Merav Kaplan

Merav Kaplan is an M.Phil. student at the RAND School of Public Policy and an assistant policy researcher at RAND focusing on AI policy, macroeconomic resilience, and global risks. She was previously chief of staff and senior advisor to the chief economist at the Israeli Ministry of Finance (MoF), where she oversaw research and forecasting, tax policy, and international economic relations. In this capacity, she coordinated strategic initiatives in both local and international settings, engaged in a broad portfolio of economic reforms and analysis, and led high-level decisionmaking processes. During her tenure, she contributed to shaping macroeconomic policies in response to major national crises, including the COVID-19 pandemic and the recent conflict in the Middle East. In earlier roles at the MoF she led and contributed to key economic policy reforms, including a cross-sector project on a comprehensive roadmap for crypto-assets regulations and engaged in pension policy and broader economic challenges during the pandemic.

She also worked at the Israeli Ministry of Health, where she formulated payer-provider incentives to improve healthcare outcomes and reduce market distortions. As a research analyst at the Myers-JDC-Brookdale Institute she focused on healthcare financing for primary care and contributed to developing a model for refining hospitals' activity-based payments based on patient complexity.  

Kaplan holds an M.A. in public policy and administration and a B.A. summa cum laude in philosophy, politics, and economics (PPE) from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. Her master's dissertation explored the intersection of Bayesian decision theory, health policy, and epistemology.