Lee Perlman is the Executive Director in Israel of the America-Israel Cultural Foundation. Manhattan born and bred, Lee has lived in Israel since 1982. Ha'aretz newspaper named him in 2013 as one of "Israeli Culture's 100 Most Influential Figures". He received his Ph.D. on Israeli theater from Tel Aviv University. Lee is a research fellow on Israeli culture at the Tami Steinmetz Center for Peace Research at Tel Aviv University.