HERZOG, SHIRA

HERZOG, SHIRA (1957– ), journalist, Middle East analyst, administrator. Shira Herzog was born into a prominent Jerusalem family. Her father, Dublin-born Ya'acov Herzog, was a rabbi and leading Israeli diplomat. Her uncle, Chaim *Herzog, served as chief of Israel's military intelligence and later president of Israel.

After she completed her military service, Shira Herzog went to the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and graduated with a B.A. in history and English literature in 1974. Daughter of a diplomat, as a young child she had lived in Ottawa while her father was for three years Israel's ambassador to Canada, and in 1974 she returned to Canada, where she completed an M.A. in English at York University in Toronto. Deeply committed to a democratic and progressive Israel, in 1976 she joined the Canada Israel Committee, first as director of special projects, then as director of research, and finally as national executive director. In 1988 she became vice president of the Calgary-based Kahanoff Foundation, one of Canada's largest private foundations. The Kahanoff Foundation, which also maintains offices in Toronto and Tel Aviv, initiates and funds innovative community programs in western Canada and Israel.

Highly regarded for her insightful analysis of Middle East affairs, from 1994 to 2003 Herzog was a regular contributor to the Canadian Jewish News and from 2002 wrote a column on the Middle East and Jewish affairs for the Globe and Mail, Canada's most influential newspaper. She also co-hosted Israel Today, a Canadian-produced television program devoted to Israel and Jewish issues.

Based in Toronto, Herzog served on the boards of the Philanthropic Foundations of Canada, the American-based Council of Foundations, the Institute for Research on Public Policy headquartered in Montreal, and the Tel Aviv-based Israel Democracy Institute, which seeks to promote the development of democratic values and political institutions in Israel.

[Harold Troper (2^nd ed.)]