Yael Aronoff

Professor of International Relations, Director of MSU's Serling Institute for Jewish Studies and Modern Israel Michigan State University

  • East Lansing MI

Expert in Israeli-Palestinian relations and Jewish studies

Contact

Michigan State University

View more experts managed by Michigan State University

Spotlight

1 min

Gaza clashes: Israel's methods should be questioned

The Hamas terror group said today that it has reached a cease-fire agreement with Israel, after it carried out air strikes in retaliation for rocket fire attacks from Gaza. Israel is denying such claims another reason Israel's methods should be questioned, says Yael Aronoff, director of Michigan State University's Jewish Studies Program and the Serling Chair in Israel Studies. "All countries have a right to protect their borders and illegal entry at their borders, especially when some are from Hamas, which still formally calls for Israel's destruction. Yet, the number of Palestinians killed calls into question the methods used by Israel. Israel contends that many of the people at the border are not peaceful and that it first uses non-lethal measures and only uses lethal measures as a last resort to protect the border. Israel also contends that it is criticized when non-militants are killed, but that Palestinians intentionally fire from smoky areas, which makes it more difficult for them to distinguish civilians from non-civilians. Palestinians claim that Israel should not be using lethal force, and that civilians are also being killed. However, some in the Palestinian Authority have also criticized Hamas for encouraging civilians, and even children, to come close to the border and try to cross it.” Source:

Yael AronoffRussell Lucas

Biography

Yael S. Aronoff is the Michael and Elaine Serling and Friends Chair of Israel Studies and Associate Professor at James Madison College. She is also the Director of the Jewish Studies Program at Michigan State University. She received her Ph.D. in political science from Columbia University in 2001. She also holds an M.I.A. in international affairs from Columbia University's School of International and Public Affairs (1992), and a B.A. in international relations from Princeton University’s Woodrow Wilson School of International Affairs and Public Policy (1990). She has taught in the Government Department at Hamilton College, and has served as Assistant for Regional Humanitarian Programs in the Pentagon's Office of Humanitarian and Refugee Affairs and in the Senate Foreign Relations Committee as a Jacob K. Javits Fellow. She was Senior Associate at Columbia University’s Institute of War and Peace Studies. Professor Aronoff served as Associate Director of Jewish Studies spring 2013 and spring 2014. She is Book Review Editor for Israel Studies Review and on the Board of Directors of the Association for Israel Studies.

Dr. Aronoff is a 2011 recipient of the MSU Teacher-Scholar Award which is awarded to faculty who early in their careers have earned the respect of students and colleagues for their devotion to and skill in teaching and who have shown scholarly promise.

Industry Expertise

Research
Writing and Editing
Education/Learning
International Affairs
Public Policy
Program Development

Areas of Expertise

Israel Studies
Jewish Studies
Israeli Politics
Israeli Foreign Policy
Israeli Society and Culture
The Israeli-Palestinian Conflict
Israel’s Asymmetric Wars with Hamas, Islamic Jihad, and Hezbollah

Accomplishments

John K. Hudzik Emerging Leader in Advancing International Studies and Programs Award

2015-03-01

Awarded by Michigan State University

2011 Teacher Scholar Award

2011-01-24

Awarded by Michigan State University

Education

Columbia University

Ph.D.

Political Science, International Relations

2001

Princeton University

B.A.

1990

Affiliations

  • Association for Israel Studies
  • Israel Studies Review

News

Dilemmas of Asymmetric Conflicts

The Index  

2017-03-01

The question of what is “fair” in times of war was a main theme of Dr. Yael Aronoff’s lecture in Olmsted on Monday, entitled “Israel’s Wars with Hamas: Dilemmas of Asymmetric Conflicts...

View More

Podcast: Is Trump good for American Jews and Israel?

Jewish News  

2017-01-17

In time for the inauguration of our 45th president this Friday, Jan. 20, the JN has produced its first podcast. Howard Lupovitch, director of Wayne State University’s Cohn-Haddow Center for Judaic Studies and a history professor, and Yael Aronoff, head of Jewish studies at Michigan State University and Michael and Elaine Serling and Friends Chair of Israel Studies, discuss Donald Trump, his relations with Israel and with American Jews...

View More

Students and Faculty Hold Forum to Discuss Anti-Semitism on Campus

The State News  

2016-02-11

Led by executive director of MSU Hillel Cindy Hughey, professor emeritus Ken Waltzer, associate professor and director of the Jewish Studies program Yael Aronoff and Office of Institutional Equity investigator Mwanaisha Sims, the forum touched on concerns related to rising anti-Semitism across college campuses nationwide and the response that should be taken by MSU's Jewish community...

View More

Show All +

Journal Articles

Making the next peace process succeed

Israel Studies Review

2012

View more

From warfare to withdrawal: The legacy of Ariel Sharon

Israel Studies

2010

What explains Sharon's policy of unilaterally disengaging from settlements he himself promoted and defended as necessary for Israel's security? His shift in policy can be explained by ideological and personality factors that enabled the change, in combination with more proximate, sufficient causes. Sharon's weak commitment to any one ideology, his present time orientation, his high risk propensity, and moderate cognitive flexibility enabled his significant policy changes. Sharon's straddling between Labor and Likud perspectives both acts as a permissive variable for some change, and also as a restraint on more extensive change, such as giving up the entire West Bank and dividing Jerusalem.

View more

When do hawks become peacemakers? A comparison of two Israeli Prime Ministers

Israel Studies Review

2009

I analyze the actions of Israeli prime ministers in the long-standing conflict between Israel and the Palestinians, comparing one prime minister who remained hard-line and one who evolved into a peace maker. By examining their belief systems and individual characteristics, I hypothesize the types of hawks that are more likely to change their views of an opponent and convert into peace-makers. Although a change in both the opponent and the environment is necessary for a leader to change his image of an enemy, three additional elements make change more probable: (1) a weak ideological commitment, or a commitment to an ideology that does not have its components articulated as obstacles; (2) a present or future individual time orientation; (3) either a flexible cognitive system or exposure and openness to a significant advisor who has a different view of the opponent.

View more