Mrs. Ksenia Svetlova
Fellow, International Institute for Counter-Terrorism (ICT), Reichman University; Executive Director, ROPES; Former Member of Knesset; Nonresident Senior Fellow, Atlantic Council
Mrs. Ksenia Svetlova is the Executive Director of ROPES and a nonresident senior fellow at the Atlantic Council’s Middle East Programs. She is also a Fellow at the International Institute for Counter-Terrorism (ICT) at Reichman University, Herzliya, where she currently teaches and conducts research. Her academic and professional work focuses on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, Israeli-Arab relations, Russian influence in the Middle East, and the broader regional and international relations of the Middle East.
Mrs. Svetlova served as a Member of the Knesset from 2015 to 2019, where she held positions on the Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee, as well as the Aliyah and Integration Committee. During her tenure, she chaired three parliamentary lobbies: “Women for Peace and Security,” “Freedom of Press and Expression,” and the “Israel-Kurdish Alliance.”
Prior to her election to the Knesset, Mrs. Svetlova had a fifteen-year career as a senior analyst and reporter on Arab affairs for Israeli Channel 9. Her journalism took her across the Middle East, where she covered major geopolitical developments including the 2003 Iraq War from aboard a U.S. assault ship in the Persian Gulf, and the dramatic events of the Arab Spring from Tahrir Square in Cairo. She conducted exclusive interviews in Lebanon, Syria, Libya, Gaza, and the West Bank during the Second Palestinian Intifada, and interviewed prominent Arab leaders such as Palestinian Authority Chairman Yasser Arafat, Hamas leader Ahmad Yassin, and Jordanian Prince Hassan bin Talal.
Mrs. Svetlova has published numerous features, special reports, and op-eds in leading international outlets, including the Jerusalem Post, Jerusalem Report, Haaretz, Times of Israel, Al-Monitor, BBC Russian Service, Media Line, and Newsweek. Her work as a writer and commentator continues to influence public discourse on Middle Eastern affairs, media freedom, and peacebuilding efforts.
She holds a B.A. and an M.A. in Journalism and Middle Eastern Studies from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. Her M.A. thesis, titled “Teleislamism: The Case of Amru Khaled,” was written under the supervision of Professor Emmanuel Sivan. She is currently pursuing her Ph.D. at Bar-Ilan University. Mrs. Svetlova is fluent in Hebrew, Russian, English, and Arabic.
In 2020, her first book, On Heels in the Middle East, was published by Pardes Publishing House. The book offers a vivid account of her experiences in cities such as Beirut, Damascus, Tripoli, and Cairo, exploring revolutionary movements, encounters with Hamas and Hezbollah, and the homes of notable Jewish families in Damascus. An upcoming version of the book, titled Through the Middle East on Heels, continues this compelling journey through the region’s complexity and human stories.
