The following scholars, academics, think-tank leaders and other academics offer their thoughts on israeled.org.
“CIE’s website is the most comprehensive and reliable resource pertaining to the modern State of Israel that I know of. With documents that are searchable by topic, type, language, and age, the CIE isn’t simply a repository of knowledge; it’s a dynamic tool that will benefit educators and students of all ages and backgrounds. Every person who cares about Israel should know about this site and check it regularly as its collections expand.” — Dr. Malka Z. Simkovich, Editor-in-Chief of the Jewish Publication Society, September 2025
“The Center for Israel Education is like a user-friendly digital encyclopedia for the student of Israel’s history and present. Whether you want a quick timeline of the Six-Day War or a deep dive on the Madrid peace conference, and anything in between on a plethora of topics, it’s got you covered. As a scholar and commentator on current affairs, the Center for Israel Education is an essential tool for my work.” — Dr. Nikos Sotirakopoulos, Visiting Fellow at the Ayn Rand Institute, August 2025
“The Center for Israel Education’s website is a unique, unparalleled source of information and analysis on all things Israel—history, politics, society, national security, and culture—including short explainers, long-form articles, self-learning courses, as well as maps and illustrations. There are even links to online sources for Israeli TV, music, and news. The CIE website is a one-stop shop for all things Israel. Never before has there been something like it, and never has it been more sorely needed!” — Michael Eisenstadt, Director, Military and Security Studies Program, Washington Institute for Near East Policy, July 2025
“The CIE has created the most significant, reliable, and comprehensive site extant on all that one may need to know or should know about Israel, its history, present reality, the ongoing conflict and more. It assembles in one easy-to-use platform a wide variety of materials from original written documents from archives and public sources and visual materials that enable the reconstruction and analysis of current and historic events. Although this richness is intelligently organized for viewers, the ease with which they are presented enable and encourage personal exploration and discovery. It also provides a wealth of resources, including bibliographies and links to other sites that extend and enhance what is found here. There is no other site like this. It should be on the list of scholars, students, educators and anyone seeking to acquire information and learn about Israel.” — Dr. Ilan Troen, Founding Director and Chair of Israel Studies, Shusterman Center for Israel Studies, Emeritus Stoll Family Professor, Chair of Israel Studies, Brandeis University, and Past President, Israel Studies Association, Professor Emeritus, Ben-Gurion University, July 2025
“The Center for Israel Education has an excellent website for anyone — academics, educators, or students — who is looking to enrich their knowledge about Israel, continuing valuable sources. While the interpretation of the documents is open for discussion and can serve critics or defenders of Zionism, one thing stood out for sure: in times when truth is hard to find, the trove of materials and primary sources at this website can be beneficial for every discussion or course about Israel.” — Dr. Avi Shilon, Historian, Tel Hai Academic College, July 2025
“Education is a difficult undertaking, not only in pedagogy and not only when it comes to the subject of Israel. It is a constant challenge, often working against resistance or ignorance, always searching for allies, and requiring patience and perseverance. CIE has followed this path consistently since its inception, with Emory University Professor Emeritus Ken Stein as its guiding spirit. The wealth of collected material, source texts and film material on the most diverse individual aspects of the subject area of Israel and the Middle East is impressive and provides scope for individual users or group-based curricula. Clearly structured according to individual topics and their subtopics, and thanks to its ease of use, access is also available to a wide range of users — all with the educational intention of … we can help deepen the understanding of readers, viewers, or listeners about how current events fit into history.” — Dr. Alfred Wittstock, Former Lecturer at Study Unit Israel, JG-University, Mainz, Germany, July 2025
“I had the honor of studying Middle Eastern history under Ken Stein in the 1990s at Emory University. More than 30 years later, I now have the privilege of accessing the resources he used to teach thousands of students. The vast majority of these documents and books are scholarly sources, unvarnished by politics. This is crucial in today’s convoluted media environment. Teachers from K-12 to higher education have the best available material, all on one site. CIE is a rich and informative platform. It is also a wonderful way to ensure that Ken’s serious, balanced, and sober approach to Middle Eastern studies can benefit educators for years and years to come.” — Dr. Jonathan Schanzer, Executive Director, Foundation for Defense of Democracies, July 2025
“The new CIE website is a treasure trove of historical information — clearly presented and richly illustrated to make it accessible to learners of all ages. At a time when narratives are too often shaped without regard for historical evidence, this site offers a vital corrective: grounding understanding in primary sources, context, and complexity. It’s an indispensable tool for scholars, activists, and curious laypeople who want to break through bias and make sense of Israel, Zionism, and the Jewish past and future.” — Michael Rabkin, Chief Development Officer, Jewish Federation of San Diego, and former Hillel professional, July 2025
