Yoaz Hendel

Yoaz Hendel (Hebrew: יועז הנדל; born May 22, 1975) is an Israeli military historian and journalist serving as head of the Institute for Zionist Strategies (IZS) since May 2012. He formerly served as Director of Communications and Public Diplomacy for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, and was a lecturer at Bar-Ilan University where he taught courses on terror and guerrilla warfare.

Biography

Early life

Hendel was born in Petah Tikva and grew up in the religious settlement of Elkana. At age 18, he began his military service in the Israel Defense Forces, joining the elite Shayetet 13 naval commando unit, where he served as a fighting officer and commander. He was discharged from the IDF after six years and remained active for several additional years in the Prime Minister’s Office. During his time in the military, Hendel fought in the 2006 Lebanon War and the Gaza War of 2008/09. He holds the rank of major in the Reserves where he serves each year.

Education and academic career

Hendel studied history at Tel Aviv University where he got his PhD. His thesis was entitled: "Intelligence techniques in the Ancient World - from the Hasmonean Revolt to the Bar Kochba Revolt." He served as a research fellow at the Jaffee Center for Strategic Studies at Tel Aviv University and at the Begin-Sadat Center for Strategic Studies at Bar Ilan University, and published several studies focusing on Israeli intelligence, the Second Lebanon War and guerrilla warfare tactics. From 2009 to 2011 he taught courses on terrorism and guerrilla warfare at Bar-Ilan University's Political Science Department.

Personal life

Hendel is married with two children, and lives in Jerusalem.

Career

Hendel is a military historian who specializes in low intensity conflict and intelligence. He is a senior military and diplomatic commentator for the Israeli newspapers Yedioth Ahronoth, and was a military correspondent for Makor Rishon and presented a talk show for the IDF Radio.

Together with Zaki Shalom, a professor at Ben Gurion University, he wrote the book Let the IDF Win: The Self-Fulfilling Slogan on the Al Aqsa Intifada and the struggle against terror which came out in September 2010. In March 2011 Israel vs. Iran - War of Shadows, co-authored by Hendel with Jerusalem Post military correspondent Yaakov Katz was published in Hebrew, followed by the English translation a year later. The book evaluates the threat to Israel’s security posed by a nuclear Iran, and analyzes Israel’s military and diplomatic options as well as intelligence analysis since the Second Lebanon War of 2006. The authors argue that Israel's war against Libanon in 2006 and Operation Cast Lead against the Gaza Strip in 2008/09 were surrogate wars against Iran.

In August 2011 Hendel was appointed Director of Communications and Public Diplomacy for Prime Minister Netanyahu. He resigned only seven months later on 21 February 2012, after Netanyahu told him he had lost confidence in him for having turned to the Attorney General Yehuda Weinstein without previously informing him about a sexual harassment case of the Prime Minister's bureau chief Natan Eshel which led to an investigation by the Civil Service Commission and Eshel's resignation. Hendel and Cabinet Secretary Zvi Hauser, who was also reprimanded by Netanyahu for the same reason, told Netanyahu that they had not updated in order to not implicate him in the affair. In October 2012, Hendel was awarded the title of "Knight of Quality Government 2012" in the Maintenance of Government Quality and Integrity Category by the Movement for Quality Government in Israel, for revealing the scandal.

In May 2012 Hendel was appointed head of the Institute for Zionist Strategies (IZS).

Hendel described himself as a liberal nationalist. In November 2012 his name was mentioned as a top candidate for elections in 2013. He then wrote in his weekly column in Yediot Aharonot that he was offered a position by two parties including one on Tzipi Livni's list, and that he refused for ideological reasons.

In March 2013, Hendel announced the establishment of The Blue and White Human Rights Association, dubbed BlueWhite Human Rights, "the first rightist human rights organization ... to monitor the violation of Palestinians’ human rights at West Bank checkpoints, collate testimonies of apparent war crimes by IDF soldiers and provide medical assistance to Palestinians and African asylum-seekers," according to the daily Haaretz. The organization started to operate under the IZS and will act in cooperation with the IDF authorities to have them examined and investigated. It does not intend to release any complaints to the media. According to Hendel, BlueWhite Human Rights was created in order to thwart two axioms internalized in Israeli society. “One of the distortions in Israel is the fact that two skewed monopolies were formed: Zionism has become the monopoly of the right, which is untrue, while the left received the monopoly over human rights and morality. This assumes that all others are immoral and anti-democratic, which is wrong, of course.”

Bibliography

• Yaakov Katz; Yoaz Hendel. Israel vs. Iran (Zmora -Bitan Books, April 2011, Potomac Books 2012) Google Books
• Yoaz Hendel; Zaki Shalom. Let the IDF Win: The Self-Fulfilling Slogan (Yedioth Ahronoth Books, 2010). The book won first prize in memory of Moldovan military literature that year.

Articles

• "Iran's nukes and Israel's dilemma". Middle East Quarterly (April 30, 2013)
• "Why we lean to the political right in Israel". The Guardian (20 January 2013)
• "Terrorism and Piracy", in Culture and Civilization, (ed) I. L. Horowitz (Transaction Publishers, Rutgers N.J), January 2011
• "Pirates: Not Only in the Caribbean", BESA Center Perspectives Papers, No.106, April 14, 2010.
• "The Lone Terrorist", BESA Center Perspectives Papers, No.86, July 13, 2009.
• "Did Israel's Military Action in Gaza Make Israel More Secure", in: Global Issues – Selections from CQ Researcher, (ed) D. Repetto (London 2009), 77.
• Review of Rose Mary Sheldon's book: Spies of the Bible: Espionage in Israel from the Exodus to the Bar Kokhba Revolt, The Journal of Military History, Volume 72, Number 2, April 2008.
• "The Reserves Comeback", Strategic Assessment, Volume 10, no. 4 (February 2008)
• "Arab Culture in the Eyes of the West", Strategic Assessment, Volume 9, no.4 (March 2007) (with A. Mansour).
• "Conceptual Flaws on the Road to the Second Lebanon War", Strategic Assessment, Volume 10, no. 1 (June 2007) (with Z. Shalom).
• "IDF Special Units: Their Purpose and Operational Concept", Strategic Assessment, Volume 10, No. 2 (August 2007).
• "Failed Tactical Intelligence in the Lebanon War", Strategic Assessment, Volume 9, no. 3 (November 2006)