Biography

I completed my PhD in the Science of Law (JSD) at Yale Law School in 2013. In my dissertation I examined the relationship between American constitutional identity and the Supreme Court’s institutional legitimacy. I argued that the Court cannot both determine American identity and fulfil the function of a legal expert. I further examined the rise of public opinion polls, that measure public support for the Court, as providing a new basis for institutional legitimacy. I also explored the current crisis of American constitutional identity. Several chapters of the dissertation were published as articles .
Before coming to the European University Institute, I visited SUNY Buffalo Law School as a Baldy Fellow (2013-14) and New York University School of Law as a Tikvah Scholar (2012-13). I was also a Robina Foundation Visiting Human Rights Fellow (2011-12) at Yale Law School. During those years, I examined the nature of constitutional language; analyzed the criminal responsibility of soldiers who participated in targeted killings; and explored Israel’s constitutional identity.
My professional experience includes serving as a military criminal defense lawyer in Israel. My last case before the Israeli Supreme Court dealt with the evidentiary meaning of a defendant’s failure to testify in trial ( Milstein v. Chief Military Prosecutor ).