From a think tank to a ‘do tank’: The Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs changed name and mission

“We’ve turned what was one of the leading veteran classic think tanks into a ‘do’ tank,” says Dr. Dan Diker, president of the Jerusalem Center for Security and Foreign Affairs (JCFA). Previously known as the Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs, the organization recently changed its name to reflect its new status as a proactive, out-of-the-box center for policy diplomacy and communications.

In a recent interview with Diker and Aviram Bellaishe, the organization’s vice president for strategy, security, and communications, the two outlined JCFA’s role.

“Our mission is to expose the dangers of the new world reality that confronts Israel and the entire Middle East opposite an ascendant nuclear-rising Iranian regime, compliant Hamas, Hezbollah, Houthi, and other terror proxy cooperation and how that constitutes a direct threat to the West, not only to Israel and the Middle East,” Diker stated. “The mission is to change the paradigm of thinking in Washington.”

Diker and Bellaishe said that JCFA staff meets and engages with numerous countries in the Arab world with which Israel does not maintain diplomatic relations. “We have met with no fewer than six countries with whom Israel does not have relations. They see us as a home, a trusted address in a rapidly changing Middle East for discussion, deliberations, and a pathway towards normalization,” he said.

One of the organization’s critical missions is to positively influence and counter much of the anti-Israel and antisemitic disinformation that has spread throughout the Arab world, Bellaishe shared. “We work to meet the decision makers in these countries, but also to send messages in Arabic on social media to present what Israel is, what radical Islam is, and the regional effect of the Iranian regime, among other subjects.”

The most crucial task in the Arab world, he continued, is to alter the younger generation’s perspective on Israel.“These countries know it’s either Iran or us.” Bellaishe explained that persuading the youth in Arab countries to envision a future of technology, education, and prosperity with Israel, rather than pursuing a radical course with Iran, could pave the way for normalization and collaboration between Israel and these countries.

Diker said that JCFA has the unique ability to bridge cultural gaps when they meet with Arab leaders. 

“When we meet with these countries, we meet very confidently about Israel because we are Israelis, and we are indigenous to the region. But when we meet with them in Arabic, joke with them in Arabic, argue with them in Arabic, and agree with them in Arabic, they understand that we’re on the same page culturally. Suddenly, they perceive us differently. We speak ‘Middle Eastern’ because we understand the Middle East.”

As a result, they said, several Arab countries, some of which are in the Abraham Accords and some which are not, asked Diker and his team for content that will help them explain to their public why Israel is such an important anchor of security, stability, and prosperity for their future in the Middle East.

JCFA is an apolitical organization, said Diker, with a large number of experts on Arab affairs based in the Middle East, London, and the United States, in addition to a veteran team of Israelis well-versed in security and international issues. “We’re moving from classic public diplomacy to ‘public diplomacy 3.0,’ which is basically strategic influence. We call it assertive diplomacy.”

This article was written with the approval of the Jerusalem Center for Security and Foreign Affairs.