Dr. Chanan Cohen oversees the trust R&D unit at MAOZ. Trust R&D focuses on developing knowledge, tools and practices related to trust-building while constantly engaging with real-world situations. Over the past few years, he has conducted studies on trust, socioeconomic resilience, social polarization and local government. He oversees a case-study framework within the organization which involves creating and delivering unique Israeli case studies on topics such as trust, leadership and driving change.
Dr. Cohen lives in Jerusalem. He is married to Lilach and they have four children, Eitan, Roni, Hodaya and Shachar.
He holds a doctorate in political science from Hebrew University of Jerusalem. His doctoral research focused on the impact of local violence and sociodemographic shifts on Jewish-Arab relations in municipal elections within mixed cities in Israel from 1983 to 2013.
Prior to his current position, Dr. Cohen worked as a researcher at the Guttman Center for Public Opinion and Policy Research at the Israel Democracy Institute. During his time there, he contributed to the drafting of the Israeli Democracy Index from 2014 to 2017, conducted a study on the national religious sector in Israel in 2014, and co-authored “A Conditional Partnership,” a study on Jews and Arabs in Israel in 2017. Dr. Cohen has also lectured and engaged in further studies within various frameworks in Israel.