led more than 150 Conservative Friends of Israel delegations of politicians to Israel over 28 years and through this he has developed extensive relationships with MPs, Peers, MEPs and advisors throughout all levels of the Conservative Party.

Mark Regev (IL)

Mark Regev is senior adviser on foreign affairs and international communications to the Israeli Prime Minister and a weekly columnist in the Jerusalem Post.

He was international spokesperson for the Prime Minister’s Office from 2007 to 2015.

He served as Ambassador of Israel to the United Kingdom from 2016 to 2020.

He received his bachelor’s degree in political science and history at Melbourne University, and master’s degrees in political science from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, and in management from Boston University. Regev began his career as a lecturer on international relations and strategy at the Israel Defence Forces’ Staff College.

He joined Israel’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs in 1990, serving as deputy chief of mission at the Consulate General in Hong Kong, and spokesman at the Israeli Embassy in Beijing. He also served as spokesman at the Embassy in Washington. Regev was the spokesman for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Jerusalem from 2004 to 2007.

Boaz Ganor (IL)

Founder and executive director, International Institute for Counter-Terrorism

Professor Boaz Ganor is Ronald Lauder Chair for Counter-Terrorism and dean of the Lauder School of Government, Diplomacy and Strategy, Interdisciplinary Center, Herzliya, Israel. He serves as the founding president of the International Academic Counter-Terrorism Community, an international association of academic institutions, experts, and researchers in fields related to the study of terrorism and counter- terrorism. Boaz previously held positions at Stanford University, UC Berkeley, the Hoover Institution (Koret Distinguished Visiting Fellow), the Monterey Institute of International Studies, MIPT (The National Memorial for the Prevention of Terrorism), Hebrew University and Bar Ilan University. He was also a member of the international advisory team of the Manhattan Institute to the New York Police Department.

He is a member of the International Advisory Council of the International Centre for Political Violence and Terrorism Research at the Institute of Defence and Strategic Studies, Nanyang Technological University, The Republic of Singapore. He is also a co-founder of the International Centre for the Study of Radicalisation and Political Violence, a partnership between the University of Pennsylvania, Israel’s Interdisciplinary Centre, London’s King’s College and and the Regional Center on Conflict Prevention in Jordan. Since 2014, Ron has been a member of the executive committee of the academic advisory to the Institute for the Study of Global Anti-Semitism and Policy.

He has given briefings and/or testimonies to the United Nations Counter-Terrorism Executive Directorate, the Australian Parliament, the US Congress, the US Army, the FBI, the US Department of Homeland Security, as well as numerous intelligence, security and police services throughout the world. In 2001, Ron was appointed as a member of the advisory committee of the Israel National Security Council on Counter-Terrorism, and he has previously served as a member of the Israeli delegation to the Trilateral (American-Palestinian-Israeli) Committee for Monitoring Incitement to Violence and Terror. He also advised the Israeli delegation for peace negotiations with Jordan. In 1995, he was a consultant to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on his book Fighting Terrorism – How democracies can defeat domestic and international terrorism.

Ron has published numerous articles on terrorism and counter-terrorism. His book The Counter-Terrorism Puzzle – A Guide for Decision Makers (Transaction Publishers, 2005), is used as a text book in universities worldwide and his upcoming book, Global Alert: Modern terrorism rationality and the challenge to the democratic world will be published by Columbia University Press. He is also the editor of Countering Suicide Terrorism (2001) and Post-Modern Terrorism (2006). He a frequent media and television commentator and has appeared on the BBC, CNN, CBS, ABC, and in The New York Times, the Guardian, The Wall Street Journal, the Jerusalem Post, Haaretz and many other Israeli and international publications.

Dr. Liam Fox (UK)

The Rt Hon Dr Liam Fox MP has been Member of Parliament for North Somerset since 1992.  In John Major’s Government he served as a Minister at the Foreign & Commonwealth Office and as Government Whip (Lord Commissioner of the Treasury).  He had previously served as Parliamentary Private Secretary to Michael Howard, then Home Secretary.

Between 1997 and 2010, he held several roles on the Conservative Party Opposition Front Bench such as Constitutional Affairs Spokesman, Shadow Health Secretary, Conservative Party Chairman, Shadow Foreign Secretary and Shadow Defence Secretary.

In May 2010, Prime Minister David Cameron appointed him Secretary of State for Defence.  In 2013, he published ‘Rising Tides’ a book analysing crucial world issues with Tony Blair, Condoleezza Rice, Malcolm Rifkind and Donald Rumsfeld.

Between July 2016 and July 2019, he served in Prime Minister Theresa May’s Government as Secretary of State for International Trade and President of the Board of Trade.  As International Trade Secretary he was tasked with creating the UK’s first Independent Trade Policy for forty years post-Brexit.  During his time in post he strongly argued for global trade liberalisation, championed free trade and supported a rules-based system with WTO reform.

Before entering politics, Dr Fox worked as an NHS doctor and then as a family GP.  He is also a former Civilian Army Medical Officer and Divisional Surgeon with St John Ambulance.  In 2012, he founded the military charity ‘Give Us Time’.

He was born in Scotland and attended St Bride’s High School, the biggest comprehensive state school in Europe, before studying medicine at the University of Glasgow Medical School.

Itamar Marcus (IL)

Itamar Marcus, founder and director of Palestinian Media Watch is one of the foremost authorities on Palestinian ideology and policy. Marcus has published hundreds of reports and articles on Palestinian society, education, and media exposing PA hate and terror promotion in education, sports, culture and other frameworks the PA controls. PMW’s work has changed the way the world sees the Palestinian Authority.

Marcus has made numerous presentations to legislators, governments, and other decision-makers. His book Deception, co-authored with Nan Jacques Zilberdik, was acclaimed by the founder of Human Rights Watch, Robert Bernstein, as “one of the most important books you handle in your lives.”

Marcus was appointed by the Israeli Government to represent Israel in negotiations on incitement with the Palestinian Authority (PA) in 1999. He has received awards from ZOA, Israel Media Watch, and EMET, and was recognized as being among the world’s “top 100 people positively influencing Jewish life or the State of Israel,” by The Algemeiner newspaper.

Dr. Jonathan Barnett

Coming soon.

Albert Dadon

Albert is a musician, entrepreneur, and chairman and founder of the International Institute for Strategic Leadership Dialogue.

He is the founder and executive chairman of Ubertas Group, a prominent property development company of medium and high-density projects in residential apartments and hotels.

He supports numerous philanthropic initiatives and works for the community in a range of activities covering international affairs and cultural events.

In 2008, he was awarded an Order of Australia for services to the arts, particularly through the Melbourne International Jazz Festival, to the community through philanthropic support for cultural and charitable organisations, and to business. He founded the Australia Israel Cultural Exchange in 2002, an organisation launched through a joint communiqué between the Australian and Israeli Governments (the only such joint communiqué to date). The organisation was launched simultaneously by the then respective Foreign Ministers of the two countries, Alexander Downer and Benjamin Netanyahu.

He then launched the Australia Israel UK Leadership Dialogue to promotes trilateral relations between Australia, Israel and the United Kingdom. It evolved from the first forum that took place in Israel in June, 2009, under the leadership of then Deputy Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard and five Dialogues took place. This year it is reorganised and expanded into the International Institute of Strategic Leadership Dialogue.

Mr Dadon is also an active performing jazz musician and has released a dozen albums since 1990. Last year he was awarded the Chevalier of

Nir Shaviv

profile coming soon

Ian Plimer

Professor Ian Plimer is Australia’s best-known geologist.

He is Emeritus Professor of Earth Sciences at the University of Melbourne, where he was Professor and Head of Earth Sciences (1991-2005) after serving at the University of Newcastle (1985-1991) as Professor and Head of Geology.

He was Professor of Mining Geology at The University of Adelaide (2006-2012) and in 1991 was also German Research Foundation Professor of Ore Deposits at the Ludwig Maximilians Universität, München.

He has served on the staff of the University of New England, the University of New South Wales and Macquarie University.

He has published more than 120 scientific papers on geology and was one of the trinity of editors for the five-volume Encyclopedia of Geology and is a well-known commentator in newspapers and magazines.

Plimer won the Leopold von Buch Plakette (German Geological Society), the Clarke Medal (Royal Society of NSW), the Sir Willis Connolly Medal (Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy). He is a Fellow of the Australian Academy of Technological Sciences and Engineering and an Honorary Fellow of the Geological Society of London. He has been an adviser to governments and corporations and a regular broadcaster.

He worked for North Broken Hill Ltd, has been a consultant to many major mining companies and has been a director of numerous exploration public companies listed in London, Toronto and Sydney.

A new Broken Hill mineral, plimerite, was named in recognition of his contribution to Broken Hill geology.

Peter Ridd

Peter Ridd is a geophysicist with more than 100 publications and 35 years’ experience working on the Great Barrier Reef and instrumentation development.

He worked on the physical oceanography of the reef, and also developed a wide range of world-first optical and electronic instruments for measuring environmental conditions near corals and other ecosystems.

He was head of physics at James Cook University for more than a decade before being sacked, in 2018, for questioning the quality assurance systems used by reef science institutions.

Some of the poor-quality work relates to the affect, or lack of affect, of climate change, and agriculture, on the reef.

Ridd now works, unpaid, with agricultural organisations, to improve quality assurance systems of “science” used by Australian governments to make environmental laws and regulations that seriously affect farmers.

He is also an adjunct fellow at the Institute of Public Affairs.

Benny Peiser

profile coming soon

Michael Easson (AU)

Michael Easson is executive chair of EG Funds Management, with offices in Sydney, Australia, and Austin, Texas, and co-founder and executive director of the building technology company Willow Inc., with offices in Sydney, New York, London and Tel Aviv. He is the first independent chair of the Association of Superannuation Funds of Australia. After serving in several significant positions in the Australian trade union movement, for the last 25 years Michael has worked in business, including serving on boards in many fields including insurance, infrastructure, construction, sport, and the arts. He has a long standing interest in and has written articles on the Middle East and Australian foreign policy. He has a BA (Hons.) in politics from the University of NSW (UNSW); a MSc from Campion Hall, the University of Oxford; a PhD in History from the Australia Defence Academy, UNSW; and a PhD in transp

Anne-Marie Brady

Anne-Marie Brady is a professor of political science at the University of Canterbury.

She specialises in Chinese domestic and foreign politics, Antarctic and Arctic politics, Pacific politics, and New Zealand foreign policy. Her research on Antarctic politics, China’s polar interests, and the Chinese Communist Party’s domestic and foreign policy, in particular, foreign interference activities, has led to policy adjustments by the US, New Zealand, Australian, British and Canadian governments and the European Union.

She has a BA (Chinese and political studies) from the University of Auckland, a Masters of Asian Studies with first class honours and has a PhD in East Asian Studies from the Australian National University.

John Lee (AU)

Dr John Lee is a senior fellow and adjunct professor at the United States Studies Centre at the University of Sydney. He is also a senior fellow at the Hudson Institute in Washington DC.

From 2016-2018, he was senior adviser to Australian Minister for Foreign Affairs, Julie Bishop. In this role, he served as the principal adviser on Asia and for economic, strategic and political affairs in the Indo-Pacific region.

John was also appointed the Foreign Minister’s lead adviser on the 2017 Foreign Policy White Paper, the first comprehensive foreign affairs blueprint for Australia since 2003 and written to guide Australia’s external engagement for the next 10 years and beyond.

He is one of the foremost experts on the Chinese political-economy and on strategic and economic affairs pertaining to the Indo-Pacific.

His articles have been published in leading policy and academic journals in the United States, Asia and Australia and his first book was entitled Will China Fail? – published 2007 and updated and published again in 2009.

His opinions are published frequently by The Australian and has been published in more than 50 major newspapers and current affairs magazines in the United States, Asia, Europe, the Middle East and Oceania.

He received his Masters and Doctorate in International Relations from the University of Oxford and his Bachelor of Laws and Arts (1st Class – Philosophy) degrees from the University of New South Wales.

Dr Lee is based in Sydney, Australia.

Rowan Callick

Author and columnist Rowan Callick graduated with a BA Honours from Exeter University.

He worked for a daily newspaper in Britain before moving first to Papua New Guinea then Australia, spending 20 years on the Australian Financial Review, finally as Asia Pacific Editor.

He was China correspondent for the AFR from 1996-2000. From 1990-1992 he was a senior writer with Time. He joined The Australian in 2006, as China correspondent.

After three years in Beijing, he became The Australian’s Asia-Pacific editor in 2009. He returned to Beijing as China Correspondent from the 2016 to 2018 and continues to contribute to the newspaper.

He was appointed a fellow of the Australian Institute of International Affairs in 2013. His books include Comrades & Capitalists – Hong Kong Since the Handover, and Party Time: Who Runs China and How. He has won the Graham Perkin Award for Journalist of the Year and two Walkley Awards, Australian journalism’s highest honour.

Christopher Pyne (AU)

Christopher Pyne served as the 54th Australian Defence Minister, and was responsible for delivering the $200 billion build-up of Australia’s military capability, the largest in Australia’s peacetime history.

Serving previously as Minister for Defence Industry, Christopher assisted in the development of the 2016 Defence White Paper and implementing the Integrated Investment Program.

During his time as a Cabinet Minister in the Defence portfolio, Christopher:

• Awarded the $35 billion Hunter Class Anti-Submarine Warfare frigates contract to BAES;
• Backed in the $50 billion Attack Class Submarine project by Defence and Naval Group Australia;
• Awarded the $3.7 billion Arafura Class Offshore Patrol Vessel project to Luerssen Australia, CIVMEC and the ASC;
• Awarded the $5.2 billion Combat Reconnaissance Vehicle project to Rheinmettal Australia; and
• Secured Australia as the Asia Pacific hub for the sustainment and maintenance of the F35-A Joint Strike

Christopher also worked to ensure the growth and sustainment of Australia’s Defence Industry, and thus implemented Australia’s Defence Export Strategy, Defence Industrial Capability Plan, and the Naval Shipbuilding Plan. He also created the Defence Cooperative Research Centre, the Centre for Defence Industry Capability, the Defence Innovation Hub, and the Next Generation Technology Fund.

On an international scale, Christopher was responsible for creating the Pacific Step Up to strengthen Australia’s strategic role in the South Pacific, and was the architect of the Australian Government’s position that Jerusalem should be the capital of Israel and East Jerusalem the capital of a future Palestinian state.

Christopher also worked to strengthen Australia’s defence ties with other countries, establishing the Australia France Initiative to take advantage of the close relationship with France through the Attack Class Submarine Project. He settled Defence Memoranda of Understanding with Israel, China, and Switzerland, and initiated Memoranda of Understanding with the United Arab Emirates and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

Christopher was also the driving force behind the establishment of the Australia Space Agency.

Christopher was a Minister in the Howard, Abbott, Turnbull and Morrison Governments, holding various portfolios including Ageing, Education, Industry Innovation and Science, and Defence.

As a Minister for Education and Minister for Industry Innovation and Science, respectively, Christopher delivered the National Innovation and Science Agenda, reformed the national curriculum, introduced compulsory literacy and numeracy testing for Australian teaching graduates and expanded phonics teaching.

Stephen Crabb (UK)

Stephen Crabb is a Welsh Conservative and since 2005 has served as the Member of Parliament for Preseli Pembrokeshire.

Since January last year he has served as the chairman of the Welsh Affairs Select Committee.

He has served as Secretary of State for Work and Pensions and was previously a government whip, a junior minister for Wales and the Secretary of State for Wales.

He has degrees from Bristol University (BSc) and London Business School (MBA).

Theresa Villiers (UK)

Theresa Villiers has served as the Member of Parliament for Chipping Barnet since 2005, having previously served as a Member of the European Parliament from 1999 to 2005.

A member of the Conservative Party, Villiers was Minister of State for Rail and Aviation from 2010 to 2012, Secretary of State for Northern Ireland from 2012 to 2016 and Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs from 2019 to 2020.

She has a Bachelor of Laws degree with first-class honours in 1990 from the University of Bristol, and a postgraduate degree of Bachelor of Civil Law from Jesus College, Oxford.

She has also worked as a lecturer at King’s College, London

Michael Gapes

Michael Gapes was the Member of Parliament for Ilford South from 1992 to 2019.

He studied economics at Fitzwilliam College, Cambridge and later was chair of the National Organisation of Labour Students.

In Parliament he chaired the Foreign Affairs Select Committee from 2005 to 2010.

In February 2019, Gapes left the Labour Party in protest at Jeremy Corbyn‘s leadership to form The Independent Group, later Change UK, along with six other Labour MPs.

Lord Stuart Polak (UK)

CFI Honorary President

Lord Polak was elevated to the House of Lords in October 2015. He has sat on the EU Security and Justice Sub-Committee since May 2016, and sat on the European Union Committee from October 2018 until July 2019.

Lord Polak was appointed as only the second Director of Conservative Friends of Israel in 1989, a position which he held until 2015 when he was made Honorary President.

In March 2015, he was awarded the CBE for political services to Conservative Friends of Israel.

Born in Liverpool in 1961 where he grew up and was educated, Lord Polak began his career working for the Board of Deputies of British Jews in 1984 as Education Director.

He has coordinated and led more than 150 Conservative Friends of Israel delegations of politicians to Israel over 28 years and through this he has developed extensive relationships with MPs, Peers, MEPs and advisors throughout all levels of the Conservative Party.

Mark Regev (IL)

Mark Regev is senior adviser on foreign affairs and international communications to the Israeli Prime Minister and a weekly columnist in the Jerusalem Post.

He was international spokesperson for the Prime Minister’s Office from 2007 to 2015.

He served as Ambassador of Israel to the United Kingdom from 2016 to 2020.

He received his bachelor’s degree in political science and history at Melbourne University, and master’s degrees in political science from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, and in management from Boston University. Regev began his career as a lecturer on international relations and strategy at the Israel Defence Forces’ Staff College.

He joined Israel’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs in 1990, serving as deputy chief of mission at the Consulate General in Hong Kong, and spokesman at the Israeli Embassy in Beijing. He also served as spokesman at the Embassy in Washington. Regev was the spokesman for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Jerusalem from 2004 to 2007.

Boaz Ganor (IL)

Founder and executive director, International Institute for Counter-Terrorism

Professor Boaz Ganor is Ronald Lauder Chair for Counter-Terrorism and dean of the Lauder School of Government, Diplomacy and Strategy, Interdisciplinary Center, Herzliya, Israel. He serves as the founding president of the International Academic Counter-Terrorism Community, an international association of academic institutions, experts, and researchers in fields related to the study of terrorism and counter- terrorism. Boaz previously held positions at Stanford University, UC Berkeley, the Hoover Institution (Koret Distinguished Visiting Fellow), the Monterey Institute of International Studies, MIPT (The National Memorial for the Prevention of Terrorism), Hebrew University and Bar Ilan University. He was also a member of the international advisory team of the Manhattan Institute to the New York Police Department.

He is a member of the International Advisory Council of the International Centre for Political Violence and Terrorism Research at the Institute of Defence and Strategic Studies, Nanyang Technological University, The Republic of Singapore. He is also a co-founder of the International Centre for the Study of Radicalisation and Political Violence, a partnership between the University of Pennsylvania, Israel’s Interdisciplinary Centre, London’s King’s College and and the Regional Center on Conflict Prevention in Jordan. Since 2014, Ron has been a member of the executive committee of the academic advisory to the Institute for the Study of Global Anti-Semitism and Policy.

He has given briefings and/or testimonies to the United Nations Counter-Terrorism Executive Directorate, the Australian Parliament, the US Congress, the US Army, the FBI, the US Department of Homeland Security, as well as numerous intelligence, security and police services throughout the world. In 2001, Ron was appointed as a member of the advisory committee of the Israel National Security Council on Counter-Terrorism, and he has previously served as a member of the Israeli delegation to the Trilateral (American-Palestinian-Israeli) Committee for Monitoring Incitement to Violence and Terror. He also advised the Israeli delegation for peace negotiations with Jordan. In 1995, he was a consultant to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on his book Fighting Terrorism – How democracies can defeat domestic and international terrorism.

Ron has published numerous articles on terrorism and counter-terrorism. His book The Counter-Terrorism Puzzle – A Guide for Decision Makers (Transaction Publishers, 2005), is used as a text book in universities worldwide and his upcoming book, Global Alert: Modern terrorism rationality and the challenge to the democratic world will be published by Columbia University Press. He is also the editor of Countering Suicide Terrorism (2001) and Post-Modern Terrorism (2006). He a frequent media and television commentator and has appeared on the BBC, CNN, CBS, ABC, and in The New York Times, the Guardian, The Wall Street Journal, the Jerusalem Post, Haaretz and many other Israeli and international publications.

Dr. Liam Fox (UK)

The Rt Hon Dr Liam Fox MP has been Member of Parliament for North Somerset since 1992.  In John Major’s Government he served as a Minister at the Foreign & Commonwealth Office and as Government Whip (Lord Commissioner of the Treasury).  He had previously served as Parliamentary Private Secretary to Michael Howard, then Home Secretary.

Between 1997 and 2010, he held several roles on the Conservative Party Opposition Front Bench such as Constitutional Affairs Spokesman, Shadow Health Secretary, Conservative Party Chairman, Shadow Foreign Secretary and Shadow Defence Secretary.

In May 2010, Prime Minister David Cameron appointed him Secretary of State for Defence.  In 2013, he published ‘Rising Tides’ a book analysing crucial world issues with Tony Blair, Condoleezza Rice, Malcolm Rifkind and Donald Rumsfeld.

Between July 2016 and July 2019, he served in Prime Minister Theresa May’s Government as Secretary of State for International Trade and President of the Board of Trade.  As International Trade Secretary he was tasked with creating the UK’s first Independent Trade Policy for forty years post-Brexit.  During his time in post he strongly argued for global trade liberalisation, championed free trade and supported a rules-based system with WTO reform.

Before entering politics, Dr Fox worked as an NHS doctor and then as a family GP.  He is also a former Civilian Army Medical Officer and Divisional Surgeon with St John Ambulance.  In 2012, he founded the military charity ‘Give Us Time’.

He was born in Scotland and attended St Bride’s High School, the biggest comprehensive state school in Europe, before studying medicine at the University of Glasgow Medical School.

Itamar Marcus (IL)

Itamar Marcus, founder and director of Palestinian Media Watch is one of the foremost authorities on Palestinian ideology and policy. Marcus has published hundreds of reports and articles on Palestinian society, education, and media exposing PA hate and terror promotion in education, sports, culture and other frameworks the PA controls. PMW’s work has changed the way the world sees the Palestinian Authority.

Marcus has made numerous presentations to legislators, governments, and other decision-makers. His book Deception, co-authored with Nan Jacques Zilberdik, was acclaimed by the founder of Human Rights Watch, Robert Bernstein, as “one of the most important books you handle in your lives.”

Marcus was appointed by the Israeli Government to represent Israel in negotiations on incitement with the Palestinian Authority (PA) in 1999. He has received awards from ZOA, Israel Media Watch, and EMET, and was recognized as being among the world’s “top 100 people positively influencing Jewish life or the State of Israel,” by The Algemeiner newspaper.

Dr. Jonathan Barnett

Coming soon.

Albert Dadon

Albert is a musician, entrepreneur, and chairman and founder of the International Institute for Strategic Leadership Dialogue.

He is the founder and executive chairman of Ubertas Group, a prominent property development company of medium and high-density projects in residential apartments and hotels.

He supports numerous philanthropic initiatives and works for the community in a range of activities covering international affairs and cultural events.

In 2008, he was awarded an Order of Australia for services to the arts, particularly through the Melbourne International Jazz Festival, to the community through philanthropic support for cultural and charitable organisations, and to business. He founded the Australia Israel Cultural Exchange in 2002, an organisation launched through a joint communiqué between the Australian and Israeli Governments (the only such joint communiqué to date). The organisation was launched simultaneously by the then respective Foreign Ministers of the two countries, Alexander Downer and Benjamin Netanyahu.

