Yisrael Ne'eman is a historian. He received a BA in history from Rutgers University in New Jersey, and an MA in Modern Jewish History from the University of Haifa in Israel. His area of expertise includes Middle East Conflict, modern Jewish History, and Israel. Yisrael began as a lecturer at the University of Haifa International School in 1991. He teaches Contemporary Israel: History and Society during the year, and leads a field study program Israel: A Mosaic during the summer. He teaches Jewish History, Ancient History/Archeology and The Development of Middle East Nationalism at the Technion-Israel Institute of Technology, and teaches similar topics at the Givat Haviva Jewish-Arab Peace Center. In 1992, Yisrael completed the National Tour Guide course. Over the years, he has lectured and led tours for various educational organizations throughout Israel. Many of his tours are academic touring experiences, which can be approved for use as university credits. Currently, Yisrael works with his son, Alon, guiding tours throughout the country and abroad. From 1989-2012 he partnered with Elliot Chodoff in Hamartzim Educational Services as a lecturer and guide. Together they operate the Mideast on Target website (www.me-ontarget.org), which provides commentary on Israel and Middle East. The two colleagues continue to work together on developing and implementing educational ventures. Yisrael moved to Israel (made aliyah) from New Jersey in 1977 and worked at Kibbutz Elrom, a collective farm in the Golan Heights. The next year, he was drafted and served as a combat medic from 1978 to 1980. Later, as a reservist, he was the senior non-commissioned officer of a battalion aid/evacuation station. During the 1980s, he served on six tours of active duty in the First Lebanon War. Afterward, he spent his reserve service in border patrol along the Lebanese and Golan frontiers, and was discharged in 2001. Following the path of early Labor ideologues, he joined the working class and learned a trade as a stainless steel craftsman. By late 1984, Yisrael moved his family to the Galilean town of Ma'alot seeking out the pioneering challenge of developing the barren hilltops of northern Israel. While in Ma'a lot, he taught metal work and English as a second language to newly arrived Ethiopian teenagers. In early 1988, Yisrael, his wife Susan and their children joined the Eshchar community village in central Galilee. The town's ideology advocates cooperation between Jewish religious and Jewish secular lifestyles. Yisrael volunteered on the local council for twelve years, ten of them as chairman. He helped facilitate the arrival and integration of another 100 families into the town. Furthermore, he worked with the Bedouin tribe of Arab Al-Na'im to establish municipal borders and build cooperation to ensure development for both communities. The communities agreed upon a guiding principle of "good neighborly relations" as opposed to a minimalist policy of "coexistence." Hamas Jihad: Antisemitism and Islamic World Conquest in the Pretense of Palestinian Nationalism is Yisrael's first book. To schedule speaking engagements, contact Yisrael online at Author@HamasJihad.com, or www.HamasJihad.com.
