About

Our Mission

Shoresh is an independent socioeconomic policy research institution whose sole raison d’être is to identify the source, nature and scope of Israel’s internal root (shoresh) existential challenges. The Shoresh Institution provides evidence-based analyses – essential for strategic perspectives and transformative policies at the national level – to Israel’s leading policymakers and the general public to assist in moving the country towards a sustainable long-term trajectory that raises Israel’s living standards while reducing disparity among its citizens.

Shoresh definition
Shoresh definition

Our Story

Why we established Shoresh

“In 1999, I happened to look at data on Israel through a professional lens for the first time,” relates Professor Dan Ben-David, a Tel-Aviv University economist. “What I saw changed my life. While Israel has state-of-the art universities, a cutting edge hi-tech sector and medical professionals at the top of their field internationally, the average amount produced by Israelis per hour (often referred to as labor productivity) is not only among the lowest in the developed world – it has been steadily falling further and further behind the leading developed world countries for over four decades.” Read More

Senior Staff

Dan Ben-David profile picture
Prof. Dan Ben-David
President
Ayal Kimhi profile picture
Prof. Ayal Kimhi
Vice President and Head of Research
Cynthia Wroclawski profile picture
Cynthia Wroclawski
Director of Strategic Partnerships

Professor Dan Ben-David
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Professor Dan Ben-David (Ph.D. in Economics, University of Chicago) heads the Shoresh Institution for Socioeconomic Research and is a senior faculty member in the Department of Public Policy at Tel-Aviv University.

In 2023, he received the “Knight of Quality Government Award” granted by the Movement for Quality Government “in recognition of his significant contribution to Israel’s academia and society; for providing evidence-based analyses to decision makers and the general public; and for his impact on the determination of policies at the national level.” Professor Dan Ben-David was also named ‘Person of the Year’ by Calcalist newspaper and included 3 times in the Haaretz-TheMarker newspaper’s annual list of Israel’s 100 most influential people. His academic research placed him among the ten most cited economists in Israel during the years 1990-2000. In addition, Ben-David has twice received Tel-Aviv University’s ‘Best Teacher Award.

Professor Ben-David is the past executive director of the Taub Center for Social Policy Studies, a former Research Fellow at both the National Bureau for Economic Research (NBER) in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and the Centre for Economic Policy Research (CEPR) in London, and has also served as an advisor to the World Bank and the World Trade Organization.


Professor Ayal Kimhi
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Professor Ayal Kimhi is the Vice President and head of research at the Shoresh Institution. He is also the Sir Henry d'Avigdor Goldsmid Professor in Agricultural Economics, serving as the head of the Department of Environmental Economics and Management at the Hebrew University. He was previously the deputy director and head of research at the Taub Center for Social Policy Studies.

Professor Kimhi received his Ph.D. in Economics from the University of Chicago. His research spans the fields of labor economics, family economics, applied econometrics, agricultural economics, and development economics. He has held visiting positions at the Universities of Maryland, Yale, Pennsylvania, Nagoya, Leuven, Sydney and at the Paris School of Economics, and has published more than 50 articles in refereed academic journals.


Cynthia Wroclawski
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Cynthia Wroclawski is the Shoresh Institution’s Director of Strategic Partnerships. She served as Director of the Yad Vashem Shoah Victims' Names Recovery Project and deputy director of the Yad Vashem Archives Division. Specializing in marketing, communications, outreach, engagement and fundraising, Cynthia draws upon extensive professional experience in positions held in the private and non-profit sectors alongside her volunteer leadership role as chair of the steering committee of the Yoav – Lehigh Valley (PA) Partnership2Gether (Jewish Agency program) from 2012-2018.

Cynthia received her B.A. from New York University where she was a dean’s list student, with a double major in Judaic Studies and Journalism. She graduated with honors from the Hebrew University, receiving an M.A. in Communications and Journalism. Cynthia also holds a certificate in Advanced Modern Marketing from the Department for Executive Education in Tel Aviv University’s Faculty of Management. An American born Israeli who moved to Israel in the late 1980’s, Cynthia lives in Kibbutz Revadim.

The Shoresh Institution Team

Top row left to right: Prof. Ayal Kimhi, Prof. Dan Ben-David, Cynthia Wroclawski, Rachel Zaken, Tomer Siedner. Bottom row left to right: Yael Mishly, Dr. Yael Melzer, Dr. Doron Hadass, Yoav Tuvia. Absent: Dr. Pavel Jelnov and Ariela Savin.

Board of Directors

Dr. Zeev Feldman (chair)

Director of Pediatric Neurosurgery, Sheba Medical Center, Tel Hashomer and Vice Chairman of the Israel Medical Association

Professor Haya Stier

Departments of Sociology and Labor Studies, Tel-Aviv University

Dr. Avner Ahituv

CEO Water Israel and former general secretary of Kibbutz Ramat Yohanan

Audit Board

Eli Yeshurun, CPA

Financial Consulting and CFO services

Daniel Shejnberg, MBA

Retired, Managing member DSAM LLC

Academic Advisory Council

Dr. Henry Aaron

Brookings Institution

Professor David Autor

Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Professor Aaron Ciechanover

Technion
(Nobel Laureate and Israel Prize Laureate)

Professor Jacob Frenkel

JP Morgan Chase International and former Bank of Israel Governor
(Israel Prize Laureate)

Professor Claudia Goldin

Harvard University
(Nobel Laureate)

Professor Reuben Gronau

Hebrew University

Professor Eric Hanushek

Stanford University and Hoover Institution

Professor James Heckman

University of Chicago
(Nobel Laureate)

Professor Daniel Kahneman

Princeton University
(Nobel Laureate)

Professor Joel Mokyr

Northwestern University

Professor Howard Pack

University of Pennsylvania

Professor Steven Popper

RAND Corporation

Professor Assaf Razin

Cornell University and Tel-Aviv University

Professor Dan Shechtman

Technion
(Nobel Laureate and Israel Prize Laureate)

Professor Eytan Sheshinski

Hebrew University

Our Supporters in 2023

The Shoresh Institution’s research and activities are made possible thanks to the generous support of our partners and donors and for whom we are deeply grateful. Shoresh supporters donating $1,000 and above are ordered alphabetically below:

Azrieli Foundation, Canada-Israel
Ellie and Edgar Cullman
Mick Davis
Cheri Fox
The Diane & Guilford Glazer Foundation
Jewish Community Foundation of Montreal
Jewish Federation of St. Louis
Jusidman Foundation
Maimonides Fund
Daniel and Deborah Palestrant
Rosenzweig-Coopersmith Foundation
Roni Rubenstein and Barry Berson
Josh Weston
Yaniv Zilberman

Philanthropic support of individuals and organizations enables the Shoresh Institution to conduct independent, path-breaking, socioeconomic policy research on the internal challenges that pose existential threats to Israel in the long-run. Our donors share our unwavering commitment to advancing evidence-based policies and public discourse to ensure a sustainable future for Israel and all its citizens.

We invite you to join our circle of supporters. Click here to learn about the ways you can make a donation today. Shoresh supporters contributing annual gifts of $1,000 and up are invited to be listed in this Shoresh website donor recognition section.


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