He then launched the Australia Israel UK Leadership Dialogue to promotes trilateral relations between Australia, Israel and the United Kingdom. It evolved from the first forum that took place in Israel in June, 2009, under the leadership of then Deputy Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard and five Dialogues took place. This year it is reorganised and expanded into the International Institute of Strategic Leadership Dialogue.

Mr Dadon is also an active performing jazz musician and has released a dozen albums since 1990. Last year he was awarded the Chevalier of

Nir Shaviv

profile coming soon

Ian Plimer

Professor Ian Plimer is Australia’s best-known geologist.

He is Emeritus Professor of Earth Sciences at the University of Melbourne, where he was Professor and Head of Earth Sciences (1991-2005) after serving at the University of Newcastle (1985-1991) as Professor and Head of Geology.

He was Professor of Mining Geology at The University of Adelaide (2006-2012) and in 1991 was also German Research Foundation Professor of Ore Deposits at the Ludwig Maximilians Universität, München.

He has served on the staff of the University of New England, the University of New South Wales and Macquarie University.

He has published more than 120 scientific papers on geology and was one of the trinity of editors for the five-volume Encyclopedia of Geology and is a well-known commentator in newspapers and magazines.

Plimer won the Leopold von Buch Plakette (German Geological Society), the Clarke Medal (Royal Society of NSW), the Sir Willis Connolly Medal (Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy). He is a Fellow of the Australian Academy of Technological Sciences and Engineering and an Honorary Fellow of the Geological Society of London. He has been an adviser to governments and corporations and a regular broadcaster.

He worked for North Broken Hill Ltd, has been a consultant to many major mining companies and has been a director of numerous exploration public companies listed in London, Toronto and Sydney.

A new Broken Hill mineral, plimerite, was named in recognition of his contribution to Broken Hill geology.

Peter Ridd

Peter Ridd is a geophysicist with more than 100 publications and 35 years’ experience working on the Great Barrier Reef and instrumentation development.

He worked on the physical oceanography of the reef, and also developed a wide range of world-first optical and electronic instruments for measuring environmental conditions near corals and other ecosystems.

He was head of physics at James Cook University for more than a decade before being sacked, in 2018, for questioning the quality assurance systems used by reef science institutions.

Some of the poor-quality work relates to the affect, or lack of affect, of climate change, and agriculture, on the reef.

Ridd now works, unpaid, with agricultural organisations, to improve quality assurance systems of “science” used by Australian governments to make environmental laws and regulations that seriously affect farmers.

He is also an adjunct fellow at the Institute of Public Affairs.

Benny Peiser

profile coming soon

Paul Monk

Paul Monk has a first class honours degree in European history from Melbourne University.

He has a PhD in international relations from the Australian National University with an acclaimed doctoral dissertation on American counter-insurgency strategy throughout the Cold War in Southeast Asia and Central America.

He was recruited to the intelligence service working on East Asia from 1990.

By 1992 he was head of the Japan and Koreas Desk and in 1994 was appointed head of the China Desk in the Defence Intelligence Organisation.

He then taught Chinese politics and strategic affairs, before co-founding a consulting company in 2000 which specialises in applied cognitive science and structured argumentation. He is a commentator on cultural and international affairs and a published poet.

Michael Easson (AU)

Michael Easson is executive chair of EG Funds Management, with offices in Sydney, Australia, and Austin, Texas, and co-founder and executive director of the building technology company Willow Inc., with offices in Sydney, New York, London and Tel Aviv. He is the first independent chair of the Association of Superannuation Funds of Australia. After serving in several significant positions in the Australian trade union movement, for the last 25 years Michael has worked in business, including serving on boards in many fields including insurance, infrastructure, construction, sport, and the arts. He has a long standing interest in and has written articles on the Middle East and Australian foreign policy. He has a BA (Hons.) in politics from the University of NSW (UNSW); a MSc from Campion Hall, the University of Oxford; a PhD in History from the Australia Defence Academy, UNSW; and a PhD in transp

Anne-Marie Brady

Anne-Marie Brady is a professor of political science at the University of Canterbury.

She specialises in Chinese domestic and foreign politics, Antarctic and Arctic politics, Pacific politics, and New Zealand foreign policy. Her research on Antarctic politics, China’s polar interests, and the Chinese Communist Party’s domestic and foreign policy, in particular, foreign interference activities, has led to policy adjustments by the US, New Zealand, Australian, British and Canadian governments and the European Union.

She has a BA (Chinese and political studies) from the University of Auckland, a Masters of Asian Studies with first class honours and has a PhD in East Asian Studies from the Australian National University.

John Lee (AU)

Dr John Lee is a senior fellow and adjunct professor at the United States Studies Centre at the University of Sydney. He is also a senior fellow at the Hudson Institute in Washington DC.

From 2016-2018, he was senior adviser to Australian Minister for Foreign Affairs, Julie Bishop. In this role, he served as the principal adviser on Asia and for economic, strategic and political affairs in the Indo-Pacific region.

John was also appointed the Foreign Minister’s lead adviser on the 2017 Foreign Policy White Paper, the first comprehensive foreign affairs blueprint for Australia since 2003 and written to guide Australia’s external engagement for the next 10 years and beyond.

He is one of the foremost experts on the Chinese political-economy and on strategic and economic affairs pertaining to the Indo-Pacific.

His articles have been published in leading policy and academic journals in the United States, Asia and Australia and his first book was entitled Will China Fail? – published 2007 and updated and published again in 2009.

His opinions are published frequently by The Australian and has been published in more than 50 major newspapers and current affairs magazines in the United States, Asia, Europe, the Middle East and Oceania.

He received his Masters and Doctorate in International Relations from the University of Oxford and his Bachelor of Laws and Arts (1st Class – Philosophy) degrees from the University of New South Wales.

Dr Lee is based in Sydney, Australia.

Rowan Callick

Author and columnist Rowan Callick graduated with a BA Honours from Exeter University.

He worked for a daily newspaper in Britain before moving first to Papua New Guinea then Australia, spending 20 years on the Australian Financial Review, finally as Asia Pacific Editor.

He was China correspondent for the AFR from 1996-2000. From 1990-1992 he was a senior writer with Time. He joined The Australian in 2006, as China correspondent.

After three years in Beijing, he became The Australian’s Asia-Pacific editor in 2009. He returned to Beijing as China Correspondent from the 2016 to 2018 and continues to contribute to the newspaper.

He was appointed a fellow of the Australian Institute of International Affairs in 2013. His books include Comrades & Capitalists – Hong Kong Since the Handover, and Party Time: Who Runs China and How. He has won the Graham Perkin Award for Journalist of the Year and two Walkley Awards, Australian journalism’s highest honour.

Christopher Pyne (AU)

Christopher Pyne served as the 54th Australian Defence Minister, and was responsible for delivering the $200 billion build-up of Australia’s military capability, the largest in Australia’s peacetime history.

Serving previously as Minister for Defence Industry, Christopher assisted in the development of the 2016 Defence White Paper and implementing the Integrated Investment Program.

During his time as a Cabinet Minister in the Defence portfolio, Christopher:

• Awarded the $35 billion Hunter Class Anti-Submarine Warfare frigates contract to BAES;
• Backed in the $50 billion Attack Class Submarine project by Defence and Naval Group Australia;
• Awarded the $3.7 billion Arafura Class Offshore Patrol Vessel project to Luerssen Australia, CIVMEC and the ASC;
• Awarded the $5.2 billion Combat Reconnaissance Vehicle project to Rheinmettal Australia; and
• Secured Australia as the Asia Pacific hub for the sustainment and maintenance of the F35-A Joint Strike

Christopher also worked to ensure the growth and sustainment of Australia’s Defence Industry, and thus implemented Australia’s Defence Export Strategy, Defence Industrial Capability Plan, and the Naval Shipbuilding Plan. He also created the Defence Cooperative Research Centre, the Centre for Defence Industry Capability, the Defence Innovation Hub, and the Next Generation Technology Fund.

On an international scale, Christopher was responsible for creating the Pacific Step Up to strengthen Australia’s strategic role in the South Pacific, and was the architect of the Australian Government’s position that Jerusalem should be the capital of Israel and East Jerusalem the capital of a future Palestinian state.

Christopher also worked to strengthen Australia’s defence ties with other countries, establishing the Australia France Initiative to take advantage of the close relationship with France through the Attack Class Submarine Project. He settled Defence Memoranda of Understanding with Israel, China, and Switzerland, and initiated Memoranda of Understanding with the United Arab Emirates and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

Christopher was also the driving force behind the establishment of the Australia Space Agency.

Christopher was a Minister in the Howard, Abbott, Turnbull and Morrison Governments, holding various portfolios including Ageing, Education, Industry Innovation and Science, and Defence.

As a Minister for Education and Minister for Industry Innovation and Science, respectively, Christopher delivered the National Innovation and Science Agenda, reformed the national curriculum, introduced compulsory literacy and numeracy testing for Australian teaching graduates and expanded phonics teaching.

Stephen Crabb (UK)

Stephen Crabb is a Welsh Conservative and since 2005 has served as the Member of Parliament for Preseli Pembrokeshire.

Since January last year he has served as the chairman of the Welsh Affairs Select Committee.

He has served as Secretary of State for Work and Pensions and was previously a government whip, a junior minister for Wales and the Secretary of State for Wales.

He has degrees from Bristol University (BSc) and London Business School (MBA).

Theresa Villiers (UK)

Theresa Villiers has served as the Member of Parliament for Chipping Barnet since 2005, having previously served as a Member of the European Parliament from 1999 to 2005.

A member of the Conservative Party, Villiers was Minister of State for Rail and Aviation from 2010 to 2012, Secretary of State for Northern Ireland from 2012 to 2016 and Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs from 2019 to 2020.

She has a Bachelor of Laws degree with first-class honours in 1990 from the University of Bristol, and a postgraduate degree of Bachelor of Civil Law from Jesus College, Oxford.

She has also worked as a lecturer at King’s College, London

Michael Gapes

Michael Gapes was the Member of Parliament for Ilford South from 1992 to 2019.

He studied economics at Fitzwilliam College, Cambridge and later was chair of the National Organisation of Labour Students.

In Parliament he chaired the Foreign Affairs Select Committee from 2005 to 2010.

In February 2019, Gapes left the Labour Party in protest at Jeremy Corbyn‘s leadership to form The Independent Group, later Change UK, along with six other Labour MPs.

Lord Stuart Polak (UK)

CFI Honorary President

Lord Polak was elevated to the House of Lords in October 2015. He has sat on the EU Security and Justice Sub-Committee since May 2016, and sat on the European Union Committee from October 2018 until July 2019.

Lord Polak was appointed as only the second Director of Conservative Friends of Israel in 1989, a position which he held until 2015 when he was made Honorary President.

In March 2015, he was awarded the CBE for political services to Conservative Friends of Israel.

Born in Liverpool in 1961 where he grew up and was educated, Lord Polak began his career working for the Board of Deputies of British Jews in 1984 as Education Director.

He has coordinated and led more than 150 Conservative Friends of Israel delegations of politicians to Israel over 28 years and through this he has developed extensive relationships with MPs, Peers, MEPs and advisors throughout all levels of the Conservative Party.

Mark Regev (IL)

Mark Regev is senior adviser on foreign affairs and international communications to the Israeli Prime Minister and a weekly columnist in the Jerusalem Post.

He was international spokesperson for the Prime Minister’s Office from 2007 to 2015.

He served as Ambassador of Israel to the United Kingdom from 2016 to 2020.

He received his bachelor’s degree in political science and history at Melbourne University, and master’s degrees in political science from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, and in management from Boston University. Regev began his career as a lecturer on international relations and strategy at the Israel Defence Forces’ Staff College.

He joined Israel’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs in 1990, serving as deputy chief of mission at the Consulate General in Hong Kong, and spokesman at the Israeli Embassy in Beijing. He also served as spokesman at the Embassy in Washington. Regev was the spokesman for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Jerusalem from 2004 to 2007.

Boaz Ganor (IL)

Founder and executive director, International Institute for Counter-Terrorism

Professor Boaz Ganor is Ronald Lauder Chair for Counter-Terrorism and dean of the Lauder School of Government, Diplomacy and Strategy, Interdisciplinary Center, Herzliya, Israel. He serves as the founding president of the International Academic Counter-Terrorism Community, an international association of academic institutions, experts, and researchers in fields related to the study of terrorism and counter- terrorism. Boaz previously held positions at Stanford University, UC Berkeley, the Hoover Institution (Koret Distinguished Visiting Fellow), the Monterey Institute of International Studies, MIPT (The National Memorial for the Prevention of Terrorism), Hebrew University and Bar Ilan University. He was also a member of the international advisory team of the Manhattan Institute to the New York Police Department.

He is a member of the International Advisory Council of the International Centre for Political Violence and Terrorism Research at the Institute of Defence and Strategic Studies, Nanyang Technological University, The Republic of Singapore. He is also a co-founder of the International Centre for the Study of Radicalisation and Political Violence, a partnership between the University of Pennsylvania, Israel’s Interdisciplinary Centre, London’s King’s College and and the Regional Center on Conflict Prevention in Jordan. Since 2014, Ron has been a member of the executive committee of the academic advisory to the Institute for the Study of Global Anti-Semitism and Policy.

He has given briefings and/or testimonies to the United Nations Counter-Terrorism Executive Directorate, the Australian Parliament, the US Congress, the US Army, the FBI, the US Department of Homeland Security, as well as numerous intelligence, security and police services throughout the world. In 2001, Ron was appointed as a member of the advisory committee of the Israel National Security Council on Counter-Terrorism, and he has previously served as a member of the Israeli delegation to the Trilateral (American-Palestinian-Israeli) Committee for Monitoring Incitement to Violence and Terror. He also advised the Israeli delegation for peace negotiations with Jordan. In 1995, he was a consultant to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on his book Fighting Terrorism – How democracies can defeat domestic and international terrorism.

Ron has published numerous articles on terrorism and counter-terrorism. His book The Counter-Terrorism Puzzle – A Guide for Decision Makers (Transaction Publishers, 2005), is used as a text book in universities worldwide and his upcoming book, Global Alert: Modern terrorism rationality and the challenge to the democratic world will be published by Columbia University Press. He is also the editor of Countering Suicide Terrorism (2001) and Post-Modern Terrorism (2006). He a frequent media and television commentator and has appeared on the BBC, CNN, CBS, ABC, and in The New York Times, the Guardian, The Wall Street Journal, the Jerusalem Post, Haaretz and many other Israeli and international publications.

Dr. Liam Fox (UK)

The Rt Hon Dr Liam Fox MP has been Member of Parliament for North Somerset since 1992.  In John Major’s Government he served as a Minister at the Foreign & Commonwealth Office and as Government Whip (Lord Commissioner of the Treasury).  He had previously served as Parliamentary Private Secretary to Michael Howard, then Home Secretary.

Between 1997 and 2010, he held several roles on the Conservative Party Opposition Front Bench such as Constitutional Affairs Spokesman, Shadow Health Secretary, Conservative Party Chairman, Shadow Foreign Secretary and Shadow Defence Secretary.

In May 2010, Prime Minister David Cameron appointed him Secretary of State for Defence.  In 2013, he published ‘Rising Tides’ a book analysing crucial world issues with Tony Blair, Condoleezza Rice, Malcolm Rifkind and Donald Rumsfeld.

Between July 2016 and July 2019, he served in Prime Minister Theresa May’s Government as Secretary of State for International Trade and President of the Board of Trade.  As International Trade Secretary he was tasked with creating the UK’s first Independent Trade Policy for forty years post-Brexit.  During his time in post he strongly argued for global trade liberalisation, championed free trade and supported a rules-based system with WTO reform.

Before entering politics, Dr Fox worked as an NHS doctor and then as a family GP.  He is also a former Civilian Army Medical Officer and Divisional Surgeon with St John Ambulance.  In 2012, he founded the military charity ‘Give Us Time’.

He was born in Scotland and attended St Bride’s High School, the biggest comprehensive state school in Europe, before studying medicine at the University of Glasgow Medical School.

Itamar Marcus (IL)

Itamar Marcus, founder and director of Palestinian Media Watch is one of the foremost authorities on Palestinian ideology and policy. Marcus has published hundreds of reports and articles on Palestinian society, education, and media exposing PA hate and terror promotion in education, sports, culture and other frameworks the PA controls. PMW’s work has changed the way the world sees the Palestinian Authority.

Marcus has made numerous presentations to legislators, governments, and other decision-makers. His book Deception, co-authored with Nan Jacques Zilberdik, was acclaimed by the founder of Human Rights Watch, Robert Bernstein, as “one of the most important books you handle in your lives.”

Marcus was appointed by the Israeli Government to represent Israel in negotiations on incitement with the Palestinian Authority (PA) in 1999. He has received awards from ZOA, Israel Media Watch, and EMET, and was recognized as being among the world’s “top 100 people positively influencing Jewish life or the State of Israel,” by The Algemeiner newspaper.

Dr. Jonathan Barnett

Coming soon.

Albert Dadon

Albert is a musician, entrepreneur, and chairman and founder of the International Institute for Strategic Leadership Dialogue.

He is the founder and executive chairman of Ubertas Group, a prominent property development company of medium and high-density projects in residential apartments and hotels.

He supports numerous philanthropic initiatives and works for the community in a range of activities covering international affairs and cultural events.

In 2008, he was awarded an Order of Australia for services to the arts, particularly through the Melbourne International Jazz Festival, to the community through philanthropic support for cultural and charitable organisations, and to business. He founded the Australia Israel Cultural Exchange in 2002, an organisation launched through a joint communiqué between the Australian and Israeli Governments (the only such joint communiqué to date). The organisation was launched simultaneously by the then respective Foreign Ministers of the two countries, Alexander Downer and Benjamin Netanyahu.

He then launched the Australia Israel UK Leadership Dialogue to promotes trilateral relations between Australia, Israel and the United Kingdom. It evolved from the first forum that took place in Israel in June, 2009, under the leadership of then Deputy Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard and five Dialogues took place. This year it is reorganised and expanded into the International Institute of Strategic Leadership Dialogue.

Mr Dadon is also an active performing jazz musician and has released a dozen albums since 1990. Last year he was awarded the Chevalier of

Nir Shaviv

profile coming soon

Ian Plimer

Professor Ian Plimer is Australia’s best-known geologist.

He is Emeritus Professor of Earth Sciences at the University of Melbourne, where he was Professor and Head of Earth Sciences (1991-2005) after serving at the University of Newcastle (1985-1991) as Professor and Head of Geology.

He was Professor of Mining Geology at The University of Adelaide (2006-2012) and in 1991 was also German Research Foundation Professor of Ore Deposits at the Ludwig Maximilians Universität, München.

He has served on the staff of the University of New England, the University of New South Wales and Macquarie University.

He has published more than 120 scientific papers on geology and was one of the trinity of editors for the five-volume Encyclopedia of Geology and is a well-known commentator in newspapers and magazines.

Plimer won the Leopold von Buch Plakette (German Geological Society), the Clarke Medal (Royal Society of NSW), the Sir Willis Connolly Medal (Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy). He is a Fellow of the Australian Academy of Technological Sciences and Engineering and an Honorary Fellow of the Geological Society of London. He has been an adviser to governments and corporations and a regular broadcaster.

He worked for North Broken Hill Ltd, has been a consultant to many major mining companies and has been a director of numerous exploration public companies listed in London, Toronto and Sydney.

A new Broken Hill mineral, plimerite, was named in recognition of his contribution to Broken Hill geology.

Peter Ridd

Peter Ridd is a geophysicist with more than 100 publications and 35 years’ experience working on the Great Barrier Reef and instrumentation development.

He worked on the physical oceanography of the reef, and also developed a wide range of world-first optical and electronic instruments for measuring environmental conditions near corals and other ecosystems.

He was head of physics at James Cook University for more than a decade before being sacked, in 2018, for questioning the quality assurance systems used by reef science institutions.

Some of the poor-quality work relates to the affect, or lack of affect, of climate change, and agriculture, on the reef.

Ridd now works, unpaid, with agricultural organisations, to improve quality assurance systems of “science” used by Australian governments to make environmental laws and regulations that seriously affect farmers.

He is also an adjunct fellow at the Institute of Public Affairs.

Benny Peiser

profile coming soon

John Fitzgerald

John Fitzgerald is Emeritus Professor in the Centre for Social Impact at Swinburne University of Technology in Melbourne where he headed the Asia-Pacific philanthropy studies program from 2013 to 2017.

Previously, he had served five years as China Representative of The Ford Foundation in Beijing and before that again as director of the International Centre of Excellence in Asia-Pacific Studies at the Australian National University.

From 2015 to 2017 he was the elected president of the Australian Academy of the Humanities.

His research focuses on the history of nationalism, public administration, and philanthropy in China, and on the histories of the Chinese diaspora, and his public commentaries focus on China-Australia relations.

His books include Big White Lie: Chinese Australians in White Australia, awarded the Ernest Scott Prize of the Australian Historical Association, and Awakening China, awarded the Joseph Levenson Prize of the US Association for Asian Studies.

He has a Ph.D. from ANU and held a Fulbright postdoctoral fellowship at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. He is a graduate of the University of Sydney.

Paul Monk

Paul Monk has a first class honours degree in European history from Melbourne University.

He has a PhD in international relations from the Australian National University with an acclaimed doctoral dissertation on American counter-insurgency strategy throughout the Cold War in Southeast Asia and Central America.

He was recruited to the intelligence service working on East Asia from 1990.

By 1992 he was head of the Japan and Koreas Desk and in 1994 was appointed head of the China Desk in the Defence Intelligence Organisation.

He then taught Chinese politics and strategic affairs, before co-founding a consulting company in 2000 which specialises in applied cognitive science and structured argumentation. He is a commentator on cultural and international affairs and a published poet.

Michael Easson (AU)

Michael Easson is executive chair of EG Funds Management, with offices in Sydney, Australia, and Austin, Texas, and co-founder and executive director of the building technology company Willow Inc., with offices in Sydney, New York, London and Tel Aviv. He is the first independent chair of the Association of Superannuation Funds of Australia. After serving in several significant positions in the Australian trade union movement, for the last 25 years Michael has worked in business, including serving on boards in many fields including insurance, infrastructure, construction, sport, and the arts. He has a long standing interest in and has written articles on the Middle East and Australian foreign policy. He has a BA (Hons.) in politics from the University of NSW (UNSW); a MSc from Campion Hall, the University of Oxford; a PhD in History from the Australia Defence Academy, UNSW; and a PhD in transp

Anne-Marie Brady

Anne-Marie Brady is a professor of political science at the University of Canterbury.

She specialises in Chinese domestic and foreign politics, Antarctic and Arctic politics, Pacific politics, and New Zealand foreign policy. Her research on Antarctic politics, China’s polar interests, and the Chinese Communist Party’s domestic and foreign policy, in particular, foreign interference activities, has led to policy adjustments by the US, New Zealand, Australian, British and Canadian governments and the European Union.

She has a BA (Chinese and political studies) from the University of Auckland, a Masters of Asian Studies with first class honours and has a PhD in East Asian Studies from the Australian National University.

John Lee (AU)

Dr John Lee is a senior fellow and adjunct professor at the United States Studies Centre at the University of Sydney. He is also a senior fellow at the Hudson Institute in Washington DC.

From 2016-2018, he was senior adviser to Australian Minister for Foreign Affairs, Julie Bishop. In this role, he served as the principal adviser on Asia and for economic, strategic and political affairs in the Indo-Pacific region.

John was also appointed the Foreign Minister’s lead adviser on the 2017 Foreign Policy White Paper, the first comprehensive foreign affairs blueprint for Australia since 2003 and written to guide Australia’s external engagement for the next 10 years and beyond.

He is one of the foremost experts on the Chinese political-economy and on strategic and economic affairs pertaining to the Indo-Pacific.

His articles have been published in leading policy and academic journals in the United States, Asia and Australia and his first book was entitled Will China Fail? – published 2007 and updated and published again in 2009.

His opinions are published frequently by The Australian and has been published in more than 50 major newspapers and current affairs magazines in the United States, Asia, Europe, the Middle East and Oceania.

