Dr. Carmit Valensi is a senior research analyst in the Research Division of the Israel Defense Forces Directorate of Military Intelligence and a research fellow at the “Institute for National Security Studies” (INSS). Dr. Valensi's areas of expertise include contemporary Middle East, strategic studies, military concepts, and terrorism. Her works has been published in academic and professional periodicals. Dr. Valensi completed her Ph.D. in the Department of Political Science at Tel Aviv University. Her research focuses on "violent hybrid actors" such as Hamas, Hezbollah, and FARC. She holds a B.A. in Middle East history and political science, and M.A. in diplomacy studies from Tel Aviv University. From 2010-2011 she was a research fellow at the Fox Fellowship program for international and regional studies at Yale University.