The SMU Tower Center would like to invite you to a Middle East Lecture: Israeli Elections: A New Era, or Just a New Label?

Date: Thursday, November 18, 2026

Time: 12:00 – 1:30 p.m.

11:30 a.m. – 12:00 p.m. Registration and Lunch

12:00 p.m. – 12:15 p.m. Welcome remarks

12:15 p.m. – 01:30 p.m. Event

Location: HT Chamber, Ground Floor, Hughes-Trigg Student Center, 3140 Dyer St., Dallas, TX  75205​

The event is free and open to the public. Registration is required and the seats are first come, first served. Please click below for registration.

Featuring:

Dr. Michael Koplow is the chief policy officer of Israel Policy Forum and a senior research fellow at the Shalom Hartman Institute of North America. Before coming to Israel Policy Forum, he was the founding program director of the Israel Institute. He writes and speaks widely on U.S. policy in the Middle East, Israeli politics and foreign policy, and the American Jewish relationship with Israel. He holds a Ph.D. from Georgetown, a masters from Harvard, a JD from NYU, and is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations.

Discussant:

Dr. Matthew Wilson’s research focuses on public opinion, elections, representation, political psychology, and religion and politics, primarily in the United States, with comparative and international perspectives.  He is the author, co-author, or editor of three books and dozens of articles and essays, including publications in The American Journal of Political Science and The Journal of Politics.  His books include Understanding American Politics and Politics and Religion in the United States, and he is currently completing a project on religion and American attitudes toward Israel.  His teaching, research, and university citizenship have been honored with the Presidents Associates Distinguished Faculty Award and the Caren Prothro Faculty Service Award.   Professor Wilson is also a frequent public lecturer and media commentator on American politics and religion in public life.

Any person who requires a reasonable accommodation on the basis of a disability in order to participate in this program should contact the SMU Tower Center at tower@smu.edu in advance at least 4 days prior to the event to arrange for the accommodation.

Event Policy: For this event, bags larger than a small clutch, as well as banners and signs, are not permitted inside the auditorium and must be left outside the venue or in your vehicle.

Image note: The artwork was created specifically for this event and was inspired by Israel’s Central Elections Committee ballot boxes and the centers where they are prepared and distributed, in reference to the upcoming elections for the 26th Knesset on October 27, 2026.

SMU Tower Center | http://www.smu.edu/TowerCenter

Southern Methodist University (SMU)

3300 University Boulevard, Dallas, TX 75275-0117

214-768-3954  tower@smu.edu