He received his Masters and Doctorate in International Relations from the University of Oxford and his Bachelor of Laws and Arts (1st Class – Philosophy) degrees from the University of New South Wales.

Dr Lee is based in Sydney, Australia.

Rowan Callick

Author and columnist Rowan Callick graduated with a BA Honours from Exeter University.

He worked for a daily newspaper in Britain before moving first to Papua New Guinea then Australia, spending 20 years on the Australian Financial Review, finally as Asia Pacific Editor.

He was China correspondent for the AFR from 1996-2000. From 1990-1992 he was a senior writer with Time. He joined The Australian in 2006, as China correspondent.

After three years in Beijing, he became The Australian’s Asia-Pacific editor in 2009. He returned to Beijing as China Correspondent from the 2016 to 2018 and continues to contribute to the newspaper.

He was appointed a fellow of the Australian Institute of International Affairs in 2013. His books include Comrades & Capitalists – Hong Kong Since the Handover, and Party Time: Who Runs China and How. He has won the Graham Perkin Award for Journalist of the Year and two Walkley Awards, Australian journalism’s highest honour.

Christopher Pyne (AU)

Christopher Pyne served as the 54th Australian Defence Minister, and was responsible for delivering the $200 billion build-up of Australia’s military capability, the largest in Australia’s peacetime history.

Serving previously as Minister for Defence Industry, Christopher assisted in the development of the 2016 Defence White Paper and implementing the Integrated Investment Program.

During his time as a Cabinet Minister in the Defence portfolio, Christopher:

• Awarded the $35 billion Hunter Class Anti-Submarine Warfare frigates contract to BAES;
• Backed in the $50 billion Attack Class Submarine project by Defence and Naval Group Australia;
• Awarded the $3.7 billion Arafura Class Offshore Patrol Vessel project to Luerssen Australia, CIVMEC and the ASC;
• Awarded the $5.2 billion Combat Reconnaissance Vehicle project to Rheinmettal Australia; and
• Secured Australia as the Asia Pacific hub for the sustainment and maintenance of the F35-A Joint Strike

Christopher also worked to ensure the growth and sustainment of Australia’s Defence Industry, and thus implemented Australia’s Defence Export Strategy, Defence Industrial Capability Plan, and the Naval Shipbuilding Plan. He also created the Defence Cooperative Research Centre, the Centre for Defence Industry Capability, the Defence Innovation Hub, and the Next Generation Technology Fund.

On an international scale, Christopher was responsible for creating the Pacific Step Up to strengthen Australia’s strategic role in the South Pacific, and was the architect of the Australian Government’s position that Jerusalem should be the capital of Israel and East Jerusalem the capital of a future Palestinian state.

Christopher also worked to strengthen Australia’s defence ties with other countries, establishing the Australia France Initiative to take advantage of the close relationship with France through the Attack Class Submarine Project. He settled Defence Memoranda of Understanding with Israel, China, and Switzerland, and initiated Memoranda of Understanding with the United Arab Emirates and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

Christopher was also the driving force behind the establishment of the Australia Space Agency.

Christopher was a Minister in the Howard, Abbott, Turnbull and Morrison Governments, holding various portfolios including Ageing, Education, Industry Innovation and Science, and Defence.

As a Minister for Education and Minister for Industry Innovation and Science, respectively, Christopher delivered the National Innovation and Science Agenda, reformed the national curriculum, introduced compulsory literacy and numeracy testing for Australian teaching graduates and expanded phonics teaching.

Stephen Crabb (UK)

Stephen Crabb is a Welsh Conservative and since 2005 has served as the Member of Parliament for Preseli Pembrokeshire.

Since January last year he has served as the chairman of the Welsh Affairs Select Committee.

He has served as Secretary of State for Work and Pensions and was previously a government whip, a junior minister for Wales and the Secretary of State for Wales.

He has degrees from Bristol University (BSc) and London Business School (MBA).

Theresa Villiers (UK)

Theresa Villiers has served as the Member of Parliament for Chipping Barnet since 2005, having previously served as a Member of the European Parliament from 1999 to 2005.

A member of the Conservative Party, Villiers was Minister of State for Rail and Aviation from 2010 to 2012, Secretary of State for Northern Ireland from 2012 to 2016 and Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs from 2019 to 2020.

She has a Bachelor of Laws degree with first-class honours in 1990 from the University of Bristol, and a postgraduate degree of Bachelor of Civil Law from Jesus College, Oxford.

She has also worked as a lecturer at King’s College, London

Michael Gapes

Michael Gapes was the Member of Parliament for Ilford South from 1992 to 2019.

He studied economics at Fitzwilliam College, Cambridge and later was chair of the National Organisation of Labour Students.

In Parliament he chaired the Foreign Affairs Select Committee from 2005 to 2010.

In February 2019, Gapes left the Labour Party in protest at Jeremy Corbyn‘s leadership to form The Independent Group, later Change UK, along with six other Labour MPs.

Lord Stuart Polak (UK)

CFI Honorary President

Lord Polak was elevated to the House of Lords in October 2015. He has sat on the EU Security and Justice Sub-Committee since May 2016, and sat on the European Union Committee from October 2018 until July 2019.

Lord Polak was appointed as only the second Director of Conservative Friends of Israel in 1989, a position which he held until 2015 when he was made Honorary President.

In March 2015, he was awarded the CBE for political services to Conservative Friends of Israel.

Born in Liverpool in 1961 where he grew up and was educated, Lord Polak began his career working for the Board of Deputies of British Jews in 1984 as Education Director.

He has coordinated and led more than 150 Conservative Friends of Israel delegations of politicians to Israel over 28 years and through this he has developed extensive relationships with MPs, Peers, MEPs and advisors throughout all levels of the Conservative Party.

Mark Regev (IL)

Mark Regev is senior adviser on foreign affairs and international communications to the Israeli Prime Minister and a weekly columnist in the Jerusalem Post.

He was international spokesperson for the Prime Minister’s Office from 2007 to 2015.

He served as Ambassador of Israel to the United Kingdom from 2016 to 2020.

He received his bachelor’s degree in political science and history at Melbourne University, and master’s degrees in political science from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, and in management from Boston University. Regev began his career as a lecturer on international relations and strategy at the Israel Defence Forces’ Staff College.

He joined Israel’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs in 1990, serving as deputy chief of mission at the Consulate General in Hong Kong, and spokesman at the Israeli Embassy in Beijing. He also served as spokesman at the Embassy in Washington. Regev was the spokesman for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Jerusalem from 2004 to 2007.

Boaz Ganor (IL)

Founder and executive director, International Institute for Counter-Terrorism

Professor Boaz Ganor is Ronald Lauder Chair for Counter-Terrorism and dean of the Lauder School of Government, Diplomacy and Strategy, Interdisciplinary Center, Herzliya, Israel. He serves as the founding president of the International Academic Counter-Terrorism Community, an international association of academic institutions, experts, and researchers in fields related to the study of terrorism and counter- terrorism. Boaz previously held positions at Stanford University, UC Berkeley, the Hoover Institution (Koret Distinguished Visiting Fellow), the Monterey Institute of International Studies, MIPT (The National Memorial for the Prevention of Terrorism), Hebrew University and Bar Ilan University. He was also a member of the international advisory team of the Manhattan Institute to the New York Police Department.

He is a member of the International Advisory Council of the International Centre for Political Violence and Terrorism Research at the Institute of Defence and Strategic Studies, Nanyang Technological University, The Republic of Singapore. He is also a co-founder of the International Centre for the Study of Radicalisation and Political Violence, a partnership between the University of Pennsylvania, Israel’s Interdisciplinary Centre, London’s King’s College and and the Regional Center on Conflict Prevention in Jordan. Since 2014, Ron has been a member of the executive committee of the academic advisory to the Institute for the Study of Global Anti-Semitism and Policy.

He has given briefings and/or testimonies to the United Nations Counter-Terrorism Executive Directorate, the Australian Parliament, the US Congress, the US Army, the FBI, the US Department of Homeland Security, as well as numerous intelligence, security and police services throughout the world. In 2001, Ron was appointed as a member of the advisory committee of the Israel National Security Council on Counter-Terrorism, and he has previously served as a member of the Israeli delegation to the Trilateral (American-Palestinian-Israeli) Committee for Monitoring Incitement to Violence and Terror. He also advised the Israeli delegation for peace negotiations with Jordan. In 1995, he was a consultant to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on his book Fighting Terrorism – How democracies can defeat domestic and international terrorism.

Ron has published numerous articles on terrorism and counter-terrorism. His book The Counter-Terrorism Puzzle – A Guide for Decision Makers (Transaction Publishers, 2005), is used as a text book in universities worldwide and his upcoming book, Global Alert: Modern terrorism rationality and the challenge to the democratic world will be published by Columbia University Press. He is also the editor of Countering Suicide Terrorism (2001) and Post-Modern Terrorism (2006). He a frequent media and television commentator and has appeared on the BBC, CNN, CBS, ABC, and in The New York Times, the Guardian, The Wall Street Journal, the Jerusalem Post, Haaretz and many other Israeli and international publications.

Dr. Liam Fox (UK)

The Rt Hon Dr Liam Fox MP has been Member of Parliament for North Somerset since 1992.  In John Major’s Government he served as a Minister at the Foreign & Commonwealth Office and as Government Whip (Lord Commissioner of the Treasury).  He had previously served as Parliamentary Private Secretary to Michael Howard, then Home Secretary.

Between 1997 and 2010, he held several roles on the Conservative Party Opposition Front Bench such as Constitutional Affairs Spokesman, Shadow Health Secretary, Conservative Party Chairman, Shadow Foreign Secretary and Shadow Defence Secretary.

In May 2010, Prime Minister David Cameron appointed him Secretary of State for Defence.  In 2013, he published ‘Rising Tides’ a book analysing crucial world issues with Tony Blair, Condoleezza Rice, Malcolm Rifkind and Donald Rumsfeld.

Between July 2016 and July 2019, he served in Prime Minister Theresa May’s Government as Secretary of State for International Trade and President of the Board of Trade.  As International Trade Secretary he was tasked with creating the UK’s first Independent Trade Policy for forty years post-Brexit.  During his time in post he strongly argued for global trade liberalisation, championed free trade and supported a rules-based system with WTO reform.

Before entering politics, Dr Fox worked as an NHS doctor and then as a family GP.  He is also a former Civilian Army Medical Officer and Divisional Surgeon with St John Ambulance.  In 2012, he founded the military charity ‘Give Us Time’.

He was born in Scotland and attended St Bride’s High School, the biggest comprehensive state school in Europe, before studying medicine at the University of Glasgow Medical School.

Itamar Marcus (IL)

Itamar Marcus, founder and director of Palestinian Media Watch is one of the foremost authorities on Palestinian ideology and policy. Marcus has published hundreds of reports and articles on Palestinian society, education, and media exposing PA hate and terror promotion in education, sports, culture and other frameworks the PA controls. PMW’s work has changed the way the world sees the Palestinian Authority.

Marcus has made numerous presentations to legislators, governments, and other decision-makers. His book Deception, co-authored with Nan Jacques Zilberdik, was acclaimed by the founder of Human Rights Watch, Robert Bernstein, as “one of the most important books you handle in your lives.”

Marcus was appointed by the Israeli Government to represent Israel in negotiations on incitement with the Palestinian Authority (PA) in 1999. He has received awards from ZOA, Israel Media Watch, and EMET, and was recognized as being among the world’s “top 100 people positively influencing Jewish life or the State of Israel,” by The Algemeiner newspaper.

Dr. Jonathan Barnett

Coming soon.

Albert Dadon

Albert is a musician, entrepreneur, and chairman and founder of the International Institute for Strategic Leadership Dialogue.

He is the founder and executive chairman of Ubertas Group, a prominent property development company of medium and high-density projects in residential apartments and hotels.

He supports numerous philanthropic initiatives and works for the community in a range of activities covering international affairs and cultural events.

In 2008, he was awarded an Order of Australia for services to the arts, particularly through the Melbourne International Jazz Festival, to the community through philanthropic support for cultural and charitable organisations, and to business. He founded the Australia Israel Cultural Exchange in 2002, an organisation launched through a joint communiqué between the Australian and Israeli Governments (the only such joint communiqué to date). The organisation was launched simultaneously by the then respective Foreign Ministers of the two countries, Alexander Downer and Benjamin Netanyahu.

He then launched the Australia Israel UK Leadership Dialogue to promotes trilateral relations between Australia, Israel and the United Kingdom. It evolved from the first forum that took place in Israel in June, 2009, under the leadership of then Deputy Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard and five Dialogues took place. This year it is reorganised and expanded into the International Institute of Strategic Leadership Dialogue.

Mr Dadon is also an active performing jazz musician and has released a dozen albums since 1990. Last year he was awarded the Chevalier of

Nir Shaviv

profile coming soon

Ian Plimer

Professor Ian Plimer is Australia’s best-known geologist.

He is Emeritus Professor of Earth Sciences at the University of Melbourne, where he was Professor and Head of Earth Sciences (1991-2005) after serving at the University of Newcastle (1985-1991) as Professor and Head of Geology.

He was Professor of Mining Geology at The University of Adelaide (2006-2012) and in 1991 was also German Research Foundation Professor of Ore Deposits at the Ludwig Maximilians Universität, München.

He has served on the staff of the University of New England, the University of New South Wales and Macquarie University.

He has published more than 120 scientific papers on geology and was one of the trinity of editors for the five-volume Encyclopedia of Geology and is a well-known commentator in newspapers and magazines.

Plimer won the Leopold von Buch Plakette (German Geological Society), the Clarke Medal (Royal Society of NSW), the Sir Willis Connolly Medal (Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy). He is a Fellow of the Australian Academy of Technological Sciences and Engineering and an Honorary Fellow of the Geological Society of London. He has been an adviser to governments and corporations and a regular broadcaster.

He worked for North Broken Hill Ltd, has been a consultant to many major mining companies and has been a director of numerous exploration public companies listed in London, Toronto and Sydney.

A new Broken Hill mineral, plimerite, was named in recognition of his contribution to Broken Hill geology.

Peter Ridd

Peter Ridd is a geophysicist with more than 100 publications and 35 years’ experience working on the Great Barrier Reef and instrumentation development.

He worked on the physical oceanography of the reef, and also developed a wide range of world-first optical and electronic instruments for measuring environmental conditions near corals and other ecosystems.

He was head of physics at James Cook University for more than a decade before being sacked, in 2018, for questioning the quality assurance systems used by reef science institutions.

Some of the poor-quality work relates to the affect, or lack of affect, of climate change, and agriculture, on the reef.

Ridd now works, unpaid, with agricultural organisations, to improve quality assurance systems of “science” used by Australian governments to make environmental laws and regulations that seriously affect farmers.

He is also an adjunct fellow at the Institute of Public Affairs.

Benny Peiser

profile coming soon

Sen. Kimberley Kitching (AU)

Chosen by the Parliament of Victoria in 2016 to represent that State in the Senate.

Committee service

• Senate Select: Exposure Draft of the Marriage Amendment (Same-Sex Marriage) Bill from 1.12.2016 to 15.2.2017; Strengthening Multiculturalism from 23.3.2017 to 17.8.2017; Obesity Epidemic in Australia from 10.5.2018 to 5.12.2018; Foreign Interference through Social Media from 5.12.2019.
• Senate Legislative and General Purpose Standing: Education and Employment: Legislation from 8.11.2016 to 11.2016; Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade: References from 8.11.2016 (Chair from 3.7.2019); Finance and Public Administration: Legislation from 8.11.2016; Education and Employment: References from 8.11.2016 to 22.11.2016; Finance and Public Administration: References from 8.11.2016; Legal and Constitutional Affairs: References from 22.6.2017 to 1.7.2019; Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade: Legislation from 15.12.2017 to 15.12.2017 (Substitute member from 15.12.2017 to 15.12.2017); Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade: Legislation from 2.7.2019 (Deputy Chair from 3.7.2019).
• Joint Standing: Treaties from 11.2016 to 1.7.2019; Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade from 15.2.2018.
• Shadow Assistant Minister for Government Accountability from 6.2019.
• Deputy Manager of Opposition Business in the Senate from 6.2019.

Party positions

• Member of the Australian Labor Party Legal Affairs Policy Committee,
• Delegate to the Australian Labor Party State Conference,
• Member of the Australian Labor Party Administrative Committee,
• Delegate to the Australian Labor Party Melbourne Federal Electorate Council,
• Delegate to the Australian Labor Party National Conference,

Qualifications and occupation before entering Federal Parliament

• BA (University of Queensland).
• LLB (University of Queensland).
• Manager, private Information Technology and Human Resources
• Senior Advisor, Treasurer of Victoria and Minister for Industry, Trade, Major Projects and Information Technology (Vic).
• General Manager, Health Workers Union

John Fitzgerald

John Fitzgerald is Emeritus Professor in the Centre for Social Impact at Swinburne University of Technology in Melbourne where he headed the Asia-Pacific philanthropy studies program from 2013 to 2017.

Previously, he had served five years as China Representative of The Ford Foundation in Beijing and before that again as director of the International Centre of Excellence in Asia-Pacific Studies at the Australian National University.

From 2015 to 2017 he was the elected president of the Australian Academy of the Humanities.

His research focuses on the history of nationalism, public administration, and philanthropy in China, and on the histories of the Chinese diaspora, and his public commentaries focus on China-Australia relations.

His books include Big White Lie: Chinese Australians in White Australia, awarded the Ernest Scott Prize of the Australian Historical Association, and Awakening China, awarded the Joseph Levenson Prize of the US Association for Asian Studies.

He has a Ph.D. from ANU and held a Fulbright postdoctoral fellowship at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. He is a graduate of the University of Sydney.

Paul Monk

Paul Monk has a first class honours degree in European history from Melbourne University.

He has a PhD in international relations from the Australian National University with an acclaimed doctoral dissertation on American counter-insurgency strategy throughout the Cold War in Southeast Asia and Central America.

He was recruited to the intelligence service working on East Asia from 1990.

By 1992 he was head of the Japan and Koreas Desk and in 1994 was appointed head of the China Desk in the Defence Intelligence Organisation.

He then taught Chinese politics and strategic affairs, before co-founding a consulting company in 2000 which specialises in applied cognitive science and structured argumentation. He is a commentator on cultural and international affairs and a published poet.

Michael Easson (AU)

Michael Easson is executive chair of EG Funds Management, with offices in Sydney, Australia, and Austin, Texas, and co-founder and executive director of the building technology company Willow Inc., with offices in Sydney, New York, London and Tel Aviv. He is the first independent chair of the Association of Superannuation Funds of Australia. After serving in several significant positions in the Australian trade union movement, for the last 25 years Michael has worked in business, including serving on boards in many fields including insurance, infrastructure, construction, sport, and the arts. He has a long standing interest in and has written articles on the Middle East and Australian foreign policy. He has a BA (Hons.) in politics from the University of NSW (UNSW); a MSc from Campion Hall, the University of Oxford; a PhD in History from the Australia Defence Academy, UNSW; and a PhD in transp

Anne-Marie Brady

Anne-Marie Brady is a professor of political science at the University of Canterbury.

She specialises in Chinese domestic and foreign politics, Antarctic and Arctic politics, Pacific politics, and New Zealand foreign policy. Her research on Antarctic politics, China’s polar interests, and the Chinese Communist Party’s domestic and foreign policy, in particular, foreign interference activities, has led to policy adjustments by the US, New Zealand, Australian, British and Canadian governments and the European Union.

She has a BA (Chinese and political studies) from the University of Auckland, a Masters of Asian Studies with first class honours and has a PhD in East Asian Studies from the Australian National University.

John Lee (AU)

Dr John Lee is a senior fellow and adjunct professor at the United States Studies Centre at the University of Sydney. He is also a senior fellow at the Hudson Institute in Washington DC.

From 2016-2018, he was senior adviser to Australian Minister for Foreign Affairs, Julie Bishop. In this role, he served as the principal adviser on Asia and for economic, strategic and political affairs in the Indo-Pacific region.

John was also appointed the Foreign Minister’s lead adviser on the 2017 Foreign Policy White Paper, the first comprehensive foreign affairs blueprint for Australia since 2003 and written to guide Australia’s external engagement for the next 10 years and beyond.

He is one of the foremost experts on the Chinese political-economy and on strategic and economic affairs pertaining to the Indo-Pacific.

His articles have been published in leading policy and academic journals in the United States, Asia and Australia and his first book was entitled Will China Fail? – published 2007 and updated and published again in 2009.

His opinions are published frequently by The Australian and has been published in more than 50 major newspapers and current affairs magazines in the United States, Asia, Europe, the Middle East and Oceania.

He received his Masters and Doctorate in International Relations from the University of Oxford and his Bachelor of Laws and Arts (1st Class – Philosophy) degrees from the University of New South Wales.

Dr Lee is based in Sydney, Australia.

Rowan Callick

Author and columnist Rowan Callick graduated with a BA Honours from Exeter University.

He worked for a daily newspaper in Britain before moving first to Papua New Guinea then Australia, spending 20 years on the Australian Financial Review, finally as Asia Pacific Editor.

He was China correspondent for the AFR from 1996-2000. From 1990-1992 he was a senior writer with Time. He joined The Australian in 2006, as China correspondent.

After three years in Beijing, he became The Australian’s Asia-Pacific editor in 2009. He returned to Beijing as China Correspondent from the 2016 to 2018 and continues to contribute to the newspaper.

He was appointed a fellow of the Australian Institute of International Affairs in 2013. His books include Comrades & Capitalists – Hong Kong Since the Handover, and Party Time: Who Runs China and How. He has won the Graham Perkin Award for Journalist of the Year and two Walkley Awards, Australian journalism’s highest honour.

Christopher Pyne (AU)

Christopher Pyne served as the 54th Australian Defence Minister, and was responsible for delivering the $200 billion build-up of Australia’s military capability, the largest in Australia’s peacetime history.

Serving previously as Minister for Defence Industry, Christopher assisted in the development of the 2016 Defence White Paper and implementing the Integrated Investment Program.

During his time as a Cabinet Minister in the Defence portfolio, Christopher:

• Awarded the $35 billion Hunter Class Anti-Submarine Warfare frigates contract to BAES;
• Backed in the $50 billion Attack Class Submarine project by Defence and Naval Group Australia;
• Awarded the $3.7 billion Arafura Class Offshore Patrol Vessel project to Luerssen Australia, CIVMEC and the ASC;
• Awarded the $5.2 billion Combat Reconnaissance Vehicle project to Rheinmettal Australia; and
• Secured Australia as the Asia Pacific hub for the sustainment and maintenance of the F35-A Joint Strike

Christopher also worked to ensure the growth and sustainment of Australia’s Defence Industry, and thus implemented Australia’s Defence Export Strategy, Defence Industrial Capability Plan, and the Naval Shipbuilding Plan. He also created the Defence Cooperative Research Centre, the Centre for Defence Industry Capability, the Defence Innovation Hub, and the Next Generation Technology Fund.

On an international scale, Christopher was responsible for creating the Pacific Step Up to strengthen Australia’s strategic role in the South Pacific, and was the architect of the Australian Government’s position that Jerusalem should be the capital of Israel and East Jerusalem the capital of a future Palestinian state.

Christopher also worked to strengthen Australia’s defence ties with other countries, establishing the Australia France Initiative to take advantage of the close relationship with France through the Attack Class Submarine Project. He settled Defence Memoranda of Understanding with Israel, China, and Switzerland, and initiated Memoranda of Understanding with the United Arab Emirates and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

Christopher was also the driving force behind the establishment of the Australia Space Agency.

Christopher was a Minister in the Howard, Abbott, Turnbull and Morrison Governments, holding various portfolios including Ageing, Education, Industry Innovation and Science, and Defence.

As a Minister for Education and Minister for Industry Innovation and Science, respectively, Christopher delivered the National Innovation and Science Agenda, reformed the national curriculum, introduced compulsory literacy and numeracy testing for Australian teaching graduates and expanded phonics teaching.

