Blake Johnson is the Communications Director for the Jewish Institute for National Security of America. Blake has more than 17 years of media and communications experience in Washington, D.C., having worked at think tanks, public affairs firms, and television and…
Yoni Tobin is a Senior Policy Analyst at JINSA. Yoni holds a B.A. in International Relations, with honors, from Boston University and an M.A. in International Security Policy from Columbia University. He previously worked at the Center for Naval Analyses,…
Matthew Kenney is Vice President for Government Affairs at the Jewish Institute for National Security of America (JINSA). Matthew brings more than 15 years of legislative advocacy and communications experience to his role at JINSA, having previously served in both…
Blaise Misztal is the Vice President for Policy at JINSA. His research interests include Iran and its nuclear program, U.S.-Turkey relations, countering extremism, and strategic competition. Most recently, Blaise was a Fellow at the Hudson Institute. Prior to that, he…
IDF MG (ret.) Yaacov Ayish is the Julian and Jenny Josephson Senior Vice President for Israeli Affairs at the Jewish Institute for National Security of America (JINSA). General Ayish served in the IDF for 36 years and retired in 2016,…
Yaniv Menahem is the Jewish Institute for National Security of America’s (JINSA) Director for Middle East Operations, a position he has held since March 2025. He previously served as JINSA’s Middle East Operations Manager from April 2018. Prior to his…
Ari Cicurel has been Associate Director of Foreign Policy at JINSA since January 2025. His prior roles at JINSA include as Assistant Director of Foreign Policy from 2023-2025, Senior Policy Analyst from 2020-2023, and Policy Analyst from September 2018-January 2020.…
Leo Nayfeld joined JINSA in 2014 and serves as the organization’s managing director. Prior to joining JINSA, Leo spent time at two prominent think tanks in Washington, in Congress, and at various other organizations. A native of Cincinnati, he holds…