Reuven Erlich

Reuven Erlich is a retired colonel in Israeli military intelligence. He heads the (formerly known as the Center for Special Studies), a private research group with an office inside the Israeli Ministry of Defense.

Erlich 'was born in Poland on April 28, 1946. He served in the IDF Intelligence Corps, mainly as an analyst specializing [in] Syrian, Lebanese and Palestinian affairs. He retired in 1994 with the rank of colonel after 30 years of service in staff and operational duties.'

According to a biographical note:

Between 1985 and 2000 he served as deputy to Ambassador Uri Lubrani, Israel’s government coordinator for Lebanese affairs. Between 1991 and 1993 he was a member of the Israeli delegation to the Israeli-Lebanese peace negotiations in Washington.'

Dr. Erlich also focused on Syrian-Lebanese issues in his academic studies. In 1998 he was awarded a PhD degree from Tel Aviv University for his dissertation on “The Policy of the Zionist Movement and the State of Israel toward Lebanon (1919-1958).” He has published five books and many articles dealing with those subjects, including a book published in the United States under the name Reuven Avi-Ran called The Syrian Involvement in Lebanon since 1975, Westview Press, 1991.

Dr. Erlich’s current duties include: Head of the Intelligence and Terrorism Information Center at the Center for Special Studies; Lecturer on intelligence and head of intelligence studies at the Lauder School of Government at the Interdisciplinary Center, Herzliya.

Affiliations

• International Policy Institute for Counter-Terrorism, Research Fellow

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