Stephen Crabb (UK)

Stephen Crabb is a Welsh Conservative and since 2005 has served as the Member of Parliament for Preseli Pembrokeshire.

Since January last year he has served as the chairman of the Welsh Affairs Select Committee.

He has served as Secretary of State for Work and Pensions and was previously a government whip, a junior minister for Wales and the Secretary of State for Wales.

He has degrees from Bristol University (BSc) and London Business School (MBA).

Theresa Villiers (UK)

Theresa Villiers has served as the Member of Parliament for Chipping Barnet since 2005, having previously served as a Member of the European Parliament from 1999 to 2005.

A member of the Conservative Party, Villiers was Minister of State for Rail and Aviation from 2010 to 2012, Secretary of State for Northern Ireland from 2012 to 2016 and Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs from 2019 to 2020.

She has a Bachelor of Laws degree with first-class honours in 1990 from the University of Bristol, and a postgraduate degree of Bachelor of Civil Law from Jesus College, Oxford.

She has also worked as a lecturer at King’s College, London

Michael Gapes

Michael Gapes was the Member of Parliament for Ilford South from 1992 to 2019.

He studied economics at Fitzwilliam College, Cambridge and later was chair of the National Organisation of Labour Students.

In Parliament he chaired the Foreign Affairs Select Committee from 2005 to 2010.

In February 2019, Gapes left the Labour Party in protest at Jeremy Corbyn‘s leadership to form The Independent Group, later Change UK, along with six other Labour MPs.

Lord Stuart Polak (UK)

CFI Honorary President

Lord Polak was elevated to the House of Lords in October 2015. He has sat on the EU Security and Justice Sub-Committee since May 2016, and sat on the European Union Committee from October 2018 until July 2019.

Lord Polak was appointed as only the second Director of Conservative Friends of Israel in 1989, a position which he held until 2015 when he was made Honorary President.

In March 2015, he was awarded the CBE for political services to Conservative Friends of Israel.

Born in Liverpool in 1961 where he grew up and was educated, Lord Polak began his career working for the Board of Deputies of British Jews in 1984 as Education Director.

He has coordinated and led more than 150 Conservative Friends of Israel delegations of politicians to Israel over 28 years and through this he has developed extensive relationships with MPs, Peers, MEPs and advisors throughout all levels of the Conservative Party.

Mark Regev (IL)

Mark Regev is senior adviser on foreign affairs and international communications to the Israeli Prime Minister and a weekly columnist in the Jerusalem Post.

He was international spokesperson for the Prime Minister’s Office from 2007 to 2015.

He served as Ambassador of Israel to the United Kingdom from 2016 to 2020.

He received his bachelor’s degree in political science and history at Melbourne University, and master’s degrees in political science from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, and in management from Boston University. Regev began his career as a lecturer on international relations and strategy at the Israel Defence Forces’ Staff College.

He joined Israel’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs in 1990, serving as deputy chief of mission at the Consulate General in Hong Kong, and spokesman at the Israeli Embassy in Beijing. He also served as spokesman at the Embassy in Washington. Regev was the spokesman for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Jerusalem from 2004 to 2007.

Boaz Ganor (IL)

Founder and executive director, International Institute for Counter-Terrorism

Professor Boaz Ganor is Ronald Lauder Chair for Counter-Terrorism and dean of the Lauder School of Government, Diplomacy and Strategy, Interdisciplinary Center, Herzliya, Israel. He serves as the founding president of the International Academic Counter-Terrorism Community, an international association of academic institutions, experts, and researchers in fields related to the study of terrorism and counter- terrorism. Boaz previously held positions at Stanford University, UC Berkeley, the Hoover Institution (Koret Distinguished Visiting Fellow), the Monterey Institute of International Studies, MIPT (The National Memorial for the Prevention of Terrorism), Hebrew University and Bar Ilan University. He was also a member of the international advisory team of the Manhattan Institute to the New York Police Department.

He is a member of the International Advisory Council of the International Centre for Political Violence and Terrorism Research at the Institute of Defence and Strategic Studies, Nanyang Technological University, The Republic of Singapore. He is also a co-founder of the International Centre for the Study of Radicalisation and Political Violence, a partnership between the University of Pennsylvania, Israel’s Interdisciplinary Centre, London’s King’s College and and the Regional Center on Conflict Prevention in Jordan. Since 2014, Ron has been a member of the executive committee of the academic advisory to the Institute for the Study of Global Anti-Semitism and Policy.

He has given briefings and/or testimonies to the United Nations Counter-Terrorism Executive Directorate, the Australian Parliament, the US Congress, the US Army, the FBI, the US Department of Homeland Security, as well as numerous intelligence, security and police services throughout the world. In 2001, Ron was appointed as a member of the advisory committee of the Israel National Security Council on Counter-Terrorism, and he has previously served as a member of the Israeli delegation to the Trilateral (American-Palestinian-Israeli) Committee for Monitoring Incitement to Violence and Terror. He also advised the Israeli delegation for peace negotiations with Jordan. In 1995, he was a consultant to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on his book Fighting Terrorism – How democracies can defeat domestic and international terrorism.

Ron has published numerous articles on terrorism and counter-terrorism. His book The Counter-Terrorism Puzzle – A Guide for Decision Makers (Transaction Publishers, 2005), is used as a text book in universities worldwide and his upcoming book, Global Alert: Modern terrorism rationality and the challenge to the democratic world will be published by Columbia University Press. He is also the editor of Countering Suicide Terrorism (2001) and Post-Modern Terrorism (2006). He a frequent media and television commentator and has appeared on the BBC, CNN, CBS, ABC, and in The New York Times, the Guardian, The Wall Street Journal, the Jerusalem Post, Haaretz and many other Israeli and international publications.

Dr. Liam Fox (UK)

The Rt Hon Dr Liam Fox MP has been Member of Parliament for North Somerset since 1992.  In John Major’s Government he served as a Minister at the Foreign & Commonwealth Office and as Government Whip (Lord Commissioner of the Treasury).  He had previously served as Parliamentary Private Secretary to Michael Howard, then Home Secretary.

Between 1997 and 2010, he held several roles on the Conservative Party Opposition Front Bench such as Constitutional Affairs Spokesman, Shadow Health Secretary, Conservative Party Chairman, Shadow Foreign Secretary and Shadow Defence Secretary.

In May 2010, Prime Minister David Cameron appointed him Secretary of State for Defence.  In 2013, he published ‘Rising Tides’ a book analysing crucial world issues with Tony Blair, Condoleezza Rice, Malcolm Rifkind and Donald Rumsfeld.

Between July 2016 and July 2019, he served in Prime Minister Theresa May’s Government as Secretary of State for International Trade and President of the Board of Trade.  As International Trade Secretary he was tasked with creating the UK’s first Independent Trade Policy for forty years post-Brexit.  During his time in post he strongly argued for global trade liberalisation, championed free trade and supported a rules-based system with WTO reform.

Before entering politics, Dr Fox worked as an NHS doctor and then as a family GP.  He is also a former Civilian Army Medical Officer and Divisional Surgeon with St John Ambulance.  In 2012, he founded the military charity ‘Give Us Time’.

He was born in Scotland and attended St Bride’s High School, the biggest comprehensive state school in Europe, before studying medicine at the University of Glasgow Medical School.

Itamar Marcus (IL)

Itamar Marcus, founder and director of Palestinian Media Watch is one of the foremost authorities on Palestinian ideology and policy. Marcus has published hundreds of reports and articles on Palestinian society, education, and media exposing PA hate and terror promotion in education, sports, culture and other frameworks the PA controls. PMW’s work has changed the way the world sees the Palestinian Authority.

Marcus has made numerous presentations to legislators, governments, and other decision-makers. His book Deception, co-authored with Nan Jacques Zilberdik, was acclaimed by the founder of Human Rights Watch, Robert Bernstein, as “one of the most important books you handle in your lives.”

Marcus was appointed by the Israeli Government to represent Israel in negotiations on incitement with the Palestinian Authority (PA) in 1999. He has received awards from ZOA, Israel Media Watch, and EMET, and was recognized as being among the world’s “top 100 people positively influencing Jewish life or the State of Israel,” by The Algemeiner newspaper.

Dr. Jonathan Barnett

Coming soon.

Albert Dadon

Albert is a musician, entrepreneur, and chairman and founder of the International Institute for Strategic Leadership Dialogue.

He is the founder and executive chairman of Ubertas Group, a prominent property development company of medium and high-density projects in residential apartments and hotels.

He supports numerous philanthropic initiatives and works for the community in a range of activities covering international affairs and cultural events.

In 2008, he was awarded an Order of Australia for services to the arts, particularly through the Melbourne International Jazz Festival, to the community through philanthropic support for cultural and charitable organisations, and to business. He founded the Australia Israel Cultural Exchange in 2002, an organisation launched through a joint communiqué between the Australian and Israeli Governments (the only such joint communiqué to date). The organisation was launched simultaneously by the then respective Foreign Ministers of the two countries, Alexander Downer and Benjamin Netanyahu.

He then launched the Australia Israel UK Leadership Dialogue to promotes trilateral relations between Australia, Israel and the United Kingdom. It evolved from the first forum that took place in Israel in June, 2009, under the leadership of then Deputy Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard and five Dialogues took place. This year it is reorganised and expanded into the International Institute of Strategic Leadership Dialogue.

Mr Dadon is also an active performing jazz musician and has released a dozen albums since 1990. Last year he was awarded the Chevalier of

Nir Shaviv

profile coming soon

Ian Plimer

Professor Ian Plimer is Australia’s best-known geologist.

He is Emeritus Professor of Earth Sciences at the University of Melbourne, where he was Professor and Head of Earth Sciences (1991-2005) after serving at the University of Newcastle (1985-1991) as Professor and Head of Geology.

He was Professor of Mining Geology at The University of Adelaide (2006-2012) and in 1991 was also German Research Foundation Professor of Ore Deposits at the Ludwig Maximilians Universität, München.

He has served on the staff of the University of New England, the University of New South Wales and Macquarie University.

He has published more than 120 scientific papers on geology and was one of the trinity of editors for the five-volume Encyclopedia of Geology and is a well-known commentator in newspapers and magazines.

Plimer won the Leopold von Buch Plakette (German Geological Society), the Clarke Medal (Royal Society of NSW), the Sir Willis Connolly Medal (Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy). He is a Fellow of the Australian Academy of Technological Sciences and Engineering and an Honorary Fellow of the Geological Society of London. He has been an adviser to governments and corporations and a regular broadcaster.

He worked for North Broken Hill Ltd, has been a consultant to many major mining companies and has been a director of numerous exploration public companies listed in London, Toronto and Sydney.

A new Broken Hill mineral, plimerite, was named in recognition of his contribution to Broken Hill geology.

Peter Ridd

Peter Ridd is a geophysicist with more than 100 publications and 35 years’ experience working on the Great Barrier Reef and instrumentation development.

He worked on the physical oceanography of the reef, and also developed a wide range of world-first optical and electronic instruments for measuring environmental conditions near corals and other ecosystems.

He was head of physics at James Cook University for more than a decade before being sacked, in 2018, for questioning the quality assurance systems used by reef science institutions.

Some of the poor-quality work relates to the affect, or lack of affect, of climate change, and agriculture, on the reef.

Ridd now works, unpaid, with agricultural organisations, to improve quality assurance systems of “science” used by Australian governments to make environmental laws and regulations that seriously affect farmers.

He is also an adjunct fellow at the Institute of Public Affairs.

Benny Peiser

profile coming soon

Alexander Downer

Alexander Downer is the executive chair of the International School for Government at King’s College in London.

He was Australia’s Minister for Foreign Affairs from 1996 to 2007, and was High Commissioner to the United Kingdom from 2014 to 2018.

He is also a former Leader of the Opposition as federal leader of the Liberal Party.

With then Israeli Foreign Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, he issued a unique joint communique in December 2002 establishing the Australia Israel Cultural Exchange, the forerunner to the International Strategic Leadership Dialogue Institute.

Sen. Kimberley Kitching (AU)

Chosen by the Parliament of Victoria in 2016 to represent that State in the Senate.

Committee service

• Senate Select: Exposure Draft of the Marriage Amendment (Same-Sex Marriage) Bill from 1.12.2016 to 15.2.2017; Strengthening Multiculturalism from 23.3.2017 to 17.8.2017; Obesity Epidemic in Australia from 10.5.2018 to 5.12.2018; Foreign Interference through Social Media from 5.12.2019.
• Senate Legislative and General Purpose Standing: Education and Employment: Legislation from 8.11.2016 to 11.2016; Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade: References from 8.11.2016 (Chair from 3.7.2019); Finance and Public Administration: Legislation from 8.11.2016; Education and Employment: References from 8.11.2016 to 22.11.2016; Finance and Public Administration: References from 8.11.2016; Legal and Constitutional Affairs: References from 22.6.2017 to 1.7.2019; Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade: Legislation from 15.12.2017 to 15.12.2017 (Substitute member from 15.12.2017 to 15.12.2017); Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade: Legislation from 2.7.2019 (Deputy Chair from 3.7.2019).
• Joint Standing: Treaties from 11.2016 to 1.7.2019; Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade from 15.2.2018.
• Shadow Assistant Minister for Government Accountability from 6.2019.
• Deputy Manager of Opposition Business in the Senate from 6.2019.

Party positions

• Member of the Australian Labor Party Legal Affairs Policy Committee,
• Delegate to the Australian Labor Party State Conference,
• Member of the Australian Labor Party Administrative Committee,
• Delegate to the Australian Labor Party Melbourne Federal Electorate Council,
• Delegate to the Australian Labor Party National Conference,

Qualifications and occupation before entering Federal Parliament

• BA (University of Queensland).
• LLB (University of Queensland).
• Manager, private Information Technology and Human Resources
• Senior Advisor, Treasurer of Victoria and Minister for Industry, Trade, Major Projects and Information Technology (Vic).
• General Manager, Health Workers Union

John Fitzgerald

John Fitzgerald is Emeritus Professor in the Centre for Social Impact at Swinburne University of Technology in Melbourne where he headed the Asia-Pacific philanthropy studies program from 2013 to 2017.

Previously, he had served five years as China Representative of The Ford Foundation in Beijing and before that again as director of the International Centre of Excellence in Asia-Pacific Studies at the Australian National University.

From 2015 to 2017 he was the elected president of the Australian Academy of the Humanities.

His research focuses on the history of nationalism, public administration, and philanthropy in China, and on the histories of the Chinese diaspora, and his public commentaries focus on China-Australia relations.

His books include Big White Lie: Chinese Australians in White Australia, awarded the Ernest Scott Prize of the Australian Historical Association, and Awakening China, awarded the Joseph Levenson Prize of the US Association for Asian Studies.

He has a Ph.D. from ANU and held a Fulbright postdoctoral fellowship at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. He is a graduate of the University of Sydney.

Paul Monk

Paul Monk has a first class honours degree in European history from Melbourne University.

He has a PhD in international relations from the Australian National University with an acclaimed doctoral dissertation on American counter-insurgency strategy throughout the Cold War in Southeast Asia and Central America.

He was recruited to the intelligence service working on East Asia from 1990.

By 1992 he was head of the Japan and Koreas Desk and in 1994 was appointed head of the China Desk in the Defence Intelligence Organisation.

He then taught Chinese politics and strategic affairs, before co-founding a consulting company in 2000 which specialises in applied cognitive science and structured argumentation. He is a commentator on cultural and international affairs and a published poet.

Michael Easson (AU)

Michael Easson is executive chair of EG Funds Management, with offices in Sydney, Australia, and Austin, Texas, and co-founder and executive director of the building technology company Willow Inc., with offices in Sydney, New York, London and Tel Aviv. He is the first independent chair of the Association of Superannuation Funds of Australia. After serving in several significant positions in the Australian trade union movement, for the last 25 years Michael has worked in business, including serving on boards in many fields including insurance, infrastructure, construction, sport, and the arts. He has a long standing interest in and has written articles on the Middle East and Australian foreign policy. He has a BA (Hons.) in politics from the University of NSW (UNSW); a MSc from Campion Hall, the University of Oxford; a PhD in History from the Australia Defence Academy, UNSW; and a PhD in transp

Anne-Marie Brady

Anne-Marie Brady is a professor of political science at the University of Canterbury.

She specialises in Chinese domestic and foreign politics, Antarctic and Arctic politics, Pacific politics, and New Zealand foreign policy. Her research on Antarctic politics, China’s polar interests, and the Chinese Communist Party’s domestic and foreign policy, in particular, foreign interference activities, has led to policy adjustments by the US, New Zealand, Australian, British and Canadian governments and the European Union.

She has a BA (Chinese and political studies) from the University of Auckland, a Masters of Asian Studies with first class honours and has a PhD in East Asian Studies from the Australian National University.

John Lee (AU)

Dr John Lee is a senior fellow and adjunct professor at the United States Studies Centre at the University of Sydney. He is also a senior fellow at the Hudson Institute in Washington DC.

From 2016-2018, he was senior adviser to Australian Minister for Foreign Affairs, Julie Bishop. In this role, he served as the principal adviser on Asia and for economic, strategic and political affairs in the Indo-Pacific region.

John was also appointed the Foreign Minister’s lead adviser on the 2017 Foreign Policy White Paper, the first comprehensive foreign affairs blueprint for Australia since 2003 and written to guide Australia’s external engagement for the next 10 years and beyond.

He is one of the foremost experts on the Chinese political-economy and on strategic and economic affairs pertaining to the Indo-Pacific.

His articles have been published in leading policy and academic journals in the United States, Asia and Australia and his first book was entitled Will China Fail? – published 2007 and updated and published again in 2009.

His opinions are published frequently by The Australian and has been published in more than 50 major newspapers and current affairs magazines in the United States, Asia, Europe, the Middle East and Oceania.

He received his Masters and Doctorate in International Relations from the University of Oxford and his Bachelor of Laws and Arts (1st Class – Philosophy) degrees from the University of New South Wales.

Dr Lee is based in Sydney, Australia.

Rowan Callick

Author and columnist Rowan Callick graduated with a BA Honours from Exeter University.

He worked for a daily newspaper in Britain before moving first to Papua New Guinea then Australia, spending 20 years on the Australian Financial Review, finally as Asia Pacific Editor.

He was China correspondent for the AFR from 1996-2000. From 1990-1992 he was a senior writer with Time. He joined The Australian in 2006, as China correspondent.

After three years in Beijing, he became The Australian’s Asia-Pacific editor in 2009. He returned to Beijing as China Correspondent from the 2016 to 2018 and continues to contribute to the newspaper.

He was appointed a fellow of the Australian Institute of International Affairs in 2013. His books include Comrades & Capitalists – Hong Kong Since the Handover, and Party Time: Who Runs China and How. He has won the Graham Perkin Award for Journalist of the Year and two Walkley Awards, Australian journalism’s highest honour.

Christopher Pyne (AU)

Christopher Pyne served as the 54th Australian Defence Minister, and was responsible for delivering the $200 billion build-up of Australia’s military capability, the largest in Australia’s peacetime history.

Serving previously as Minister for Defence Industry, Christopher assisted in the development of the 2016 Defence White Paper and implementing the Integrated Investment Program.

During his time as a Cabinet Minister in the Defence portfolio, Christopher:

• Awarded the $35 billion Hunter Class Anti-Submarine Warfare frigates contract to BAES;
• Backed in the $50 billion Attack Class Submarine project by Defence and Naval Group Australia;
• Awarded the $3.7 billion Arafura Class Offshore Patrol Vessel project to Luerssen Australia, CIVMEC and the ASC;
• Awarded the $5.2 billion Combat Reconnaissance Vehicle project to Rheinmettal Australia; and
• Secured Australia as the Asia Pacific hub for the sustainment and maintenance of the F35-A Joint Strike

Christopher also worked to ensure the growth and sustainment of Australia’s Defence Industry, and thus implemented Australia’s Defence Export Strategy, Defence Industrial Capability Plan, and the Naval Shipbuilding Plan. He also created the Defence Cooperative Research Centre, the Centre for Defence Industry Capability, the Defence Innovation Hub, and the Next Generation Technology Fund.

On an international scale, Christopher was responsible for creating the Pacific Step Up to strengthen Australia’s strategic role in the South Pacific, and was the architect of the Australian Government’s position that Jerusalem should be the capital of Israel and East Jerusalem the capital of a future Palestinian state.

Christopher also worked to strengthen Australia’s defence ties with other countries, establishing the Australia France Initiative to take advantage of the close relationship with France through the Attack Class Submarine Project. He settled Defence Memoranda of Understanding with Israel, China, and Switzerland, and initiated Memoranda of Understanding with the United Arab Emirates and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

Christopher was also the driving force behind the establishment of the Australia Space Agency.

Christopher was a Minister in the Howard, Abbott, Turnbull and Morrison Governments, holding various portfolios including Ageing, Education, Industry Innovation and Science, and Defence.

As a Minister for Education and Minister for Industry Innovation and Science, respectively, Christopher delivered the National Innovation and Science Agenda, reformed the national curriculum, introduced compulsory literacy and numeracy testing for Australian teaching graduates and expanded phonics teaching.

Stephen Crabb (UK)

Stephen Crabb is a Welsh Conservative and since 2005 has served as the Member of Parliament for Preseli Pembrokeshire.

Since January last year he has served as the chairman of the Welsh Affairs Select Committee.

He has served as Secretary of State for Work and Pensions and was previously a government whip, a junior minister for Wales and the Secretary of State for Wales.

He has degrees from Bristol University (BSc) and London Business School (MBA).

Theresa Villiers (UK)

Theresa Villiers has served as the Member of Parliament for Chipping Barnet since 2005, having previously served as a Member of the European Parliament from 1999 to 2005.

A member of the Conservative Party, Villiers was Minister of State for Rail and Aviation from 2010 to 2012, Secretary of State for Northern Ireland from 2012 to 2016 and Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs from 2019 to 2020.

She has a Bachelor of Laws degree with first-class honours in 1990 from the University of Bristol, and a postgraduate degree of Bachelor of Civil Law from Jesus College, Oxford.

She has also worked as a lecturer at King’s College, London

Michael Gapes

Michael Gapes was the Member of Parliament for Ilford South from 1992 to 2019.

He studied economics at Fitzwilliam College, Cambridge and later was chair of the National Organisation of Labour Students.

In Parliament he chaired the Foreign Affairs Select Committee from 2005 to 2010.

In February 2019, Gapes left the Labour Party in protest at Jeremy Corbyn‘s leadership to form The Independent Group, later Change UK, along with six other Labour MPs.

Lord Stuart Polak (UK)

CFI Honorary President

Lord Polak was elevated to the House of Lords in October 2015. He has sat on the EU Security and Justice Sub-Committee since May 2016, and sat on the European Union Committee from October 2018 until July 2019.

Lord Polak was appointed as only the second Director of Conservative Friends of Israel in 1989, a position which he held until 2015 when he was made Honorary President.

In March 2015, he was awarded the CBE for political services to Conservative Friends of Israel.

Born in Liverpool in 1961 where he grew up and was educated, Lord Polak began his career working for the Board of Deputies of British Jews in 1984 as Education Director.

He has coordinated and led more than 150 Conservative Friends of Israel delegations of politicians to Israel over 28 years and through this he has developed extensive relationships with MPs, Peers, MEPs and advisors throughout all levels of the Conservative Party.

Mark Regev (IL)

Mark Regev is senior adviser on foreign affairs and international communications to the Israeli Prime Minister and a weekly columnist in the Jerusalem Post.

He was international spokesperson for the Prime Minister’s Office from 2007 to 2015.

He served as Ambassador of Israel to the United Kingdom from 2016 to 2020.

He received his bachelor’s degree in political science and history at Melbourne University, and master’s degrees in political science from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, and in management from Boston University. Regev began his career as a lecturer on international relations and strategy at the Israel Defence Forces’ Staff College.

He joined Israel’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs in 1990, serving as deputy chief of mission at the Consulate General in Hong Kong, and spokesman at the Israeli Embassy in Beijing. He also served as spokesman at the Embassy in Washington. Regev was the spokesman for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Jerusalem from 2004 to 2007.

