Dan is a Major (res.) in the IDF who served as a foreign policy and national security analyst in the IDF General Staff and as commander in an elite intelligence unit of AMAN's Research and Analysis Division. He is a fellow at the Jewish People Policy Institute, a leading think-tank on issues of importance to Israel and the Jewish people, where he researches religious pluralism and Jewish identity in Israel, and Israel–Diaspora relations. He is the author of Rising Streams: Reform and Conservative Judaism in Israel, and publishes and speaks widely. Dan holds a BA in International Politics and Middle East Studies (American University) and an MA in National Security Studies (Tel Aviv University).