Michael Makovsky

Michael Makovsky has served as President and CEO of the Jewish Institute for National Security of America (JINSA) since 2011, leading the organization that has for decades been the primary institutional bridge between American military and national security professionals and the Israeli defense establishment. A graduate of the University of Michigan with a doctoral degree from Oxford University in history, Makovsky served as Director for European Affairs on the National Security Council under President George W. Bush and as Director of Special Projects in the Office of the Secretary of Defense, giving him direct experience of how the U.S.-Israel military relationship functions at its most consequential levels before he moved to institutional advocacy.

JINSA's flagship program is the Generals and Admirals Program, which brings senior American military officers — active duty and recently retired, at the flag officer level — on visits to Israel to meet with IDF counterparts, observe Israeli military operations and training, and develop first-hand understanding of Israeli strategic doctrine and threat assessments. By the time Makovsky became CEO, hundreds of American flag officers had gone through the program, creating a cohort of senior military leadership with direct, experiential knowledge of Israeli security rather than secondhand assessments filtered through diplomatic cables. This program produces results that are qualitatively different from think tank reports or advocacy briefings: the American general who has stood in the north with an IDF commander and heard a firsthand assessment of Hezbollah's rocket inventory brings different weight to internal Pentagon deliberations than one who has only read intelligence estimates.

Under Makovsky's leadership, JINSA has expanded its congressional programming, bringing members and staff on military-focused Israel visits, and has produced substantial policy research on Iranian military capabilities, Hezbollah's force structure, and the military case for maintaining American weapons supply to Israel without conditions. Following October 7 and Operation Epic Fury, JINSA's analytical output on the regional military balance has been among the most frequently cited by hawkish members of Congress. At Rank 32, Makovsky represents the military-to-military relationship dimension of the U.S.-Israel alliance — the institutionalization of professional respect between armed forces that persists regardless of political winds.