Boaz Ganor (IL)

Founder and executive director, International Institute for Counter-Terrorism

Professor Boaz Ganor is Ronald Lauder Chair for Counter-Terrorism and dean of the Lauder School of Government, Diplomacy and Strategy, Interdisciplinary Center, Herzliya, Israel. He serves as the founding president of the International Academic Counter-Terrorism Community, an international association of academic institutions, experts, and researchers in fields related to the study of terrorism and counter- terrorism. Boaz previously held positions at Stanford University, UC Berkeley, the Hoover Institution (Koret Distinguished Visiting Fellow), the Monterey Institute of International Studies, MIPT (The National Memorial for the Prevention of Terrorism), Hebrew University and Bar Ilan University. He was also a member of the international advisory team of the Manhattan Institute to the New York Police Department.

He is a member of the International Advisory Council of the International Centre for Political Violence and Terrorism Research at the Institute of Defence and Strategic Studies, Nanyang Technological University, The Republic of Singapore. He is also a co-founder of the International Centre for the Study of Radicalisation and Political Violence, a partnership between the University of Pennsylvania, Israel’s Interdisciplinary Centre, London’s King’s College and and the Regional Center on Conflict Prevention in Jordan. Since 2014, Ron has been a member of the executive committee of the academic advisory to the Institute for the Study of Global Anti-Semitism and Policy.

He has given briefings and/or testimonies to the United Nations Counter-Terrorism Executive Directorate, the Australian Parliament, the US Congress, the US Army, the FBI, the US Department of Homeland Security, as well as numerous intelligence, security and police services throughout the world. In 2001, Ron was appointed as a member of the advisory committee of the Israel National Security Council on Counter-Terrorism, and he has previously served as a member of the Israeli delegation to the Trilateral (American-Palestinian-Israeli) Committee for Monitoring Incitement to Violence and Terror. He also advised the Israeli delegation for peace negotiations with Jordan. In 1995, he was a consultant to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on his book Fighting Terrorism – How democracies can defeat domestic and international terrorism.

Ron has published numerous articles on terrorism and counter-terrorism. His book The Counter-Terrorism Puzzle – A Guide for Decision Makers (Transaction Publishers, 2005), is used as a text book in universities worldwide and his upcoming book, Global Alert: Modern terrorism rationality and the challenge to the democratic world will be published by Columbia University Press. He is also the editor of Countering Suicide Terrorism (2001) and Post-Modern Terrorism (2006). He a frequent media and television commentator and has appeared on the BBC, CNN, CBS, ABC, and in The New York Times, the Guardian, The Wall Street Journal, the Jerusalem Post, Haaretz and many other Israeli and international publications.

Dr. Liam Fox (UK)

The Rt Hon Dr Liam Fox MP has been Member of Parliament for North Somerset since 1992.  In John Major’s Government he served as a Minister at the Foreign & Commonwealth Office and as Government Whip (Lord Commissioner of the Treasury).  He had previously served as Parliamentary Private Secretary to Michael Howard, then Home Secretary.

Between 1997 and 2010, he held several roles on the Conservative Party Opposition Front Bench such as Constitutional Affairs Spokesman, Shadow Health Secretary, Conservative Party Chairman, Shadow Foreign Secretary and Shadow Defence Secretary.

In May 2010, Prime Minister David Cameron appointed him Secretary of State for Defence.  In 2013, he published ‘Rising Tides’ a book analysing crucial world issues with Tony Blair, Condoleezza Rice, Malcolm Rifkind and Donald Rumsfeld.

Between July 2016 and July 2019, he served in Prime Minister Theresa May’s Government as Secretary of State for International Trade and President of the Board of Trade.  As International Trade Secretary he was tasked with creating the UK’s first Independent Trade Policy for forty years post-Brexit.  During his time in post he strongly argued for global trade liberalisation, championed free trade and supported a rules-based system with WTO reform.

Before entering politics, Dr Fox worked as an NHS doctor and then as a family GP.  He is also a former Civilian Army Medical Officer and Divisional Surgeon with St John Ambulance.  In 2012, he founded the military charity ‘Give Us Time’.

He was born in Scotland and attended St Bride’s High School, the biggest comprehensive state school in Europe, before studying medicine at the University of Glasgow Medical School.

Itamar Marcus (IL)

Itamar Marcus, founder and director of Palestinian Media Watch is one of the foremost authorities on Palestinian ideology and policy. Marcus has published hundreds of reports and articles on Palestinian society, education, and media exposing PA hate and terror promotion in education, sports, culture and other frameworks the PA controls. PMW’s work has changed the way the world sees the Palestinian Authority.

Marcus has made numerous presentations to legislators, governments, and other decision-makers. His book Deception, co-authored with Nan Jacques Zilberdik, was acclaimed by the founder of Human Rights Watch, Robert Bernstein, as “one of the most important books you handle in your lives.”

Marcus was appointed by the Israeli Government to represent Israel in negotiations on incitement with the Palestinian Authority (PA) in 1999. He has received awards from ZOA, Israel Media Watch, and EMET, and was recognized as being among the world’s “top 100 people positively influencing Jewish life or the State of Israel,” by The Algemeiner newspaper.

Dr. Jonathan Barnett

Coming soon.

Albert Dadon

Albert is a musician, entrepreneur, and chairman and founder of the International Institute for Strategic Leadership Dialogue.

He is the founder and executive chairman of Ubertas Group, a prominent property development company of medium and high-density projects in residential apartments and hotels.

He supports numerous philanthropic initiatives and works for the community in a range of activities covering international affairs and cultural events.

In 2008, he was awarded an Order of Australia for services to the arts, particularly through the Melbourne International Jazz Festival, to the community through philanthropic support for cultural and charitable organisations, and to business. He founded the Australia Israel Cultural Exchange in 2002, an organisation launched through a joint communiqué between the Australian and Israeli Governments (the only such joint communiqué to date). The organisation was launched simultaneously by the then respective Foreign Ministers of the two countries, Alexander Downer and Benjamin Netanyahu.

He then launched the Australia Israel UK Leadership Dialogue to promotes trilateral relations between Australia, Israel and the United Kingdom. It evolved from the first forum that took place in Israel in June, 2009, under the leadership of then Deputy Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard and five Dialogues took place. This year it is reorganised and expanded into the International Institute of Strategic Leadership Dialogue.

Mr Dadon is also an active performing jazz musician and has released a dozen albums since 1990. Last year he was awarded the Chevalier of

Nir Shaviv

profile coming soon

Ian Plimer

Professor Ian Plimer is Australia’s best-known geologist.

He is Emeritus Professor of Earth Sciences at the University of Melbourne, where he was Professor and Head of Earth Sciences (1991-2005) after serving at the University of Newcastle (1985-1991) as Professor and Head of Geology.

He was Professor of Mining Geology at The University of Adelaide (2006-2012) and in 1991 was also German Research Foundation Professor of Ore Deposits at the Ludwig Maximilians Universität, München.

He has served on the staff of the University of New England, the University of New South Wales and Macquarie University.

He has published more than 120 scientific papers on geology and was one of the trinity of editors for the five-volume Encyclopedia of Geology and is a well-known commentator in newspapers and magazines.

Plimer won the Leopold von Buch Plakette (German Geological Society), the Clarke Medal (Royal Society of NSW), the Sir Willis Connolly Medal (Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy). He is a Fellow of the Australian Academy of Technological Sciences and Engineering and an Honorary Fellow of the Geological Society of London. He has been an adviser to governments and corporations and a regular broadcaster.

He worked for North Broken Hill Ltd, has been a consultant to many major mining companies and has been a director of numerous exploration public companies listed in London, Toronto and Sydney.

A new Broken Hill mineral, plimerite, was named in recognition of his contribution to Broken Hill geology.

Peter Ridd

Peter Ridd is a geophysicist with more than 100 publications and 35 years’ experience working on the Great Barrier Reef and instrumentation development.

He worked on the physical oceanography of the reef, and also developed a wide range of world-first optical and electronic instruments for measuring environmental conditions near corals and other ecosystems.

He was head of physics at James Cook University for more than a decade before being sacked, in 2018, for questioning the quality assurance systems used by reef science institutions.

Some of the poor-quality work relates to the affect, or lack of affect, of climate change, and agriculture, on the reef.

Ridd now works, unpaid, with agricultural organisations, to improve quality assurance systems of “science” used by Australian governments to make environmental laws and regulations that seriously affect farmers.

He is also an adjunct fellow at the Institute of Public Affairs.

Benny Peiser

profile coming soon

Avi Dichter (IL)

Member of the Knesset

Mr. Avi Dicter is a member of the Knesset from the Likud party. He is currently the Chairman of the Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee. MK Dicter is former Minister of Public Security, Minister of Home Front Defense and former Director of Shin Bet – the Israel Security Agency.

Additionally, and not less importantly for Mr. Dicter, as the son of Holocaust survivors, he took a volunteer position as Chairman of the Foundation for the Benefit of Holocaust Victims in Israel between 2013-2015.

Born in 1952 in Israel, Mr. Dicter served in the Israel Defense Forces elite commando unit known as Sayeret Matkal. Upon finishing his military service in 1974, he joined the Shin Bet where he advanced up the ranks from air marshal to Director of the Agency. He held this position from 2000-2005, a period of significant Palestinian terrorist activity which included the Al-Aqsa Intifada or Second Intifada. Mr. Dicter is credited with reforming the Shin Bet to effectively deal with this challenge, leading to a dramatic reduction in the number of terrorist attacks and to a restoration of public morale and safety.

Before reaching the top post at Shin-Bet, initially as an appointee of Prime Minister Ehud Barak and then, Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, he served as director of the Southern District, including Gaza, Director of the Security and Protection Division – a position he took on after the assassination of the late Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin – and as Deputy Director of the Agency.

As Minister of Public Security Mr. Dicter built Israel’s Witness Protection Program, and formed a national crime-fighting unit – Lahav 433 – modeled after the FBI. Additionally, he succeeded in passing the Communications Data Law and at the same time implementing the electronic gathering of fast, accurate and actionable intelligence. This led to the jailing of most of the heads of the largest crime organizations.

During his term as Minister of Public Security, he also introduced and signed cooperation agreements with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, with Canada’s Ministry of Public Safety, and with countries in the European Union.

During last few years Avi has been promoting the basic law: “Israel as the National State of the Jewish People”.

MK Avi Dicter holds a BA in Social Sciences from Bar-Ilan University, and an Executive MBA from Tel Aviv University. He also served as a research fellow at the Brookings Institute in Washington, D.C. He speaks Hebrew, Arabic and English fluently. He is married to Ilana Dicter, and has three children and seven grandchildren.

Alexander Downer

Alexander Downer is the executive chair of the International School for Government at King’s College in London.

He was Australia’s Minister for Foreign Affairs from 1996 to 2007, and was High Commissioner to the United Kingdom from 2014 to 2018.

He is also a former Leader of the Opposition as federal leader of the Liberal Party.

With then Israeli Foreign Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, he issued a unique joint communique in December 2002 establishing the Australia Israel Cultural Exchange, the forerunner to the International Strategic Leadership Dialogue Institute.

Sen. Kimberley Kitching (AU)

Chosen by the Parliament of Victoria in 2016 to represent that State in the Senate.

Committee service

• Senate Select: Exposure Draft of the Marriage Amendment (Same-Sex Marriage) Bill from 1.12.2016 to 15.2.2017; Strengthening Multiculturalism from 23.3.2017 to 17.8.2017; Obesity Epidemic in Australia from 10.5.2018 to 5.12.2018; Foreign Interference through Social Media from 5.12.2019.
• Senate Legislative and General Purpose Standing: Education and Employment: Legislation from 8.11.2016 to 11.2016; Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade: References from 8.11.2016 (Chair from 3.7.2019); Finance and Public Administration: Legislation from 8.11.2016; Education and Employment: References from 8.11.2016 to 22.11.2016; Finance and Public Administration: References from 8.11.2016; Legal and Constitutional Affairs: References from 22.6.2017 to 1.7.2019; Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade: Legislation from 15.12.2017 to 15.12.2017 (Substitute member from 15.12.2017 to 15.12.2017); Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade: Legislation from 2.7.2019 (Deputy Chair from 3.7.2019).
• Joint Standing: Treaties from 11.2016 to 1.7.2019; Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade from 15.2.2018.
• Shadow Assistant Minister for Government Accountability from 6.2019.
• Deputy Manager of Opposition Business in the Senate from 6.2019.

Party positions

• Member of the Australian Labor Party Legal Affairs Policy Committee,
• Delegate to the Australian Labor Party State Conference,
• Member of the Australian Labor Party Administrative Committee,
• Delegate to the Australian Labor Party Melbourne Federal Electorate Council,
• Delegate to the Australian Labor Party National Conference,

Qualifications and occupation before entering Federal Parliament

• BA (University of Queensland).
• LLB (University of Queensland).
• Manager, private Information Technology and Human Resources
• Senior Advisor, Treasurer of Victoria and Minister for Industry, Trade, Major Projects and Information Technology (Vic).
• General Manager, Health Workers Union

John Fitzgerald

John Fitzgerald is Emeritus Professor in the Centre for Social Impact at Swinburne University of Technology in Melbourne where he headed the Asia-Pacific philanthropy studies program from 2013 to 2017.

Previously, he had served five years as China Representative of The Ford Foundation in Beijing and before that again as director of the International Centre of Excellence in Asia-Pacific Studies at the Australian National University.

From 2015 to 2017 he was the elected president of the Australian Academy of the Humanities.

His research focuses on the history of nationalism, public administration, and philanthropy in China, and on the histories of the Chinese diaspora, and his public commentaries focus on China-Australia relations.

His books include Big White Lie: Chinese Australians in White Australia, awarded the Ernest Scott Prize of the Australian Historical Association, and Awakening China, awarded the Joseph Levenson Prize of the US Association for Asian Studies.

He has a Ph.D. from ANU and held a Fulbright postdoctoral fellowship at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. He is a graduate of the University of Sydney.

Paul Monk

Paul Monk has a first class honours degree in European history from Melbourne University.

He has a PhD in international relations from the Australian National University with an acclaimed doctoral dissertation on American counter-insurgency strategy throughout the Cold War in Southeast Asia and Central America.

He was recruited to the intelligence service working on East Asia from 1990.

By 1992 he was head of the Japan and Koreas Desk and in 1994 was appointed head of the China Desk in the Defence Intelligence Organisation.

He then taught Chinese politics and strategic affairs, before co-founding a consulting company in 2000 which specialises in applied cognitive science and structured argumentation. He is a commentator on cultural and international affairs and a published poet.

Michael Easson (AU)

Michael Easson is executive chair of EG Funds Management, with offices in Sydney, Australia, and Austin, Texas, and co-founder and executive director of the building technology company Willow Inc., with offices in Sydney, New York, London and Tel Aviv. He is the first independent chair of the Association of Superannuation Funds of Australia. After serving in several significant positions in the Australian trade union movement, for the last 25 years Michael has worked in business, including serving on boards in many fields including insurance, infrastructure, construction, sport, and the arts. He has a long standing interest in and has written articles on the Middle East and Australian foreign policy. He has a BA (Hons.) in politics from the University of NSW (UNSW); a MSc from Campion Hall, the University of Oxford; a PhD in History from the Australia Defence Academy, UNSW; and a PhD in transp

Anne-Marie Brady

Anne-Marie Brady is a professor of political science at the University of Canterbury.

She specialises in Chinese domestic and foreign politics, Antarctic and Arctic politics, Pacific politics, and New Zealand foreign policy. Her research on Antarctic politics, China’s polar interests, and the Chinese Communist Party’s domestic and foreign policy, in particular, foreign interference activities, has led to policy adjustments by the US, New Zealand, Australian, British and Canadian governments and the European Union.

She has a BA (Chinese and political studies) from the University of Auckland, a Masters of Asian Studies with first class honours and has a PhD in East Asian Studies from the Australian National University.

John Lee (AU)

Dr John Lee is a senior fellow and adjunct professor at the United States Studies Centre at the University of Sydney. He is also a senior fellow at the Hudson Institute in Washington DC.

From 2016-2018, he was senior adviser to Australian Minister for Foreign Affairs, Julie Bishop. In this role, he served as the principal adviser on Asia and for economic, strategic and political affairs in the Indo-Pacific region.

John was also appointed the Foreign Minister’s lead adviser on the 2017 Foreign Policy White Paper, the first comprehensive foreign affairs blueprint for Australia since 2003 and written to guide Australia’s external engagement for the next 10 years and beyond.

He is one of the foremost experts on the Chinese political-economy and on strategic and economic affairs pertaining to the Indo-Pacific.

His articles have been published in leading policy and academic journals in the United States, Asia and Australia and his first book was entitled Will China Fail? – published 2007 and updated and published again in 2009.

His opinions are published frequently by The Australian and has been published in more than 50 major newspapers and current affairs magazines in the United States, Asia, Europe, the Middle East and Oceania.

He received his Masters and Doctorate in International Relations from the University of Oxford and his Bachelor of Laws and Arts (1st Class – Philosophy) degrees from the University of New South Wales.

Dr Lee is based in Sydney, Australia.

Rowan Callick

Author and columnist Rowan Callick graduated with a BA Honours from Exeter University.

He worked for a daily newspaper in Britain before moving first to Papua New Guinea then Australia, spending 20 years on the Australian Financial Review, finally as Asia Pacific Editor.

He was China correspondent for the AFR from 1996-2000. From 1990-1992 he was a senior writer with Time. He joined The Australian in 2006, as China correspondent.

After three years in Beijing, he became The Australian’s Asia-Pacific editor in 2009. He returned to Beijing as China Correspondent from the 2016 to 2018 and continues to contribute to the newspaper.

He was appointed a fellow of the Australian Institute of International Affairs in 2013. His books include Comrades & Capitalists – Hong Kong Since the Handover, and Party Time: Who Runs China and How. He has won the Graham Perkin Award for Journalist of the Year and two Walkley Awards, Australian journalism’s highest honour.

Christopher Pyne (AU)

Christopher Pyne served as the 54th Australian Defence Minister, and was responsible for delivering the $200 billion build-up of Australia’s military capability, the largest in Australia’s peacetime history.

Serving previously as Minister for Defence Industry, Christopher assisted in the development of the 2016 Defence White Paper and implementing the Integrated Investment Program.

During his time as a Cabinet Minister in the Defence portfolio, Christopher:

• Awarded the $35 billion Hunter Class Anti-Submarine Warfare frigates contract to BAES;
• Backed in the $50 billion Attack Class Submarine project by Defence and Naval Group Australia;
• Awarded the $3.7 billion Arafura Class Offshore Patrol Vessel project to Luerssen Australia, CIVMEC and the ASC;
• Awarded the $5.2 billion Combat Reconnaissance Vehicle project to Rheinmettal Australia; and
• Secured Australia as the Asia Pacific hub for the sustainment and maintenance of the F35-A Joint Strike

Christopher also worked to ensure the growth and sustainment of Australia’s Defence Industry, and thus implemented Australia’s Defence Export Strategy, Defence Industrial Capability Plan, and the Naval Shipbuilding Plan. He also created the Defence Cooperative Research Centre, the Centre for Defence Industry Capability, the Defence Innovation Hub, and the Next Generation Technology Fund.

On an international scale, Christopher was responsible for creating the Pacific Step Up to strengthen Australia’s strategic role in the South Pacific, and was the architect of the Australian Government’s position that Jerusalem should be the capital of Israel and East Jerusalem the capital of a future Palestinian state.

Christopher also worked to strengthen Australia’s defence ties with other countries, establishing the Australia France Initiative to take advantage of the close relationship with France through the Attack Class Submarine Project. He settled Defence Memoranda of Understanding with Israel, China, and Switzerland, and initiated Memoranda of Understanding with the United Arab Emirates and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

Christopher was also the driving force behind the establishment of the Australia Space Agency.

Christopher was a Minister in the Howard, Abbott, Turnbull and Morrison Governments, holding various portfolios including Ageing, Education, Industry Innovation and Science, and Defence.

As a Minister for Education and Minister for Industry Innovation and Science, respectively, Christopher delivered the National Innovation and Science Agenda, reformed the national curriculum, introduced compulsory literacy and numeracy testing for Australian teaching graduates and expanded phonics teaching.

Stephen Crabb (UK)

Stephen Crabb is a Welsh Conservative and since 2005 has served as the Member of Parliament for Preseli Pembrokeshire.

Since January last year he has served as the chairman of the Welsh Affairs Select Committee.

He has served as Secretary of State for Work and Pensions and was previously a government whip, a junior minister for Wales and the Secretary of State for Wales.

He has degrees from Bristol University (BSc) and London Business School (MBA).

Theresa Villiers (UK)

Theresa Villiers has served as the Member of Parliament for Chipping Barnet since 2005, having previously served as a Member of the European Parliament from 1999 to 2005.

A member of the Conservative Party, Villiers was Minister of State for Rail and Aviation from 2010 to 2012, Secretary of State for Northern Ireland from 2012 to 2016 and Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs from 2019 to 2020.

She has a Bachelor of Laws degree with first-class honours in 1990 from the University of Bristol, and a postgraduate degree of Bachelor of Civil Law from Jesus College, Oxford.

She has also worked as a lecturer at King’s College, London

Michael Gapes

Michael Gapes was the Member of Parliament for Ilford South from 1992 to 2019.

He studied economics at Fitzwilliam College, Cambridge and later was chair of the National Organisation of Labour Students.

In Parliament he chaired the Foreign Affairs Select Committee from 2005 to 2010.

In February 2019, Gapes left the Labour Party in protest at Jeremy Corbyn‘s leadership to form The Independent Group, later Change UK, along with six other Labour MPs.

Lord Stuart Polak (UK)

CFI Honorary President

Lord Polak was elevated to the House of Lords in October 2015. He has sat on the EU Security and Justice Sub-Committee since May 2016, and sat on the European Union Committee from October 2018 until July 2019.

Lord Polak was appointed as only the second Director of Conservative Friends of Israel in 1989, a position which he held until 2015 when he was made Honorary President.

In March 2015, he was awarded the CBE for political services to Conservative Friends of Israel.

Born in Liverpool in 1961 where he grew up and was educated, Lord Polak began his career working for the Board of Deputies of British Jews in 1984 as Education Director.

He has coordinated and led more than 150 Conservative Friends of Israel delegations of politicians to Israel over 28 years and through this he has developed extensive relationships with MPs, Peers, MEPs and advisors throughout all levels of the Conservative Party.

Mark Regev (IL)

Mark Regev is senior adviser on foreign affairs and international communications to the Israeli Prime Minister and a weekly columnist in the Jerusalem Post.

He was international spokesperson for the Prime Minister’s Office from 2007 to 2015.

He served as Ambassador of Israel to the United Kingdom from 2016 to 2020.

He received his bachelor’s degree in political science and history at Melbourne University, and master’s degrees in political science from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, and in management from Boston University. Regev began his career as a lecturer on international relations and strategy at the Israel Defence Forces’ Staff College.

He joined Israel’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs in 1990, serving as deputy chief of mission at the Consulate General in Hong Kong, and spokesman at the Israeli Embassy in Beijing. He also served as spokesman at the Embassy in Washington. Regev was the spokesman for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Jerusalem from 2004 to 2007.

Boaz Ganor (IL)

Founder and executive director, International Institute for Counter-Terrorism

Professor Boaz Ganor is Ronald Lauder Chair for Counter-Terrorism and dean of the Lauder School of Government, Diplomacy and Strategy, Interdisciplinary Center, Herzliya, Israel. He serves as the founding president of the International Academic Counter-Terrorism Community, an international association of academic institutions, experts, and researchers in fields related to the study of terrorism and counter- terrorism. Boaz previously held positions at Stanford University, UC Berkeley, the Hoover Institution (Koret Distinguished Visiting Fellow), the Monterey Institute of International Studies, MIPT (The National Memorial for the Prevention of Terrorism), Hebrew University and Bar Ilan University. He was also a member of the international advisory team of the Manhattan Institute to the New York Police Department.

