Oren Kessler is an American political analyst, author and journalist.

Background and education

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Kessler grew up in Rochester, New York, has a Bachelor of Arts degree in history from the University of Toronto and an Master of Arts in Government from Reichman University, Tel Aviv.[1][2] He was formerly deputy director for research at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies in Washington, D.C.[3]

Career

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Kessler was Arab affairs correspondent for The Jerusalem Post, an editor, translator and writer for the English edition of Haaretz[2] and a research fellow at the Henry Jackson Society think tank in London.[1] His work has appeared in publications including The Wall Street Journal,[4][5] Foreign Policy,[6] Politico,[7] The New Republic[8] and Foreign Affairs.[9]

He had corresponded extensively with fellow journalist Steven Sotloff in the months before Sotloff was murdered by ISIS militants in 2014. Sotloff wrote to Kessler in 2011 to introduce himself as a fellow former Reichman student. The two had both covered the Arab Spring, and, at the time Sotloff first contacted him, he was reporting from Libya while Kessler was covering the country for The Jerusalem Post.[10][11][12] Kessler was also one of the journalists targeted by former CNN correspondent Jim Clancy in a 2015 Twitter incident that led to Clancy’s resignation.[13][14][15]

Kessler is currently based in Tel Aviv. His book, Palestine 1936: The Great Revolt and the Roots of the Middle East Conflict, was published by Rowman & Littlefield in February 2023[16] and won the Sami Rohr Prize for Jewish Literature.[17]

References

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  1. ^ a b "FDD Welcomes Oren Kessler as New Deputy Director of Research" (press release). Foundation for Defense of Democracies. 21 October 2014. Retrieved 16 February 2022.
  2. ^ a b "Oren Kessler". Tel Aviv International Salon. Retrieved 29 August 2016.
  3. ^ "CNN's Jim Clancy Resigns After Controversial Israel Tweets". Haaretz. Jewish Telegraphic Agency. 17 January 2015. Retrieved 15 August 2016.
  4. ^ Kessler, Oren (2014-04-04). "Book Review: Faisal I of Iraq by Ali A. Allawi". The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved 2016-08-12.
  5. ^ Kessler, Oren (2013-11-08). "Book Review: My Promised Land by Ari Shavit". The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved 2016-08-12.
  6. ^ "Oren Kessler". Foreign Policy. Retrieved 2016-08-12.
  7. ^ "Mourning My Almost-Friend, Steve Sotloff". Politico. Retrieved 2016-08-12.
  8. ^ "Reporters Have Finally Found Hamas. What Took So Long?". The New Republic. Retrieved 2016-08-12.
  9. ^ "Author Page: Oren Kessler". Foreign Affairs. 2015-08-24. Retrieved 2016-08-12.
  10. ^ Kamin, Deborah (3 September 2014). "Steven Sotloff, killed by Islamic State, had deep roots in Israel". The Times of Israel. Retrieved 16 August 2016.
  11. ^ Zavis, Alexandra (5 September 2014). "Friends, supporters worked to keep Steven Sotloff's Israel ties secret". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 16 August 2016.
  12. ^ Zezima, Katie (3 September 2014). "Obama to Islamic State: 'We will not be intimidated'". The Washington Post. Retrieved 16 August 2016.
  13. ^ Steele, Emily (17 January 2015). "Anchor Leaves CNN After Tweets". The New York Times. Retrieved 15 August 2016.
  14. ^ "CNN anchor quits after sharing pro-Palestine views on Charlie Hebdo". The Independent. 21 January 2015. Archived from the original on 2022-05-24. Retrieved 26 September 2016.
  15. ^ "CNN's Jim Clancy resigns after controversial Israel tweets". Jewish Telegraphic Agency. 16 January 2015. Retrieved 15 August 2016.
  16. ^ Kessler, Oren (2023). Palestine 1936: The Great Revolt and the Roots of the Middle East Conflict. Rowman & Littlefield. ISBN 978-1538148808.
  17. ^ "Oren Kessler awarded Sami Rohr Prize for Palestine 1936, receives $100,000". The Jerusalem Post. 17 April 2024. Retrieved 8 July 2024.
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