“In current times, where regrettably distortions regarding Israel and the conflict emanate from so many different sources and where truth has been a repeated casualty, the CIE website provides serious scholarship and access to essential materials about Israel’s story. … Neither CIE nor its website engages in propaganda. It offers essential documents and analyses, curated from Israeli, Jewish, non-Jewish and think tank voices from across the world. Its educational materials are usable in formal and informal learning settings; they include multiple types led by biographies, bibliographies, maps, photos, featured content and webinars. A series of short video and prose explainers are ideal for quick learning and introductions for expansion into lengthy presentations. Six on-demand courses on Israeli society, history and politics may be easily accessed. Personally, I have used the website in doing research on the various conflicts in the Middle East, allowing for context in writing articles and a book.” — Dr. Luis Fleischman, Professor of Sociology, Palm Beach State College, and Co-President, Palm Beach Center for Democracy and Policy Research, July 2025
“The CIE website is a gold mine of information about Israel and its history, which will help to counteract the confusion and misinformation found in much of the discourse in the media. It provides a rich collection of readings, documentary sources, bibliographies, images and other resources on Israel and on the Arab-Israeli conflict. The new and multilingual website is even easier to navigate than the previous one. The Documents and Sources feature, which includes primary sources on a wide variety of topics, is especially recommended. As a historian who specializes in presenting archival documents to researchers and the public, I see it as invaluable for providing much needed information, context and nuance.” — Dr. Louise Fischer, Emerita Historical Publications Editor, Israel State Archives, July 2025
“In a time where infotainment and propaganda have replaced facts and scholarship especially, as it relates to Israel and the Middle East. The Center for Israel Education offers an indispensable resource for students of all ages who want to grasp the complexities and richness of the region. CIE relies on factual and scholarly works in a time where it is desperately needed and presents a superb comprehensive collection of primary sources in addition to the writings of the actors and decision makers who participated in the actual events.” — Dr. Asaf Romirowsky, Executive Director, Association for the Study of the Middle East and Africa (ASMEA) and Scholars for Peace in the Middle East (SPME), June 2025
“CIE’s website is an indispensable treasure-trove of commentary and source material that is essential for setting current affairs in their historical context. In an era of fake news and Artificial Intelligence, reliable historical background and documentation are essential tools for sifting through the flood of information, misinformation, and disinformation to which we are regularly exposed in this day and age. CIE places an extraordinary range of documentary evidence, course syllabi, bibliographies, videos, webinars and much more at your fingertips. It is unquestionably the best resource of its kind on Israel and its place in the Middle East.” — Dr. Asher Susser, Professor Emeritus of Middle Eastern History, Tel Aviv University, June 2025
“The CIE’s website is the most comprehensive and reliable resource pertaining to the modern State of Israel that I know of. With documents that are searchable by topic, type, language, and age, the CIE isn’t simply a repository of knowledge; it’s a dynamic tool that will benefit educators and students of all ages and backgrounds. Every person who cares about Israel should know about this site and check it regularly as its collections expand.” — Dr. Malka Z. Simkovich, Editor-in-Chief of the Jewish Publication Society, June 2025
“For the last decade, israeled.org, the website of the Center for Israel Education, has been my first and often only stop when preparing curricular materials, planning a course or class or catching up on the latest updates in Israel education. The new refresh of the CIE website contains all of the necessary go-to information on Israel: primary source documents, maps, timelines, biographies of political and cultural leaders with the added conveniences of search by topic and related-to-subject menu pop-ups for each search term you enter. There is a wealth of material, introductory videos, explanations, position papers – all of it unbiased, accurate and factual. It is a gift to students, media, and educators and those that want to be informed and supportive of Israel; the site will quickly become the first place to turn for research, casual learning, and lesson planning for the study and teaching of modern Israel.” — Steve Kerbel, Educational Consulting, Washington, June 2025
“The Center for Israel Education and its website represent an achievement in strengthening Israel literacy for our children, teenagers, college students and adult learners. It is an extraordinary repository of curated materials that span from foundational historical sources to contemporary analysis, curricula designed for every stage of the learning journey and resources to deepen connection to Israel’s past, present and future. The educational ecosystem CIE has created helps clergy, educators, and learners of all ages meet the needs of this moment by providing tools, insights, context and perspectives to cultivate and nurture Ahavat Yisrael — a love of Israel rooted in knowledge and understanding.” — Rabbi Laila Haas, Temple Beth El, Boca Raton, Florida, June 2025
“The Center for Israel Education (CIE) website is a terrific idea, a much-needed extraordinary resource. … There are far too many young people, including committed Jews, who simply do not know the story of Israel. Having a central site where they can learn the history, be guided to additional resources and most importantly — get a sense of the grandeur and the complexity of Zionism and the State is created — is a gift to all of us who seek to educate Jews and non-Jews alike about what Israel is, how it came to be, and where it might go from here.” — Dr. Daniel Gordis, Koret Distinguished Fellow, Shalem College, Jerusalem, March 2022
“The CIE website is an indispensable and unique resource for anyone interested in Israel and the Middle East. Balanced and fair, and giving expression to more than one voice. Extremely user-friendly and responsive to both those seeking historical knowledge and those wishing to stay up-to-date on current events. Students, scholars, journalists, politicians, community leaders — and members of the general public — will find here an authoritative, reliable and easily accessible source of knowledge, information, commentary — and wisdom.” — Professor Shlomo Avineri, Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Israel Academy of Sciences and Humanities, and Former Director-General of Israel’s Foreign Ministry, July 2021