He is a member of the International Advisory Council of the International Centre for Political Violence and Terrorism Research at the Institute of Defence and Strategic Studies, Nanyang Technological University, The Republic of Singapore. He is also a co-founder of the International Centre for the Study of Radicalisation and Political Violence, a partnership between the University of Pennsylvania, Israel’s Interdisciplinary Centre, London’s King’s College and and the Regional Center on Conflict Prevention in Jordan. Since 2014, Ron has been a member of the executive committee of the academic advisory to the Institute for the Study of Global Anti-Semitism and Policy.

He has given briefings and/or testimonies to the United Nations Counter-Terrorism Executive Directorate, the Australian Parliament, the US Congress, the US Army, the FBI, the US Department of Homeland Security, as well as numerous intelligence, security and police services throughout the world. In 2001, Ron was appointed as a member of the advisory committee of the Israel National Security Council on Counter-Terrorism, and he has previously served as a member of the Israeli delegation to the Trilateral (American-Palestinian-Israeli) Committee for Monitoring Incitement to Violence and Terror. He also advised the Israeli delegation for peace negotiations with Jordan. In 1995, he was a consultant to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on his book Fighting Terrorism – How democracies can defeat domestic and international terrorism.

Ron has published numerous articles on terrorism and counter-terrorism. His book The Counter-Terrorism Puzzle – A Guide for Decision Makers (Transaction Publishers, 2005), is used as a text book in universities worldwide and his upcoming book, Global Alert: Modern terrorism rationality and the challenge to the democratic world will be published by Columbia University Press. He is also the editor of Countering Suicide Terrorism (2001) and Post-Modern Terrorism (2006). He a frequent media and television commentator and has appeared on the BBC, CNN, CBS, ABC, and in The New York Times, the Guardian, The Wall Street Journal, the Jerusalem Post, Haaretz and many other Israeli and international publications.

Dr. Liam Fox (UK)

The Rt Hon Dr Liam Fox MP has been Member of Parliament for North Somerset since 1992.  In John Major’s Government he served as a Minister at the Foreign & Commonwealth Office and as Government Whip (Lord Commissioner of the Treasury).  He had previously served as Parliamentary Private Secretary to Michael Howard, then Home Secretary.

Between 1997 and 2010, he held several roles on the Conservative Party Opposition Front Bench such as Constitutional Affairs Spokesman, Shadow Health Secretary, Conservative Party Chairman, Shadow Foreign Secretary and Shadow Defence Secretary.

In May 2010, Prime Minister David Cameron appointed him Secretary of State for Defence.  In 2013, he published ‘Rising Tides’ a book analysing crucial world issues with Tony Blair, Condoleezza Rice, Malcolm Rifkind and Donald Rumsfeld.

Between July 2016 and July 2019, he served in Prime Minister Theresa May’s Government as Secretary of State for International Trade and President of the Board of Trade.  As International Trade Secretary he was tasked with creating the UK’s first Independent Trade Policy for forty years post-Brexit.  During his time in post he strongly argued for global trade liberalisation, championed free trade and supported a rules-based system with WTO reform.

Before entering politics, Dr Fox worked as an NHS doctor and then as a family GP.  He is also a former Civilian Army Medical Officer and Divisional Surgeon with St John Ambulance.  In 2012, he founded the military charity ‘Give Us Time’.

He was born in Scotland and attended St Bride’s High School, the biggest comprehensive state school in Europe, before studying medicine at the University of Glasgow Medical School.

Itamar Marcus (IL)

Itamar Marcus, founder and director of Palestinian Media Watch is one of the foremost authorities on Palestinian ideology and policy. Marcus has published hundreds of reports and articles on Palestinian society, education, and media exposing PA hate and terror promotion in education, sports, culture and other frameworks the PA controls. PMW’s work has changed the way the world sees the Palestinian Authority.

Marcus has made numerous presentations to legislators, governments, and other decision-makers. His book Deception, co-authored with Nan Jacques Zilberdik, was acclaimed by the founder of Human Rights Watch, Robert Bernstein, as “one of the most important books you handle in your lives.”

Marcus was appointed by the Israeli Government to represent Israel in negotiations on incitement with the Palestinian Authority (PA) in 1999. He has received awards from ZOA, Israel Media Watch, and EMET, and was recognized as being among the world’s “top 100 people positively influencing Jewish life or the State of Israel,” by The Algemeiner newspaper.

Dr. Jonathan Barnett

Coming soon.

Albert Dadon

Albert is a musician, entrepreneur, and chairman and founder of the International Institute for Strategic Leadership Dialogue.

He is the founder and executive chairman of Ubertas Group, a prominent property development company of medium and high-density projects in residential apartments and hotels.

He supports numerous philanthropic initiatives and works for the community in a range of activities covering international affairs and cultural events.

In 2008, he was awarded an Order of Australia for services to the arts, particularly through the Melbourne International Jazz Festival, to the community through philanthropic support for cultural and charitable organisations, and to business. He founded the Australia Israel Cultural Exchange in 2002, an organisation launched through a joint communiqué between the Australian and Israeli Governments (the only such joint communiqué to date). The organisation was launched simultaneously by the then respective Foreign Ministers of the two countries, Alexander Downer and Benjamin Netanyahu.

He then launched the Australia Israel UK Leadership Dialogue to promotes trilateral relations between Australia, Israel and the United Kingdom. It evolved from the first forum that took place in Israel in June, 2009, under the leadership of then Deputy Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard and five Dialogues took place. This year it is reorganised and expanded into the International Institute of Strategic Leadership Dialogue.

Mr Dadon is also an active performing jazz musician and has released a dozen albums since 1990. Last year he was awarded the Chevalier of

Nir Shaviv

profile coming soon

Ian Plimer

Professor Ian Plimer is Australia’s best-known geologist.

He is Emeritus Professor of Earth Sciences at the University of Melbourne, where he was Professor and Head of Earth Sciences (1991-2005) after serving at the University of Newcastle (1985-1991) as Professor and Head of Geology.

He was Professor of Mining Geology at The University of Adelaide (2006-2012) and in 1991 was also German Research Foundation Professor of Ore Deposits at the Ludwig Maximilians Universität, München.

He has served on the staff of the University of New England, the University of New South Wales and Macquarie University.

He has published more than 120 scientific papers on geology and was one of the trinity of editors for the five-volume Encyclopedia of Geology and is a well-known commentator in newspapers and magazines.

Plimer won the Leopold von Buch Plakette (German Geological Society), the Clarke Medal (Royal Society of NSW), the Sir Willis Connolly Medal (Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy). He is a Fellow of the Australian Academy of Technological Sciences and Engineering and an Honorary Fellow of the Geological Society of London. He has been an adviser to governments and corporations and a regular broadcaster.

He worked for North Broken Hill Ltd, has been a consultant to many major mining companies and has been a director of numerous exploration public companies listed in London, Toronto and Sydney.

A new Broken Hill mineral, plimerite, was named in recognition of his contribution to Broken Hill geology.

Peter Ridd

Peter Ridd is a geophysicist with more than 100 publications and 35 years’ experience working on the Great Barrier Reef and instrumentation development.

He worked on the physical oceanography of the reef, and also developed a wide range of world-first optical and electronic instruments for measuring environmental conditions near corals and other ecosystems.

He was head of physics at James Cook University for more than a decade before being sacked, in 2018, for questioning the quality assurance systems used by reef science institutions.

Some of the poor-quality work relates to the affect, or lack of affect, of climate change, and agriculture, on the reef.

Ridd now works, unpaid, with agricultural organisations, to improve quality assurance systems of “science” used by Australian governments to make environmental laws and regulations that seriously affect farmers.

He is also an adjunct fellow at the Institute of Public Affairs.

Benny Peiser

profile coming soon

Robert Jenrick

profile coming soon

Avi Dichter (IL)

Member of the Knesset

Mr. Avi Dicter is a member of the Knesset from the Likud party. He is currently the Chairman of the Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee. MK Dicter is former Minister of Public Security, Minister of Home Front Defense and former Director of Shin Bet – the Israel Security Agency.

Additionally, and not less importantly for Mr. Dicter, as the son of Holocaust survivors, he took a volunteer position as Chairman of the Foundation for the Benefit of Holocaust Victims in Israel between 2013-2015.

Born in 1952 in Israel, Mr. Dicter served in the Israel Defense Forces elite commando unit known as Sayeret Matkal. Upon finishing his military service in 1974, he joined the Shin Bet where he advanced up the ranks from air marshal to Director of the Agency. He held this position from 2000-2005, a period of significant Palestinian terrorist activity which included the Al-Aqsa Intifada or Second Intifada. Mr. Dicter is credited with reforming the Shin Bet to effectively deal with this challenge, leading to a dramatic reduction in the number of terrorist attacks and to a restoration of public morale and safety.

Before reaching the top post at Shin-Bet, initially as an appointee of Prime Minister Ehud Barak and then, Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, he served as director of the Southern District, including Gaza, Director of the Security and Protection Division – a position he took on after the assassination of the late Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin – and as Deputy Director of the Agency.

As Minister of Public Security Mr. Dicter built Israel’s Witness Protection Program, and formed a national crime-fighting unit – Lahav 433 – modeled after the FBI. Additionally, he succeeded in passing the Communications Data Law and at the same time implementing the electronic gathering of fast, accurate and actionable intelligence. This led to the jailing of most of the heads of the largest crime organizations.

During his term as Minister of Public Security, he also introduced and signed cooperation agreements with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, with Canada’s Ministry of Public Safety, and with countries in the European Union.

During last few years Avi has been promoting the basic law: “Israel as the National State of the Jewish People”.

MK Avi Dicter holds a BA in Social Sciences from Bar-Ilan University, and an Executive MBA from Tel Aviv University. He also served as a research fellow at the Brookings Institute in Washington, D.C. He speaks Hebrew, Arabic and English fluently. He is married to Ilana Dicter, and has three children and seven grandchildren.

Alexander Downer

Alexander Downer is the executive chair of the International School for Government at King’s College in London.

He was Australia’s Minister for Foreign Affairs from 1996 to 2007, and was High Commissioner to the United Kingdom from 2014 to 2018.

He is also a former Leader of the Opposition as federal leader of the Liberal Party.

With then Israeli Foreign Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, he issued a unique joint communique in December 2002 establishing the Australia Israel Cultural Exchange, the forerunner to the International Strategic Leadership Dialogue Institute.

Sen. Kimberley Kitching (AU)

Chosen by the Parliament of Victoria in 2016 to represent that State in the Senate.

Committee service

• Senate Select: Exposure Draft of the Marriage Amendment (Same-Sex Marriage) Bill from 1.12.2016 to 15.2.2017; Strengthening Multiculturalism from 23.3.2017 to 17.8.2017; Obesity Epidemic in Australia from 10.5.2018 to 5.12.2018; Foreign Interference through Social Media from 5.12.2019.
• Senate Legislative and General Purpose Standing: Education and Employment: Legislation from 8.11.2016 to 11.2016; Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade: References from 8.11.2016 (Chair from 3.7.2019); Finance and Public Administration: Legislation from 8.11.2016; Education and Employment: References from 8.11.2016 to 22.11.2016; Finance and Public Administration: References from 8.11.2016; Legal and Constitutional Affairs: References from 22.6.2017 to 1.7.2019; Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade: Legislation from 15.12.2017 to 15.12.2017 (Substitute member from 15.12.2017 to 15.12.2017); Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade: Legislation from 2.7.2019 (Deputy Chair from 3.7.2019).
• Joint Standing: Treaties from 11.2016 to 1.7.2019; Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade from 15.2.2018.
• Shadow Assistant Minister for Government Accountability from 6.2019.
• Deputy Manager of Opposition Business in the Senate from 6.2019.

Party positions

• Member of the Australian Labor Party Legal Affairs Policy Committee,
• Delegate to the Australian Labor Party State Conference,
• Member of the Australian Labor Party Administrative Committee,
• Delegate to the Australian Labor Party Melbourne Federal Electorate Council,
• Delegate to the Australian Labor Party National Conference,

Qualifications and occupation before entering Federal Parliament

• BA (University of Queensland).
• LLB (University of Queensland).
• Manager, private Information Technology and Human Resources
• Senior Advisor, Treasurer of Victoria and Minister for Industry, Trade, Major Projects and Information Technology (Vic).
• General Manager, Health Workers Union

John Fitzgerald

John Fitzgerald is Emeritus Professor in the Centre for Social Impact at Swinburne University of Technology in Melbourne where he headed the Asia-Pacific philanthropy studies program from 2013 to 2017.

Previously, he had served five years as China Representative of The Ford Foundation in Beijing and before that again as director of the International Centre of Excellence in Asia-Pacific Studies at the Australian National University.

From 2015 to 2017 he was the elected president of the Australian Academy of the Humanities.

His research focuses on the history of nationalism, public administration, and philanthropy in China, and on the histories of the Chinese diaspora, and his public commentaries focus on China-Australia relations.

His books include Big White Lie: Chinese Australians in White Australia, awarded the Ernest Scott Prize of the Australian Historical Association, and Awakening China, awarded the Joseph Levenson Prize of the US Association for Asian Studies.

He has a Ph.D. from ANU and held a Fulbright postdoctoral fellowship at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. He is a graduate of the University of Sydney.

Paul Monk

Paul Monk has a first class honours degree in European history from Melbourne University.

He has a PhD in international relations from the Australian National University with an acclaimed doctoral dissertation on American counter-insurgency strategy throughout the Cold War in Southeast Asia and Central America.

He was recruited to the intelligence service working on East Asia from 1990.

By 1992 he was head of the Japan and Koreas Desk and in 1994 was appointed head of the China Desk in the Defence Intelligence Organisation.

He then taught Chinese politics and strategic affairs, before co-founding a consulting company in 2000 which specialises in applied cognitive science and structured argumentation. He is a commentator on cultural and international affairs and a published poet.

Michael Easson (AU)

Michael Easson is executive chair of EG Funds Management, with offices in Sydney, Australia, and Austin, Texas, and co-founder and executive director of the building technology company Willow Inc., with offices in Sydney, New York, London and Tel Aviv. He is the first independent chair of the Association of Superannuation Funds of Australia. After serving in several significant positions in the Australian trade union movement, for the last 25 years Michael has worked in business, including serving on boards in many fields including insurance, infrastructure, construction, sport, and the arts. He has a long standing interest in and has written articles on the Middle East and Australian foreign policy. He has a BA (Hons.) in politics from the University of NSW (UNSW); a MSc from Campion Hall, the University of Oxford; a PhD in History from the Australia Defence Academy, UNSW; and a PhD in transp

Anne-Marie Brady

Anne-Marie Brady is a professor of political science at the University of Canterbury.

She specialises in Chinese domestic and foreign politics, Antarctic and Arctic politics, Pacific politics, and New Zealand foreign policy. Her research on Antarctic politics, China’s polar interests, and the Chinese Communist Party’s domestic and foreign policy, in particular, foreign interference activities, has led to policy adjustments by the US, New Zealand, Australian, British and Canadian governments and the European Union.

She has a BA (Chinese and political studies) from the University of Auckland, a Masters of Asian Studies with first class honours and has a PhD in East Asian Studies from the Australian National University.

John Lee (AU)

Dr John Lee is a senior fellow and adjunct professor at the United States Studies Centre at the University of Sydney. He is also a senior fellow at the Hudson Institute in Washington DC.

From 2016-2018, he was senior adviser to Australian Minister for Foreign Affairs, Julie Bishop. In this role, he served as the principal adviser on Asia and for economic, strategic and political affairs in the Indo-Pacific region.

John was also appointed the Foreign Minister’s lead adviser on the 2017 Foreign Policy White Paper, the first comprehensive foreign affairs blueprint for Australia since 2003 and written to guide Australia’s external engagement for the next 10 years and beyond.

He is one of the foremost experts on the Chinese political-economy and on strategic and economic affairs pertaining to the Indo-Pacific.

His articles have been published in leading policy and academic journals in the United States, Asia and Australia and his first book was entitled Will China Fail? – published 2007 and updated and published again in 2009.

His opinions are published frequently by The Australian and has been published in more than 50 major newspapers and current affairs magazines in the United States, Asia, Europe, the Middle East and Oceania.

He received his Masters and Doctorate in International Relations from the University of Oxford and his Bachelor of Laws and Arts (1st Class – Philosophy) degrees from the University of New South Wales.

Dr Lee is based in Sydney, Australia.

Rowan Callick

Author and columnist Rowan Callick graduated with a BA Honours from Exeter University.

He worked for a daily newspaper in Britain before moving first to Papua New Guinea then Australia, spending 20 years on the Australian Financial Review, finally as Asia Pacific Editor.

He was China correspondent for the AFR from 1996-2000. From 1990-1992 he was a senior writer with Time. He joined The Australian in 2006, as China correspondent.

After three years in Beijing, he became The Australian’s Asia-Pacific editor in 2009. He returned to Beijing as China Correspondent from the 2016 to 2018 and continues to contribute to the newspaper.

He was appointed a fellow of the Australian Institute of International Affairs in 2013. His books include Comrades & Capitalists – Hong Kong Since the Handover, and Party Time: Who Runs China and How. He has won the Graham Perkin Award for Journalist of the Year and two Walkley Awards, Australian journalism’s highest honour.

Christopher Pyne (AU)

Christopher Pyne served as the 54th Australian Defence Minister, and was responsible for delivering the $200 billion build-up of Australia’s military capability, the largest in Australia’s peacetime history.

Serving previously as Minister for Defence Industry, Christopher assisted in the development of the 2016 Defence White Paper and implementing the Integrated Investment Program.

During his time as a Cabinet Minister in the Defence portfolio, Christopher:

• Awarded the $35 billion Hunter Class Anti-Submarine Warfare frigates contract to BAES;
• Backed in the $50 billion Attack Class Submarine project by Defence and Naval Group Australia;
• Awarded the $3.7 billion Arafura Class Offshore Patrol Vessel project to Luerssen Australia, CIVMEC and the ASC;
• Awarded the $5.2 billion Combat Reconnaissance Vehicle project to Rheinmettal Australia; and
• Secured Australia as the Asia Pacific hub for the sustainment and maintenance of the F35-A Joint Strike

Christopher also worked to ensure the growth and sustainment of Australia’s Defence Industry, and thus implemented Australia’s Defence Export Strategy, Defence Industrial Capability Plan, and the Naval Shipbuilding Plan. He also created the Defence Cooperative Research Centre, the Centre for Defence Industry Capability, the Defence Innovation Hub, and the Next Generation Technology Fund.

On an international scale, Christopher was responsible for creating the Pacific Step Up to strengthen Australia’s strategic role in the South Pacific, and was the architect of the Australian Government’s position that Jerusalem should be the capital of Israel and East Jerusalem the capital of a future Palestinian state.

Christopher also worked to strengthen Australia’s defence ties with other countries, establishing the Australia France Initiative to take advantage of the close relationship with France through the Attack Class Submarine Project. He settled Defence Memoranda of Understanding with Israel, China, and Switzerland, and initiated Memoranda of Understanding with the United Arab Emirates and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

Christopher was also the driving force behind the establishment of the Australia Space Agency.

Christopher was a Minister in the Howard, Abbott, Turnbull and Morrison Governments, holding various portfolios including Ageing, Education, Industry Innovation and Science, and Defence.

As a Minister for Education and Minister for Industry Innovation and Science, respectively, Christopher delivered the National Innovation and Science Agenda, reformed the national curriculum, introduced compulsory literacy and numeracy testing for Australian teaching graduates and expanded phonics teaching.

Stephen Crabb (UK)

Stephen Crabb is a Welsh Conservative and since 2005 has served as the Member of Parliament for Preseli Pembrokeshire.

Since January last year he has served as the chairman of the Welsh Affairs Select Committee.

He has served as Secretary of State for Work and Pensions and was previously a government whip, a junior minister for Wales and the Secretary of State for Wales.

He has degrees from Bristol University (BSc) and London Business School (MBA).

Theresa Villiers (UK)

Theresa Villiers has served as the Member of Parliament for Chipping Barnet since 2005, having previously served as a Member of the European Parliament from 1999 to 2005.

A member of the Conservative Party, Villiers was Minister of State for Rail and Aviation from 2010 to 2012, Secretary of State for Northern Ireland from 2012 to 2016 and Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs from 2019 to 2020.

She has a Bachelor of Laws degree with first-class honours in 1990 from the University of Bristol, and a postgraduate degree of Bachelor of Civil Law from Jesus College, Oxford.

She has also worked as a lecturer at King’s College, London

Michael Gapes

Michael Gapes was the Member of Parliament for Ilford South from 1992 to 2019.

He studied economics at Fitzwilliam College, Cambridge and later was chair of the National Organisation of Labour Students.

In Parliament he chaired the Foreign Affairs Select Committee from 2005 to 2010.

In February 2019, Gapes left the Labour Party in protest at Jeremy Corbyn‘s leadership to form The Independent Group, later Change UK, along with six other Labour MPs.

Lord Stuart Polak (UK)

CFI Honorary President

Lord Polak was elevated to the House of Lords in October 2015. He has sat on the EU Security and Justice Sub-Committee since May 2016, and sat on the European Union Committee from October 2018 until July 2019.

Lord Polak was appointed as only the second Director of Conservative Friends of Israel in 1989, a position which he held until 2015 when he was made Honorary President.

In March 2015, he was awarded the CBE for political services to Conservative Friends of Israel.

Born in Liverpool in 1961 where he grew up and was educated, Lord Polak began his career working for the Board of Deputies of British Jews in 1984 as Education Director.

He has coordinated and led more than 150 Conservative Friends of Israel delegations of politicians to Israel over 28 years and through this he has developed extensive relationships with MPs, Peers, MEPs and advisors throughout all levels of the Conservative Party.

Mark Regev (IL)

Mark Regev is senior adviser on foreign affairs and international communications to the Israeli Prime Minister and a weekly columnist in the Jerusalem Post.

He was international spokesperson for the Prime Minister’s Office from 2007 to 2015.

He served as Ambassador of Israel to the United Kingdom from 2016 to 2020.

He received his bachelor’s degree in political science and history at Melbourne University, and master’s degrees in political science from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, and in management from Boston University. Regev began his career as a lecturer on international relations and strategy at the Israel Defence Forces’ Staff College.

He joined Israel’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs in 1990, serving as deputy chief of mission at the Consulate General in Hong Kong, and spokesman at the Israeli Embassy in Beijing. He also served as spokesman at the Embassy in Washington. Regev was the spokesman for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Jerusalem from 2004 to 2007.

Boaz Ganor (IL)

Founder and executive director, International Institute for Counter-Terrorism

Professor Boaz Ganor is Ronald Lauder Chair for Counter-Terrorism and dean of the Lauder School of Government, Diplomacy and Strategy, Interdisciplinary Center, Herzliya, Israel. He serves as the founding president of the International Academic Counter-Terrorism Community, an international association of academic institutions, experts, and researchers in fields related to the study of terrorism and counter- terrorism. Boaz previously held positions at Stanford University, UC Berkeley, the Hoover Institution (Koret Distinguished Visiting Fellow), the Monterey Institute of International Studies, MIPT (The National Memorial for the Prevention of Terrorism), Hebrew University and Bar Ilan University. He was also a member of the international advisory team of the Manhattan Institute to the New York Police Department.

He is a member of the International Advisory Council of the International Centre for Political Violence and Terrorism Research at the Institute of Defence and Strategic Studies, Nanyang Technological University, The Republic of Singapore. He is also a co-founder of the International Centre for the Study of Radicalisation and Political Violence, a partnership between the University of Pennsylvania, Israel’s Interdisciplinary Centre, London’s King’s College and and the Regional Center on Conflict Prevention in Jordan. Since 2014, Ron has been a member of the executive committee of the academic advisory to the Institute for the Study of Global Anti-Semitism and Policy.

