Ofek Riemer

I am an assistant professor (lecturer) at the Ben-Gurion Research Institute for the Study of Israel and Zionism at Ben-Gurion University of the Negev.

My research is mostly centered on the international politics of secrecy and the nexus between intelligence, foreign policy, and society. In my research, I bring topics in intelligence into discussion with broader themes in Political Science and International Relations (IR), including for example, coercion and strategic communication, populism and democratic backsliding, and strategic culture and ontological security. With Israeli foreign policy and the Arab-Israeli conflict as my primary subject matter, I use a combination of qualitative and quantitative methods, including archival research, survey experiments, and ethnography.

I hold a B.A. in Middle Eastern History and a M.A. in Diplomacy and Security, both from Tel Aviv University. In 2022, I received my Ph.D. from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem for my work on public intelligence disclosure in international relations, which received the Israel Political Science Association award for best dissertation.

I am the co-chair of the Intelligence Studies Section of the Israeli Association of International Studies (IAIS), as well as the founder and former coordinator of the Israeli Forum for Intelligence Studies (IFIS). My research was published in Contemporary Security Policy, The British Journal of Politics & International Relations, Intelligence & National Security, Strategic Assessment, and War on the Rocks.