Ted Lapkin

Ted Lapkin is a prolific commentator on politics and public affairs whose work has appeared on the opinion pages of leading newspapers in both Australia and the United States, including the Los Angeles Times, the Washington Times, the Australian, the Age, the Brisbane Courier-Mail, the Australian Financial Review and the Herald Sun. Ted has also written for Quadrant Magazine and the Institute for Policy Affairs Quarterly Review, and has appeared as a commentator on Radio National, as well as SBS and ABC Television.

He was born in the United States, and his family immigrated to Israel when he was 12. Ted grew up in Israel, and served in the Israeli army as a combat intelligence officer, seeing combat in Lebanon during the 1980s and rising to the rank of captain.

After his discharge from active duty, Ted studied history at Tel Aviv University, graduating with first class honours Bachelors degree in 1991. He returned to the United States to pursue post-graduate studies, earning a Master of Government Administration degree from the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia in 1993.

Ted then worked as a political lobbyist for several years in Florida before moving to Washington to take a position as communications director for a senior member of the Republican leadership in the U.S. House of Representatives. His boss, Congressman Rick Lazio, ran against Hillary Clinton in the highly publicized US Senate race in 2000. After Lazio's defeat, Ted worked as a communications strategist for a large Washington-based trade association that lobbied on behalf of the chemical industry. He then met, and later married an Australian, moving to Melbourne in 2002.

Author's website: Australia/Israel and Jewish Affairs Council, AIJAC