Major General Yaacov Amidror served as the National Security Advisor to the Prime Minister of Israel and the Head of the National Security Council from April 2011 to November 2013. He is now the Anne and Greg Rosshandler Senior Fellow at the Begin-Sadat Center for Strategic Studies, in Bar Ilan University.

He served with the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) for 36 years. During his long military career, General Amidror held the following positions: Commander of IDF Military Colleges, including the National Defense College, Military Secretary for the Minister of Defense, and Director of the Intelligence Analysis Division, responsible for National Intelligence Assessment. General Amidror received a Master’s Degree in Political Science from the University of Haifa and various other degrees and certificates from IDF colleges.

After his retirement, he has served as Senior Research Fellow to the Institute for Middle East Research in Washington. General Amidror also served as Vice President of Lander Institute, an academic center in Jerusalem. He was a member of several large Israeli companies’ boards as well as numerous high-tech start-ups. 

Since retiring from the armed forces, General Amidror has published Reflections on Army and Security, a book on the subject of military affairs and national security (in Hebrew). A second book, Intelligence, Theory and Practice, was published in 2006 (also in Hebrew). His articles appear frequently in Israeli and international publications. 

General Amidror was born in Israel in 1948. He is married to Dorith, and they have 5 children.