He has given briefings and/or testimonies to the United Nations Counter-Terrorism Executive Directorate, the Australian Parliament, the US Congress, the US Army, the FBI, the US Department of Homeland Security, as well as numerous intelligence, security and police services throughout the world. In 2001, Ron was appointed as a member of the advisory committee of the Israel National Security Council on Counter-Terrorism, and he has previously served as a member of the Israeli delegation to the Trilateral (American-Palestinian-Israeli) Committee for Monitoring Incitement to Violence and Terror. He also advised the Israeli delegation for peace negotiations with Jordan. In 1995, he was a consultant to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on his book Fighting Terrorism – How democracies can defeat domestic and international terrorism.

Ron has published numerous articles on terrorism and counter-terrorism. His book The Counter-Terrorism Puzzle – A Guide for Decision Makers (Transaction Publishers, 2005), is used as a text book in universities worldwide and his upcoming book, Global Alert: Modern terrorism rationality and the challenge to the democratic world will be published by Columbia University Press. He is also the editor of Countering Suicide Terrorism (2001) and Post-Modern Terrorism (2006). He a frequent media and television commentator and has appeared on the BBC, CNN, CBS, ABC, and in The New York Times, the Guardian, The Wall Street Journal, the Jerusalem Post, Haaretz and many other Israeli and international publications.

Dr. Liam Fox (UK)

The Rt Hon Dr Liam Fox MP has been Member of Parliament for North Somerset since 1992.  In John Major’s Government he served as a Minister at the Foreign & Commonwealth Office and as Government Whip (Lord Commissioner of the Treasury).  He had previously served as Parliamentary Private Secretary to Michael Howard, then Home Secretary.

Between 1997 and 2010, he held several roles on the Conservative Party Opposition Front Bench such as Constitutional Affairs Spokesman, Shadow Health Secretary, Conservative Party Chairman, Shadow Foreign Secretary and Shadow Defence Secretary.

In May 2010, Prime Minister David Cameron appointed him Secretary of State for Defence.  In 2013, he published ‘Rising Tides’ a book analysing crucial world issues with Tony Blair, Condoleezza Rice, Malcolm Rifkind and Donald Rumsfeld.

Between July 2016 and July 2019, he served in Prime Minister Theresa May’s Government as Secretary of State for International Trade and President of the Board of Trade.  As International Trade Secretary he was tasked with creating the UK’s first Independent Trade Policy for forty years post-Brexit.  During his time in post he strongly argued for global trade liberalisation, championed free trade and supported a rules-based system with WTO reform.

Before entering politics, Dr Fox worked as an NHS doctor and then as a family GP.  He is also a former Civilian Army Medical Officer and Divisional Surgeon with St John Ambulance.  In 2012, he founded the military charity ‘Give Us Time’.

He was born in Scotland and attended St Bride’s High School, the biggest comprehensive state school in Europe, before studying medicine at the University of Glasgow Medical School.

Itamar Marcus (IL)

Itamar Marcus, founder and director of Palestinian Media Watch is one of the foremost authorities on Palestinian ideology and policy. Marcus has published hundreds of reports and articles on Palestinian society, education, and media exposing PA hate and terror promotion in education, sports, culture and other frameworks the PA controls. PMW’s work has changed the way the world sees the Palestinian Authority.

Marcus has made numerous presentations to legislators, governments, and other decision-makers. His book Deception, co-authored with Nan Jacques Zilberdik, was acclaimed by the founder of Human Rights Watch, Robert Bernstein, as “one of the most important books you handle in your lives.”

Marcus was appointed by the Israeli Government to represent Israel in negotiations on incitement with the Palestinian Authority (PA) in 1999. He has received awards from ZOA, Israel Media Watch, and EMET, and was recognized as being among the world’s “top 100 people positively influencing Jewish life or the State of Israel,” by The Algemeiner newspaper.

Dr. Jonathan Barnett

Coming soon.

Albert Dadon

Albert is a musician, entrepreneur, and chairman and founder of the International Institute for Strategic Leadership Dialogue.

He is the founder and executive chairman of Ubertas Group, a prominent property development company of medium and high-density projects in residential apartments and hotels.

He supports numerous philanthropic initiatives and works for the community in a range of activities covering international affairs and cultural events.

In 2008, he was awarded an Order of Australia for services to the arts, particularly through the Melbourne International Jazz Festival, to the community through philanthropic support for cultural and charitable organisations, and to business. He founded the Australia Israel Cultural Exchange in 2002, an organisation launched through a joint communiqué between the Australian and Israeli Governments (the only such joint communiqué to date). The organisation was launched simultaneously by the then respective Foreign Ministers of the two countries, Alexander Downer and Benjamin Netanyahu.

He then launched the Australia Israel UK Leadership Dialogue to promotes trilateral relations between Australia, Israel and the United Kingdom. It evolved from the first forum that took place in Israel in June, 2009, under the leadership of then Deputy Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard and five Dialogues took place. This year it is reorganised and expanded into the International Institute of Strategic Leadership Dialogue.

Mr Dadon is also an active performing jazz musician and has released a dozen albums since 1990. Last year he was awarded the Chevalier of

Nir Shaviv

profile coming soon

Ian Plimer

Professor Ian Plimer is Australia’s best-known geologist.

He is Emeritus Professor of Earth Sciences at the University of Melbourne, where he was Professor and Head of Earth Sciences (1991-2005) after serving at the University of Newcastle (1985-1991) as Professor and Head of Geology.

He was Professor of Mining Geology at The University of Adelaide (2006-2012) and in 1991 was also German Research Foundation Professor of Ore Deposits at the Ludwig Maximilians Universität, München.

He has served on the staff of the University of New England, the University of New South Wales and Macquarie University.

He has published more than 120 scientific papers on geology and was one of the trinity of editors for the five-volume Encyclopedia of Geology and is a well-known commentator in newspapers and magazines.

Plimer won the Leopold von Buch Plakette (German Geological Society), the Clarke Medal (Royal Society of NSW), the Sir Willis Connolly Medal (Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy). He is a Fellow of the Australian Academy of Technological Sciences and Engineering and an Honorary Fellow of the Geological Society of London. He has been an adviser to governments and corporations and a regular broadcaster.

He worked for North Broken Hill Ltd, has been a consultant to many major mining companies and has been a director of numerous exploration public companies listed in London, Toronto and Sydney.

A new Broken Hill mineral, plimerite, was named in recognition of his contribution to Broken Hill geology.

Peter Ridd

Peter Ridd is a geophysicist with more than 100 publications and 35 years’ experience working on the Great Barrier Reef and instrumentation development.

He worked on the physical oceanography of the reef, and also developed a wide range of world-first optical and electronic instruments for measuring environmental conditions near corals and other ecosystems.

He was head of physics at James Cook University for more than a decade before being sacked, in 2018, for questioning the quality assurance systems used by reef science institutions.

Some of the poor-quality work relates to the affect, or lack of affect, of climate change, and agriculture, on the reef.

Ridd now works, unpaid, with agricultural organisations, to improve quality assurance systems of “science” used by Australian governments to make environmental laws and regulations that seriously affect farmers.

He is also an adjunct fellow at the Institute of Public Affairs.

Benny Peiser

profile coming soon

Lord Ian Austin (UK)

Lord Austin is the British trade envoy to Israel and a member of the House of Lords. He served as a member of the British House of Commons until November 2019 and in the government of Gordon Brown. Ian is one of the most outspoken voices for Israel and against antisemitism in Parliament.

He is a Non-affiliated Life peer who was been a member of the House of Lords since 14 September 2020.

Ian resigned from the Labour party in February 2019, blaming its leader Jeremy Corbyn for “creating a culture of extremism and intolerance” and a failure to tackle antisemitism within the party. “I grew up listening to my dad, who was a refugee from the Holocaust, teaching me about the evils of hatred and prejudice,” he said. “One of the main reasons I joined the Labour Party more than 35 years ago was to fight racism and I could never have believed I would be leaving the Labour party because of racism too.”

He was appointed the prime ministerial trade envoy to Israel in July 2019, tasked with helping to grow trade between the UK and the Jewish state. Commenting on his appointment at the time, Ian said he was looking forward to “working with the Department for Trade and the brilliant team at our embassy in Israel who are working so hard to help British companies win business in Israel and strengthen the trading relationship between the two countries”

Ian is the founding chairman of the cross-party Mainstream, the campaign against extremism, designed to encourage a return to respectable and responsible politics, and to banish extremism from British politics once and for all.

In November 2019, Ian announced he would not be standing in the 2019 general election and instead urged voters to support Boris Johnson to stop Jeremy Corbyn, who he described “as completely unfit to lead our country”. He outlined how he had “joined the Labour party as a teenager. I worked for the Labour party. In my 30s I was a government adviser, in my 40s I was an MP and a minister. So it’s really come to something when I tell decent. traditional, patriotic Labour voters that they should be voting for Boris Johnson at this election.”

Ian was raised in Dudley before graduating from Essex University with a degree in Government and Politics. He started his career as a sports journalist before becoming a local councillor. He became press officer for the West Midlands Labour Party and then was the Deputy Director of Communications for the Scottish Labour Party, before becoming a political advisor to Gordon Brown in 1999.

Ian was first elected to his home seat of Dudley North in 2005 and became Parliamentary Private Secretary to the Prime Minister in 2007. In opposition, Ian was the Shadow Minister for Communities and Local Government; Culture, Media, and Sport; and Work and Pensions.

In parliament, Ian has led the campaign in support of people-to-people projects in Israel and Palestine. He has been a long-standing advocate of these groups that are vital in laying the foundations for a lasting peace. Ian is also one of the leading voices in parliament for Holocaust education and Holocaust memorial. He chaired the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Holocaust Memorial and recently led a session in the House of Commons chamber on Holocaust Memorial Day 2019.

Ian was until recently a member of the Foreign Affairs Committee, a position he held since September 2017, and has previously been a member of the Home Affairs and Education select committees. He is also a member of the parliamentary Panel of Chairs, responsible for chairing Public Bill Committees and Westminster Hall debates.

In addition to foreign affairs, Ian takes a particular interest in education, regional economic development and housing issues.

Robert Jenrick

profile coming soon

Avi Dichter (IL)

Member of the Knesset

Mr. Avi Dicter is a member of the Knesset from the Likud party. He is currently the Chairman of the Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee. MK Dicter is former Minister of Public Security, Minister of Home Front Defense and former Director of Shin Bet – the Israel Security Agency.

Additionally, and not less importantly for Mr. Dicter, as the son of Holocaust survivors, he took a volunteer position as Chairman of the Foundation for the Benefit of Holocaust Victims in Israel between 2013-2015.

Born in 1952 in Israel, Mr. Dicter served in the Israel Defense Forces elite commando unit known as Sayeret Matkal. Upon finishing his military service in 1974, he joined the Shin Bet where he advanced up the ranks from air marshal to Director of the Agency. He held this position from 2000-2005, a period of significant Palestinian terrorist activity which included the Al-Aqsa Intifada or Second Intifada. Mr. Dicter is credited with reforming the Shin Bet to effectively deal with this challenge, leading to a dramatic reduction in the number of terrorist attacks and to a restoration of public morale and safety.

Before reaching the top post at Shin-Bet, initially as an appointee of Prime Minister Ehud Barak and then, Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, he served as director of the Southern District, including Gaza, Director of the Security and Protection Division – a position he took on after the assassination of the late Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin – and as Deputy Director of the Agency.

As Minister of Public Security Mr. Dicter built Israel’s Witness Protection Program, and formed a national crime-fighting unit – Lahav 433 – modeled after the FBI. Additionally, he succeeded in passing the Communications Data Law and at the same time implementing the electronic gathering of fast, accurate and actionable intelligence. This led to the jailing of most of the heads of the largest crime organizations.

During his term as Minister of Public Security, he also introduced and signed cooperation agreements with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, with Canada’s Ministry of Public Safety, and with countries in the European Union.

During last few years Avi has been promoting the basic law: “Israel as the National State of the Jewish People”.

MK Avi Dicter holds a BA in Social Sciences from Bar-Ilan University, and an Executive MBA from Tel Aviv University. He also served as a research fellow at the Brookings Institute in Washington, D.C. He speaks Hebrew, Arabic and English fluently. He is married to Ilana Dicter, and has three children and seven grandchildren.

Alexander Downer

Alexander Downer is the executive chair of the International School for Government at King’s College in London.

He was Australia’s Minister for Foreign Affairs from 1996 to 2007, and was High Commissioner to the United Kingdom from 2014 to 2018.

He is also a former Leader of the Opposition as federal leader of the Liberal Party.

With then Israeli Foreign Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, he issued a unique joint communique in December 2002 establishing the Australia Israel Cultural Exchange, the forerunner to the International Strategic Leadership Dialogue Institute.

Sen. Kimberley Kitching (AU)

Chosen by the Parliament of Victoria in 2016 to represent that State in the Senate.

Committee service

• Senate Select: Exposure Draft of the Marriage Amendment (Same-Sex Marriage) Bill from 1.12.2016 to 15.2.2017; Strengthening Multiculturalism from 23.3.2017 to 17.8.2017; Obesity Epidemic in Australia from 10.5.2018 to 5.12.2018; Foreign Interference through Social Media from 5.12.2019.
• Senate Legislative and General Purpose Standing: Education and Employment: Legislation from 8.11.2016 to 11.2016; Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade: References from 8.11.2016 (Chair from 3.7.2019); Finance and Public Administration: Legislation from 8.11.2016; Education and Employment: References from 8.11.2016 to 22.11.2016; Finance and Public Administration: References from 8.11.2016; Legal and Constitutional Affairs: References from 22.6.2017 to 1.7.2019; Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade: Legislation from 15.12.2017 to 15.12.2017 (Substitute member from 15.12.2017 to 15.12.2017); Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade: Legislation from 2.7.2019 (Deputy Chair from 3.7.2019).
• Joint Standing: Treaties from 11.2016 to 1.7.2019; Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade from 15.2.2018.
• Shadow Assistant Minister for Government Accountability from 6.2019.
• Deputy Manager of Opposition Business in the Senate from 6.2019.

Party positions

• Member of the Australian Labor Party Legal Affairs Policy Committee,
• Delegate to the Australian Labor Party State Conference,
• Member of the Australian Labor Party Administrative Committee,
• Delegate to the Australian Labor Party Melbourne Federal Electorate Council,
• Delegate to the Australian Labor Party National Conference,

Qualifications and occupation before entering Federal Parliament

• BA (University of Queensland).
• LLB (University of Queensland).
• Manager, private Information Technology and Human Resources
• Senior Advisor, Treasurer of Victoria and Minister for Industry, Trade, Major Projects and Information Technology (Vic).
• General Manager, Health Workers Union

John Fitzgerald

John Fitzgerald is Emeritus Professor in the Centre for Social Impact at Swinburne University of Technology in Melbourne where he headed the Asia-Pacific philanthropy studies program from 2013 to 2017.

Previously, he had served five years as China Representative of The Ford Foundation in Beijing and before that again as director of the International Centre of Excellence in Asia-Pacific Studies at the Australian National University.

From 2015 to 2017 he was the elected president of the Australian Academy of the Humanities.

His research focuses on the history of nationalism, public administration, and philanthropy in China, and on the histories of the Chinese diaspora, and his public commentaries focus on China-Australia relations.

His books include Big White Lie: Chinese Australians in White Australia, awarded the Ernest Scott Prize of the Australian Historical Association, and Awakening China, awarded the Joseph Levenson Prize of the US Association for Asian Studies.

He has a Ph.D. from ANU and held a Fulbright postdoctoral fellowship at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. He is a graduate of the University of Sydney.

Paul Monk

Paul Monk has a first class honours degree in European history from Melbourne University.

He has a PhD in international relations from the Australian National University with an acclaimed doctoral dissertation on American counter-insurgency strategy throughout the Cold War in Southeast Asia and Central America.

He was recruited to the intelligence service working on East Asia from 1990.

By 1992 he was head of the Japan and Koreas Desk and in 1994 was appointed head of the China Desk in the Defence Intelligence Organisation.

He then taught Chinese politics and strategic affairs, before co-founding a consulting company in 2000 which specialises in applied cognitive science and structured argumentation. He is a commentator on cultural and international affairs and a published poet.

Michael Easson (AU)

Michael Easson is executive chair of EG Funds Management, with offices in Sydney, Australia, and Austin, Texas, and co-founder and executive director of the building technology company Willow Inc., with offices in Sydney, New York, London and Tel Aviv. He is the first independent chair of the Association of Superannuation Funds of Australia. After serving in several significant positions in the Australian trade union movement, for the last 25 years Michael has worked in business, including serving on boards in many fields including insurance, infrastructure, construction, sport, and the arts. He has a long standing interest in and has written articles on the Middle East and Australian foreign policy. He has a BA (Hons.) in politics from the University of NSW (UNSW); a MSc from Campion Hall, the University of Oxford; a PhD in History from the Australia Defence Academy, UNSW; and a PhD in transp

Anne-Marie Brady

Anne-Marie Brady is a professor of political science at the University of Canterbury.

She specialises in Chinese domestic and foreign politics, Antarctic and Arctic politics, Pacific politics, and New Zealand foreign policy. Her research on Antarctic politics, China’s polar interests, and the Chinese Communist Party’s domestic and foreign policy, in particular, foreign interference activities, has led to policy adjustments by the US, New Zealand, Australian, British and Canadian governments and the European Union.

She has a BA (Chinese and political studies) from the University of Auckland, a Masters of Asian Studies with first class honours and has a PhD in East Asian Studies from the Australian National University.

John Lee (AU)

Dr John Lee is a senior fellow and adjunct professor at the United States Studies Centre at the University of Sydney. He is also a senior fellow at the Hudson Institute in Washington DC.

From 2016-2018, he was senior adviser to Australian Minister for Foreign Affairs, Julie Bishop. In this role, he served as the principal adviser on Asia and for economic, strategic and political affairs in the Indo-Pacific region.

John was also appointed the Foreign Minister’s lead adviser on the 2017 Foreign Policy White Paper, the first comprehensive foreign affairs blueprint for Australia since 2003 and written to guide Australia’s external engagement for the next 10 years and beyond.

He is one of the foremost experts on the Chinese political-economy and on strategic and economic affairs pertaining to the Indo-Pacific.

His articles have been published in leading policy and academic journals in the United States, Asia and Australia and his first book was entitled Will China Fail? – published 2007 and updated and published again in 2009.

His opinions are published frequently by The Australian and has been published in more than 50 major newspapers and current affairs magazines in the United States, Asia, Europe, the Middle East and Oceania.

He received his Masters and Doctorate in International Relations from the University of Oxford and his Bachelor of Laws and Arts (1st Class – Philosophy) degrees from the University of New South Wales.

Dr Lee is based in Sydney, Australia.

Rowan Callick

Author and columnist Rowan Callick graduated with a BA Honours from Exeter University.

He worked for a daily newspaper in Britain before moving first to Papua New Guinea then Australia, spending 20 years on the Australian Financial Review, finally as Asia Pacific Editor.

He was China correspondent for the AFR from 1996-2000. From 1990-1992 he was a senior writer with Time. He joined The Australian in 2006, as China correspondent.

After three years in Beijing, he became The Australian’s Asia-Pacific editor in 2009. He returned to Beijing as China Correspondent from the 2016 to 2018 and continues to contribute to the newspaper.

He was appointed a fellow of the Australian Institute of International Affairs in 2013. His books include Comrades & Capitalists – Hong Kong Since the Handover, and Party Time: Who Runs China and How. He has won the Graham Perkin Award for Journalist of the Year and two Walkley Awards, Australian journalism’s highest honour.

Christopher Pyne (AU)

Christopher Pyne served as the 54th Australian Defence Minister, and was responsible for delivering the $200 billion build-up of Australia’s military capability, the largest in Australia’s peacetime history.

Serving previously as Minister for Defence Industry, Christopher assisted in the development of the 2016 Defence White Paper and implementing the Integrated Investment Program.

During his time as a Cabinet Minister in the Defence portfolio, Christopher:

• Awarded the $35 billion Hunter Class Anti-Submarine Warfare frigates contract to BAES;
• Backed in the $50 billion Attack Class Submarine project by Defence and Naval Group Australia;
• Awarded the $3.7 billion Arafura Class Offshore Patrol Vessel project to Luerssen Australia, CIVMEC and the ASC;
• Awarded the $5.2 billion Combat Reconnaissance Vehicle project to Rheinmettal Australia; and
• Secured Australia as the Asia Pacific hub for the sustainment and maintenance of the F35-A Joint Strike

Christopher also worked to ensure the growth and sustainment of Australia’s Defence Industry, and thus implemented Australia’s Defence Export Strategy, Defence Industrial Capability Plan, and the Naval Shipbuilding Plan. He also created the Defence Cooperative Research Centre, the Centre for Defence Industry Capability, the Defence Innovation Hub, and the Next Generation Technology Fund.

On an international scale, Christopher was responsible for creating the Pacific Step Up to strengthen Australia’s strategic role in the South Pacific, and was the architect of the Australian Government’s position that Jerusalem should be the capital of Israel and East Jerusalem the capital of a future Palestinian state.

Christopher also worked to strengthen Australia’s defence ties with other countries, establishing the Australia France Initiative to take advantage of the close relationship with France through the Attack Class Submarine Project. He settled Defence Memoranda of Understanding with Israel, China, and Switzerland, and initiated Memoranda of Understanding with the United Arab Emirates and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

Christopher was also the driving force behind the establishment of the Australia Space Agency.

Christopher was a Minister in the Howard, Abbott, Turnbull and Morrison Governments, holding various portfolios including Ageing, Education, Industry Innovation and Science, and Defence.

As a Minister for Education and Minister for Industry Innovation and Science, respectively, Christopher delivered the National Innovation and Science Agenda, reformed the national curriculum, introduced compulsory literacy and numeracy testing for Australian teaching graduates and expanded phonics teaching.

Stephen Crabb (UK)

Stephen Crabb is a Welsh Conservative and since 2005 has served as the Member of Parliament for Preseli Pembrokeshire.

Since January last year he has served as the chairman of the Welsh Affairs Select Committee.

He has served as Secretary of State for Work and Pensions and was previously a government whip, a junior minister for Wales and the Secretary of State for Wales.

He has degrees from Bristol University (BSc) and London Business School (MBA).

Theresa Villiers (UK)

Theresa Villiers has served as the Member of Parliament for Chipping Barnet since 2005, having previously served as a Member of the European Parliament from 1999 to 2005.

A member of the Conservative Party, Villiers was Minister of State for Rail and Aviation from 2010 to 2012, Secretary of State for Northern Ireland from 2012 to 2016 and Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs from 2019 to 2020.

She has a Bachelor of Laws degree with first-class honours in 1990 from the University of Bristol, and a postgraduate degree of Bachelor of Civil Law from Jesus College, Oxford.

She has also worked as a lecturer at King’s College, London

Michael Gapes

Michael Gapes was the Member of Parliament for Ilford South from 1992 to 2019.

He studied economics at Fitzwilliam College, Cambridge and later was chair of the National Organisation of Labour Students.

In Parliament he chaired the Foreign Affairs Select Committee from 2005 to 2010.

In February 2019, Gapes left the Labour Party in protest at Jeremy Corbyn‘s leadership to form The Independent Group, later Change UK, along with six other Labour MPs.

Lord Stuart Polak (UK)

CFI Honorary President

Lord Polak was elevated to the House of Lords in October 2015. He has sat on the EU Security and Justice Sub-Committee since May 2016, and sat on the European Union Committee from October 2018 until July 2019.

Lord Polak was appointed as only the second Director of Conservative Friends of Israel in 1989, a position which he held until 2015 when he was made Honorary President.

In March 2015, he was awarded the CBE for political services to Conservative Friends of Israel.

Born in Liverpool in 1961 where he grew up and was educated, Lord Polak began his career working for the Board of Deputies of British Jews in 1984 as Education Director.

He has coordinated and led more than 150 Conservative Friends of Israel delegations of politicians to Israel over 28 years and through this he has developed extensive relationships with MPs, Peers, MEPs and advisors throughout all levels of the Conservative Party.

Mark Regev (IL)

Mark Regev is senior adviser on foreign affairs and international communications to the Israeli Prime Minister and a weekly columnist in the Jerusalem Post.

He was international spokesperson for the Prime Minister’s Office from 2007 to 2015.

