Endowed lectureships also bring leading foreign scholars and policy makers to the Center, where they lecture on subjects ranging from classical Islam to the contemporary Middle East. The Moshe Dayan Center has a particular commitment to the study of contemporary Turkey and the promotion of Israeli-Turkish academic ties. In 1999, the Center inaugurated the Suleyman Demirel Program for Contemporary Turkish Studies. The new program is a partnership between the Center and the Council of Higher Education of the Republic of Turkey , which has provided a permanent endowment. The Middle East Forum is a meeting place for distinguished figures from academe, government, business, diplomacy, and the military, who share an interest in Middle Eastern affairs.
Membership is by invitation.
The Forum meets approximately once a month, over lunch, to hear a presentation and deliberate on a topical issue. Speakers have included government ministers, leading Israeli and foreign diplomats, and visiting dignitaries. Discussion takes place in a frank and open atmosphere, and is not for attribution. They also lecture off-campus, appear in the media, and serve as a resource for Israeli officials and the foreign diplomatic community based in Tel Aviv. Several Center members have held major ambassadorial posts abroad.