Yigal Carmon is an Israeli counterterrorism expert, orientalist, translator, and former Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) officer, who served for 22 years in military intelligence, rising to the rank of colonel in Aman, the Israeli military intelligence directorate. Born in Romania on January 1, 1946, he immigrated to Israel with his family at the age of four. During his military career from 1968 to 1988, Carmon held key positions including Acting Head of the Civil Administration in the West Bank and Gaza, Advisor on Arab Affairs, and Counter-Terrorism Advisor at the Office of the Prime Minister under Yitzhak Shamir. Following his military service, he continued as a counterterrorism adviser to Israeli Prime Ministers Yitzhak Shamir and Yitzhak Rabin, as well as advising Shimon Peres and Benjamin Netanyahu on counterterrorism and Palestinian affairs, contributing to national security strategies amid the First Intifada and peace process negotiations. He maintains deep ties to Israeli intelligence.

Carmon co-founded and serves as president of the Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI), a Washington, D.C.-based nonprofit established in 1997 alongside American analyst Daniel Pipes. MEMRI monitors, translates, and analyzes Arabic and Persian media—including publications, radio, television broadcasts, and religious sermons—translating them into multiple languages for global dissemination. The organization focuses on monitoring Islamist media to highlight security threats and extremist rhetoric, particularly terrorism and anti-Semitism, aiming to bridge informational gaps for Western audiences. MEMRI has influenced Western perceptions and policy discussions, with Carmon testifying before the U.S. House of Representatives and collaborating with figures like R. James Woolsey. The institute receives funding from sources such as the Donors Capital Fund and Nina Rosenwald and reportedly has ties to U.S. intelligence clients, including the CIA, with suspected but unconfirmed connections to Mossad.

Carmon holds a degree in Oriental Studies from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and is fluent in Arabic, which supports his expertise. He has appeared as a media commentator on outlets such as Fox News and C-SPAN. While MEMRI has faced criticism from figures like Hanan Ashrawi and Norman Finkelstein for alleged selective translation and potential bias—accused of promoting an anti-Arab or pro-Israel agenda through cherry-picked content—Carmon asserts that the institute's mission is to provide unfiltered access to primary sources and objective reporting on radical ideologies. Although no major legal controversies or personal scandals are publicly documented, Carmon’s military roles in occupied territories and MEMRI's activities have drawn scrutiny from critics of Israeli policies and raised debates about media influence and foreign policy advocacy.