He served as Ambassador of Israel to the United Kingdom from 2016 to 2020.

He received his bachelor’s degree in political science and history at Melbourne University, and master’s degrees in political science from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, and in management from Boston University. Regev began his career as a lecturer on international relations and strategy at the Israel Defence Forces’ Staff College.

He joined Israel’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs in 1990, serving as deputy chief of mission at the Consulate General in Hong Kong, and spokesman at the Israeli Embassy in Beijing. He also served as spokesman at the Embassy in Washington. Regev was the spokesman for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Jerusalem from 2004 to 2007.

Boaz Ganor (IL)

Founder and executive director, International Institute for Counter-Terrorism

Professor Boaz Ganor is Ronald Lauder Chair for Counter-Terrorism and dean of the Lauder School of Government, Diplomacy and Strategy, Interdisciplinary Center, Herzliya, Israel. He serves as the founding president of the International Academic Counter-Terrorism Community, an international association of academic institutions, experts, and researchers in fields related to the study of terrorism and counter- terrorism. Boaz previously held positions at Stanford University, UC Berkeley, the Hoover Institution (Koret Distinguished Visiting Fellow), the Monterey Institute of International Studies, MIPT (The National Memorial for the Prevention of Terrorism), Hebrew University and Bar Ilan University. He was also a member of the international advisory team of the Manhattan Institute to the New York Police Department.

He is a member of the International Advisory Council of the International Centre for Political Violence and Terrorism Research at the Institute of Defence and Strategic Studies, Nanyang Technological University, The Republic of Singapore. He is also a co-founder of the International Centre for the Study of Radicalisation and Political Violence, a partnership between the University of Pennsylvania, Israel’s Interdisciplinary Centre, London’s King’s College and and the Regional Center on Conflict Prevention in Jordan. Since 2014, Ron has been a member of the executive committee of the academic advisory to the Institute for the Study of Global Anti-Semitism and Policy.

He has given briefings and/or testimonies to the United Nations Counter-Terrorism Executive Directorate, the Australian Parliament, the US Congress, the US Army, the FBI, the US Department of Homeland Security, as well as numerous intelligence, security and police services throughout the world. In 2001, Ron was appointed as a member of the advisory committee of the Israel National Security Council on Counter-Terrorism, and he has previously served as a member of the Israeli delegation to the Trilateral (American-Palestinian-Israeli) Committee for Monitoring Incitement to Violence and Terror. He also advised the Israeli delegation for peace negotiations with Jordan. In 1995, he was a consultant to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on his book Fighting Terrorism – How democracies can defeat domestic and international terrorism.

Ron has published numerous articles on terrorism and counter-terrorism. His book The Counter-Terrorism Puzzle – A Guide for Decision Makers (Transaction Publishers, 2005), is used as a text book in universities worldwide and his upcoming book, Global Alert: Modern terrorism rationality and the challenge to the democratic world will be published by Columbia University Press. He is also the editor of Countering Suicide Terrorism (2001) and Post-Modern Terrorism (2006). He a frequent media and television commentator and has appeared on the BBC, CNN, CBS, ABC, and in The New York Times, the Guardian, The Wall Street Journal, the Jerusalem Post, Haaretz and many other Israeli and international publications.

Dr. Liam Fox (UK)

The Rt Hon Dr Liam Fox MP has been Member of Parliament for North Somerset since 1992.  In John Major’s Government he served as a Minister at the Foreign & Commonwealth Office and as Government Whip (Lord Commissioner of the Treasury).  He had previously served as Parliamentary Private Secretary to Michael Howard, then Home Secretary.

Between 1997 and 2010, he held several roles on the Conservative Party Opposition Front Bench such as Constitutional Affairs Spokesman, Shadow Health Secretary, Conservative Party Chairman, Shadow Foreign Secretary and Shadow Defence Secretary.

In May 2010, Prime Minister David Cameron appointed him Secretary of State for Defence.  In 2013, he published ‘Rising Tides’ a book analysing crucial world issues with Tony Blair, Condoleezza Rice, Malcolm Rifkind and Donald Rumsfeld.

Between July 2016 and July 2019, he served in Prime Minister Theresa May’s Government as Secretary of State for International Trade and President of the Board of Trade.  As International Trade Secretary he was tasked with creating the UK’s first Independent Trade Policy for forty years post-Brexit.  During his time in post he strongly argued for global trade liberalisation, championed free trade and supported a rules-based system with WTO reform.

Before entering politics, Dr Fox worked as an NHS doctor and then as a family GP.  He is also a former Civilian Army Medical Officer and Divisional Surgeon with St John Ambulance.  In 2012, he founded the military charity ‘Give Us Time’.

He was born in Scotland and attended St Bride’s High School, the biggest comprehensive state school in Europe, before studying medicine at the University of Glasgow Medical School.

Itamar Marcus (IL)

Itamar Marcus, founder and director of Palestinian Media Watch is one of the foremost authorities on Palestinian ideology and policy. Marcus has published hundreds of reports and articles on Palestinian society, education, and media exposing PA hate and terror promotion in education, sports, culture and other frameworks the PA controls. PMW’s work has changed the way the world sees the Palestinian Authority.

Marcus has made numerous presentations to legislators, governments, and other decision-makers. His book Deception, co-authored with Nan Jacques Zilberdik, was acclaimed by the founder of Human Rights Watch, Robert Bernstein, as “one of the most important books you handle in your lives.”

Marcus was appointed by the Israeli Government to represent Israel in negotiations on incitement with the Palestinian Authority (PA) in 1999. He has received awards from ZOA, Israel Media Watch, and EMET, and was recognized as being among the world’s “top 100 people positively influencing Jewish life or the State of Israel,” by The Algemeiner newspaper.

Dr. Jonathan Barnett

Coming soon.

Albert Dadon

Albert is a musician, entrepreneur, and chairman and founder of the International Institute for Strategic Leadership Dialogue.

He is the founder and executive chairman of Ubertas Group, a prominent property development company of medium and high-density projects in residential apartments and hotels.

He supports numerous philanthropic initiatives and works for the community in a range of activities covering international affairs and cultural events.

In 2008, he was awarded an Order of Australia for services to the arts, particularly through the Melbourne International Jazz Festival, to the community through philanthropic support for cultural and charitable organisations, and to business. He founded the Australia Israel Cultural Exchange in 2002, an organisation launched through a joint communiqué between the Australian and Israeli Governments (the only such joint communiqué to date). The organisation was launched simultaneously by the then respective Foreign Ministers of the two countries, Alexander Downer and Benjamin Netanyahu.

He then launched the Australia Israel UK Leadership Dialogue to promotes trilateral relations between Australia, Israel and the United Kingdom. It evolved from the first forum that took place in Israel in June, 2009, under the leadership of then Deputy Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard and five Dialogues took place. This year it is reorganised and expanded into the International Institute of Strategic Leadership Dialogue.

Mr Dadon is also an active performing jazz musician and has released a dozen albums since 1990. Last year he was awarded the Chevalier of

Nir Shaviv

profile coming soon

Ian Plimer

Professor Ian Plimer is Australia’s best-known geologist.

He is Emeritus Professor of Earth Sciences at the University of Melbourne, where he was Professor and Head of Earth Sciences (1991-2005) after serving at the University of Newcastle (1985-1991) as Professor and Head of Geology.

He was Professor of Mining Geology at The University of Adelaide (2006-2012) and in 1991 was also German Research Foundation Professor of Ore Deposits at the Ludwig Maximilians Universität, München.

He has served on the staff of the University of New England, the University of New South Wales and Macquarie University.

He has published more than 120 scientific papers on geology and was one of the trinity of editors for the five-volume Encyclopedia of Geology and is a well-known commentator in newspapers and magazines.

Plimer won the Leopold von Buch Plakette (German Geological Society), the Clarke Medal (Royal Society of NSW), the Sir Willis Connolly Medal (Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy). He is a Fellow of the Australian Academy of Technological Sciences and Engineering and an Honorary Fellow of the Geological Society of London. He has been an adviser to governments and corporations and a regular broadcaster.

He worked for North Broken Hill Ltd, has been a consultant to many major mining companies and has been a director of numerous exploration public companies listed in London, Toronto and Sydney.

A new Broken Hill mineral, plimerite, was named in recognition of his contribution to Broken Hill geology.

Peter Ridd

Peter Ridd is a geophysicist with more than 100 publications and 35 years’ experience working on the Great Barrier Reef and instrumentation development.

He worked on the physical oceanography of the reef, and also developed a wide range of world-first optical and electronic instruments for measuring environmental conditions near corals and other ecosystems.

He was head of physics at James Cook University for more than a decade before being sacked, in 2018, for questioning the quality assurance systems used by reef science institutions.

Some of the poor-quality work relates to the affect, or lack of affect, of climate change, and agriculture, on the reef.

Ridd now works, unpaid, with agricultural organisations, to improve quality assurance systems of “science” used by Australian governments to make environmental laws and regulations that seriously affect farmers.

He is also an adjunct fellow at the Institute of Public Affairs.

Benny Peiser

profile coming soon

Henry Ergas (AU)

Economist, columnist

After studying economics, Henry worked at the OECD in Paris, where he was responsible for structural adjustment issues and counselor for microeconomic policies in the economics department.

He has written on a broad range of topics, including innovation, labour markets, regulation, tax and health policies, and taught at a number of universities, including France’s École nationale de la statistique et de l’administration économique, the Kennedy School of Government and (most recently) the University of Wollongong, as well as being a columnist for The Australian. Additionally, he has been a member of and chaired a number of government inquiries, covering intellectual property law, telecommunications regulation, export infrastructure and defence. His most recent publications include work on the history of ideas, public economics and Australian economic history. He was made an Officer in the Order of Australia in 2016.

Lord Ian Austin (UK)

Lord Austin is the British trade envoy to Israel and a member of the House of Lords. He served as a member of the British House of Commons until November 2019 and in the government of Gordon Brown. Ian is one of the most outspoken voices for Israel and against antisemitism in Parliament.

He is a Non-affiliated Life peer who was been a member of the House of Lords since 14 September 2020.

Ian resigned from the Labour party in February 2019, blaming its leader Jeremy Corbyn for “creating a culture of extremism and intolerance” and a failure to tackle antisemitism within the party. “I grew up listening to my dad, who was a refugee from the Holocaust, teaching me about the evils of hatred and prejudice,” he said. “One of the main reasons I joined the Labour Party more than 35 years ago was to fight racism and I could never have believed I would be leaving the Labour party because of racism too.”

He was appointed the prime ministerial trade envoy to Israel in July 2019, tasked with helping to grow trade between the UK and the Jewish state. Commenting on his appointment at the time, Ian said he was looking forward to “working with the Department for Trade and the brilliant team at our embassy in Israel who are working so hard to help British companies win business in Israel and strengthen the trading relationship between the two countries”

Ian is the founding chairman of the cross-party Mainstream, the campaign against extremism, designed to encourage a return to respectable and responsible politics, and to banish extremism from British politics once and for all.

In November 2019, Ian announced he would not be standing in the 2019 general election and instead urged voters to support Boris Johnson to stop Jeremy Corbyn, who he described “as completely unfit to lead our country”. He outlined how he had “joined the Labour party as a teenager. I worked for the Labour party. In my 30s I was a government adviser, in my 40s I was an MP and a minister. So it’s really come to something when I tell decent. traditional, patriotic Labour voters that they should be voting for Boris Johnson at this election.”

Ian was raised in Dudley before graduating from Essex University with a degree in Government and Politics. He started his career as a sports journalist before becoming a local councillor. He became press officer for the West Midlands Labour Party and then was the Deputy Director of Communications for the Scottish Labour Party, before becoming a political advisor to Gordon Brown in 1999.

Ian was first elected to his home seat of Dudley North in 2005 and became Parliamentary Private Secretary to the Prime Minister in 2007. In opposition, Ian was the Shadow Minister for Communities and Local Government; Culture, Media, and Sport; and Work and Pensions.

In parliament, Ian has led the campaign in support of people-to-people projects in Israel and Palestine. He has been a long-standing advocate of these groups that are vital in laying the foundations for a lasting peace. Ian is also one of the leading voices in parliament for Holocaust education and Holocaust memorial. He chaired the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Holocaust Memorial and recently led a session in the House of Commons chamber on Holocaust Memorial Day 2019.

Ian was until recently a member of the Foreign Affairs Committee, a position he held since September 2017, and has previously been a member of the Home Affairs and Education select committees. He is also a member of the parliamentary Panel of Chairs, responsible for chairing Public Bill Committees and Westminster Hall debates.

In addition to foreign affairs, Ian takes a particular interest in education, regional economic development and housing issues.

Robert Jenrick

profile coming soon

Avi Dichter (IL)

Member of the Knesset

Mr. Avi Dicter is a member of the Knesset from the Likud party. He is currently the Chairman of the Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee. MK Dicter is former Minister of Public Security, Minister of Home Front Defense and former Director of Shin Bet – the Israel Security Agency.

Additionally, and not less importantly for Mr. Dicter, as the son of Holocaust survivors, he took a volunteer position as Chairman of the Foundation for the Benefit of Holocaust Victims in Israel between 2013-2015.

Born in 1952 in Israel, Mr. Dicter served in the Israel Defense Forces elite commando unit known as Sayeret Matkal. Upon finishing his military service in 1974, he joined the Shin Bet where he advanced up the ranks from air marshal to Director of the Agency. He held this position from 2000-2005, a period of significant Palestinian terrorist activity which included the Al-Aqsa Intifada or Second Intifada. Mr. Dicter is credited with reforming the Shin Bet to effectively deal with this challenge, leading to a dramatic reduction in the number of terrorist attacks and to a restoration of public morale and safety.

Before reaching the top post at Shin-Bet, initially as an appointee of Prime Minister Ehud Barak and then, Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, he served as director of the Southern District, including Gaza, Director of the Security and Protection Division – a position he took on after the assassination of the late Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin – and as Deputy Director of the Agency.

As Minister of Public Security Mr. Dicter built Israel’s Witness Protection Program, and formed a national crime-fighting unit – Lahav 433 – modeled after the FBI. Additionally, he succeeded in passing the Communications Data Law and at the same time implementing the electronic gathering of fast, accurate and actionable intelligence. This led to the jailing of most of the heads of the largest crime organizations.

During his term as Minister of Public Security, he also introduced and signed cooperation agreements with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, with Canada’s Ministry of Public Safety, and with countries in the European Union.

During last few years Avi has been promoting the basic law: “Israel as the National State of the Jewish People”.

MK Avi Dicter holds a BA in Social Sciences from Bar-Ilan University, and an Executive MBA from Tel Aviv University. He also served as a research fellow at the Brookings Institute in Washington, D.C. He speaks Hebrew, Arabic and English fluently. He is married to Ilana Dicter, and has three children and seven grandchildren.

Alexander Downer

Alexander Downer is the executive chair of the International School for Government at King’s College in London.

He was Australia’s Minister for Foreign Affairs from 1996 to 2007, and was High Commissioner to the United Kingdom from 2014 to 2018.

He is also a former Leader of the Opposition as federal leader of the Liberal Party.

With then Israeli Foreign Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, he issued a unique joint communique in December 2002 establishing the Australia Israel Cultural Exchange, the forerunner to the International Strategic Leadership Dialogue Institute.

Sen. Kimberley Kitching (AU)

Chosen by the Parliament of Victoria in 2016 to represent that State in the Senate.

Committee service

• Senate Select: Exposure Draft of the Marriage Amendment (Same-Sex Marriage) Bill from 1.12.2016 to 15.2.2017; Strengthening Multiculturalism from 23.3.2017 to 17.8.2017; Obesity Epidemic in Australia from 10.5.2018 to 5.12.2018; Foreign Interference through Social Media from 5.12.2019.
• Senate Legislative and General Purpose Standing: Education and Employment: Legislation from 8.11.2016 to 11.2016; Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade: References from 8.11.2016 (Chair from 3.7.2019); Finance and Public Administration: Legislation from 8.11.2016; Education and Employment: References from 8.11.2016 to 22.11.2016; Finance and Public Administration: References from 8.11.2016; Legal and Constitutional Affairs: References from 22.6.2017 to 1.7.2019; Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade: Legislation from 15.12.2017 to 15.12.2017 (Substitute member from 15.12.2017 to 15.12.2017); Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade: Legislation from 2.7.2019 (Deputy Chair from 3.7.2019).
• Joint Standing: Treaties from 11.2016 to 1.7.2019; Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade from 15.2.2018.
• Shadow Assistant Minister for Government Accountability from 6.2019.
• Deputy Manager of Opposition Business in the Senate from 6.2019.

Party positions

• Member of the Australian Labor Party Legal Affairs Policy Committee,
• Delegate to the Australian Labor Party State Conference,
• Member of the Australian Labor Party Administrative Committee,
• Delegate to the Australian Labor Party Melbourne Federal Electorate Council,
• Delegate to the Australian Labor Party National Conference,

Qualifications and occupation before entering Federal Parliament

• BA (University of Queensland).
• LLB (University of Queensland).
• Manager, private Information Technology and Human Resources
• Senior Advisor, Treasurer of Victoria and Minister for Industry, Trade, Major Projects and Information Technology (Vic).
• General Manager, Health Workers Union

John Fitzgerald

John Fitzgerald is Emeritus Professor in the Centre for Social Impact at Swinburne University of Technology in Melbourne where he headed the Asia-Pacific philanthropy studies program from 2013 to 2017.

Previously, he had served five years as China Representative of The Ford Foundation in Beijing and before that again as director of the International Centre of Excellence in Asia-Pacific Studies at the Australian National University.

From 2015 to 2017 he was the elected president of the Australian Academy of the Humanities.

His research focuses on the history of nationalism, public administration, and philanthropy in China, and on the histories of the Chinese diaspora, and his public commentaries focus on China-Australia relations.

His books include Big White Lie: Chinese Australians in White Australia, awarded the Ernest Scott Prize of the Australian Historical Association, and Awakening China, awarded the Joseph Levenson Prize of the US Association for Asian Studies.

He has a Ph.D. from ANU and held a Fulbright postdoctoral fellowship at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. He is a graduate of the University of Sydney.

Paul Monk

Paul Monk has a first class honours degree in European history from Melbourne University.

He has a PhD in international relations from the Australian National University with an acclaimed doctoral dissertation on American counter-insurgency strategy throughout the Cold War in Southeast Asia and Central America.

He was recruited to the intelligence service working on East Asia from 1990.

By 1992 he was head of the Japan and Koreas Desk and in 1994 was appointed head of the China Desk in the Defence Intelligence Organisation.

He then taught Chinese politics and strategic affairs, before co-founding a consulting company in 2000 which specialises in applied cognitive science and structured argumentation. He is a commentator on cultural and international affairs and a published poet.

Michael Easson (AU)

Michael Easson is executive chair of EG Funds Management, with offices in Sydney, Australia, and Austin, Texas, and co-founder and executive director of the building technology company Willow Inc., with offices in Sydney, New York, London and Tel Aviv. He is the first independent chair of the Association of Superannuation Funds of Australia. After serving in several significant positions in the Australian trade union movement, for the last 25 years Michael has worked in business, including serving on boards in many fields including insurance, infrastructure, construction, sport, and the arts. He has a long standing interest in and has written articles on the Middle East and Australian foreign policy. He has a BA (Hons.) in politics from the University of NSW (UNSW); a MSc from Campion Hall, the University of Oxford; a PhD in History from the Australia Defence Academy, UNSW; and a PhD in transp

Anne-Marie Brady

Anne-Marie Brady is a professor of political science at the University of Canterbury.

She specialises in Chinese domestic and foreign politics, Antarctic and Arctic politics, Pacific politics, and New Zealand foreign policy. Her research on Antarctic politics, China’s polar interests, and the Chinese Communist Party’s domestic and foreign policy, in particular, foreign interference activities, has led to policy adjustments by the US, New Zealand, Australian, British and Canadian governments and the European Union.

She has a BA (Chinese and political studies) from the University of Auckland, a Masters of Asian Studies with first class honours and has a PhD in East Asian Studies from the Australian National University.

John Lee (AU)

Dr John Lee is a senior fellow and adjunct professor at the United States Studies Centre at the University of Sydney. He is also a senior fellow at the Hudson Institute in Washington DC.

From 2016-2018, he was senior adviser to Australian Minister for Foreign Affairs, Julie Bishop. In this role, he served as the principal adviser on Asia and for economic, strategic and political affairs in the Indo-Pacific region.

John was also appointed the Foreign Minister’s lead adviser on the 2017 Foreign Policy White Paper, the first comprehensive foreign affairs blueprint for Australia since 2003 and written to guide Australia’s external engagement for the next 10 years and beyond.

He is one of the foremost experts on the Chinese political-economy and on strategic and economic affairs pertaining to the Indo-Pacific.

His articles have been published in leading policy and academic journals in the United States, Asia and Australia and his first book was entitled Will China Fail? – published 2007 and updated and published again in 2009.

His opinions are published frequently by The Australian and has been published in more than 50 major newspapers and current affairs magazines in the United States, Asia, Europe, the Middle East and Oceania.

He received his Masters and Doctorate in International Relations from the University of Oxford and his Bachelor of Laws and Arts (1st Class – Philosophy) degrees from the University of New South Wales.

Dr Lee is based in Sydney, Australia.

Rowan Callick

Author and columnist Rowan Callick graduated with a BA Honours from Exeter University.

He worked for a daily newspaper in Britain before moving first to Papua New Guinea then Australia, spending 20 years on the Australian Financial Review, finally as Asia Pacific Editor.

He was China correspondent for the AFR from 1996-2000. From 1990-1992 he was a senior writer with Time. He joined The Australian in 2006, as China correspondent.

After three years in Beijing, he became The Australian’s Asia-Pacific editor in 2009. He returned to Beijing as China Correspondent from the 2016 to 2018 and continues to contribute to the newspaper.

He was appointed a fellow of the Australian Institute of International Affairs in 2013. His books include Comrades & Capitalists – Hong Kong Since the Handover, and Party Time: Who Runs China and How. He has won the Graham Perkin Award for Journalist of the Year and two Walkley Awards, Australian journalism’s highest honour.

Christopher Pyne (AU)

Christopher Pyne served as the 54th Australian Defence Minister, and was responsible for delivering the $200 billion build-up of Australia’s military capability, the largest in Australia’s peacetime history.

Serving previously as Minister for Defence Industry, Christopher assisted in the development of the 2016 Defence White Paper and implementing the Integrated Investment Program.

During his time as a Cabinet Minister in the Defence portfolio, Christopher:

• Awarded the $35 billion Hunter Class Anti-Submarine Warfare frigates contract to BAES;
• Backed in the $50 billion Attack Class Submarine project by Defence and Naval Group Australia;
• Awarded the $3.7 billion Arafura Class Offshore Patrol Vessel project to Luerssen Australia, CIVMEC and the ASC;
• Awarded the $5.2 billion Combat Reconnaissance Vehicle project to Rheinmettal Australia; and
• Secured Australia as the Asia Pacific hub for the sustainment and maintenance of the F35-A Joint Strike

Christopher also worked to ensure the growth and sustainment of Australia’s Defence Industry, and thus implemented Australia’s Defence Export Strategy, Defence Industrial Capability Plan, and the Naval Shipbuilding Plan. He also created the Defence Cooperative Research Centre, the Centre for Defence Industry Capability, the Defence Innovation Hub, and the Next Generation Technology Fund.

On an international scale, Christopher was responsible for creating the Pacific Step Up to strengthen Australia’s strategic role in the South Pacific, and was the architect of the Australian Government’s position that Jerusalem should be the capital of Israel and East Jerusalem the capital of a future Palestinian state.

Christopher also worked to strengthen Australia’s defence ties with other countries, establishing the Australia France Initiative to take advantage of the close relationship with France through the Attack Class Submarine Project. He settled Defence Memoranda of Understanding with Israel, China, and Switzerland, and initiated Memoranda of Understanding with the United Arab Emirates and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

Christopher was also the driving force behind the establishment of the Australia Space Agency.