Between 1992 and 1996, Rabinovich served as Israel’s ambassador to the United States and as chief negotiator with Syria while on leave from Tel Aviv University. Rabinovich is currently chairman of the board of the Dan David Foundation, vice chairman of the board of the Institute of National Security Studies, chairman of the advisory board of the Wexner-Israel Program, a member of the Trilateral Commission, and a member of the International Advisory Board of the Brookings Institution. He has recently joined the International Advisory Council of APCO Worldwide. Rabinovich has held visiting appointments in several academic institutions and is also the Charles Bronfman distinguished nonresident senior fellow at the Center for Middle East Policy at the Brookings Institution.

Rabinovich is the author of numerous books and other academic works. His most recent book is The View from Damascus: State, Political Community and Foreign Relations in Twentieth-Century Syria (2008). Rabinovich is a member of the American Philosophical Society and the U.S. Academy of Arts and Sciences, and has been awarded the Honorary Grand Golden Cross of the Austrian Republic. He holds a B.A. from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, an M.A. from Tel Aviv University, and a Ph.D. from the University of California, Los Angeles.