ITME Fellowship
Voices From the Middle East, About the Middle East
The ITME Fellowship is a selective, international leadership program for undergraduate and graduate students who want to move beyond headlines and advocacy to truly understand Israel in the context of the broader Middle East.
Our philosophy is simple: To understand Israel, you must understand the Middle East.
Through weekly live sessions led by Avi Melamed—former Israeli intelligence official, Middle East analyst, and educator—together with Arab and Muslim regional experts, Fellows gain rare access to authentic perspectives almost never available in Western spaces. The Fellowship is not advocacy-based. It is apolitical, interactive, and immersive. Fellows are not told what to think; they are taught how to think, equipped with the clarity and context to ask sharper questions and lead conversations that others cannot.
What Makes ITME Unique
The Missing Context
Most Israel education programs focus narrowly on Israel. ITME provides the critical missing layer: the regional context. By situating Israel within its neighborhood, Fellows gain a depth of knowledge that transforms their understanding and strengthens their confidence.
Authentic Regional Voices
Each session pairs Avi’s intelligence-based analysis with Arab and Muslim experts from the region, elevating voices rarely heard in Western discourse and providing students with a more three-dimensional perspective.
Apolitical, Trusted Space
Because ITME doesn’t push ideology, it attracts students across the political and ideological spectrum. This inclusivity makes the Fellowship a uniquely trusted environment where Fellows can engage deeply, wrestle honestly with complexity, and build lasting confidence.
Who We Serve
The Fellowship is designed for emerging leaders under 30:
- Undergraduate and graduate students
- Young professionals
- Lay leaders engaged in campus, community, and professional settings
Participants come from diverse backgrounds and perspectives, but share a commitment to gaining authentic understanding and becoming constructive leaders in their communities.
Our Goals
The Fellowship equips students to become Ambassadors of Change: leaders who can confidently bridge divides and create dialogue rooted in fact, context, and empathy.
We aim to:
- Educate through authentic, apolitical, intelligence-based learning about the Middle East
- Equip Fellows with tools, resources, and frameworks to deepen their understanding
- Empower participants to bring knowledge back to their campuses and communities, inspiring constructive dialogue and building trust across divides
The Fellowship Experience
- Weekly Live Zoom Sessions: Led by Avi and regional experts, with real-time interaction
- Exclusive Resources: Access to ITME’s glossary, slide decks, curated tools, and digital portal
- Mentorship: Direct engagement with Avi and ITME’s educator network
- Capstone Retreat: A culminating in-person experience for Fellows to connect, reflect, and present projects
- Alumni Network: Ongoing connection, opportunities, and leadership development
The Impact
Graduates of the Fellowship emerge as resilient young leaders who can:
- Hold Israel as a unifying part of their identity, not a source of division
- Lead nuanced and inclusive conversations in polarized spaces
- Bridge divides on campus and beyond
- Bring authentic Middle Eastern voices into Western discourse
The program doesn’t end when it ends. Fellows join a growing international alumni network, a leadership pipeline for ITME’s broader initiatives and for the next generation of Jewish and global leadership.
Why It Matters
For funders, the Fellowship is the engine of ITME’s impact: a replicable, scalable model that cultivates the leaders the Jewish world and its allies urgently need.
For candidates, it’s a chance to join a once-in-a-lifetime educational experience that is immersive, apolitical, and transformative.
For the broader public, it is a model of what’s possible when education replaces advocacy, when authentic voices are elevated, and when critical thinking becomes the foundation for dialogue.
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