Dr. Shira Efron is a visiting researcher at the Institute for National Security Studies (INSS) and a Special Advisor on Israel at the RAND Corporation, where she founded RAND’s Israel Program in 2017 and taught in its doctoral program.

Her current research focuses on U.S. policy in the Middle East, including China–Israel relations and the Israeli–Palestinian conflict. She is an expert in policy research methodologies, strategic planning, and public policy tools applicable across a range of fields.

Dr. Efron's studies on China–Israel ties, the humanitarian crisis in Gaza, and the economic costs of the Israeli–Palestinian conflict have gained widespread media attention in Israel and abroad.

Before joining RAND and INSS, she worked as a Middle East analyst at several Washington-based think tanks, including the Center for American Progress and the Middle East Institute.

Dr. Efron holds a PhD and MA in Policy Analysis from the RAND Graduate School, an MA in International Relations and Business from New York University (NYU), and a BSc in Biology and Computer Science from Tel Aviv University.

She is a Board Member of Forum Dvorah and a Policy Fellow at the Israel Policy Forum.