gendelman was born in israel in 1971. he graduated from the ha-reali ha-ivri high school in haifa in 1989, majoring in arabic and islam and joined the israeli defense forces, upon graduation and remaining in the service until 1994. in 1997 gendelman received a dual bachelor's degree in international relations and in middle eastern studies from the hebrew university of jerusalem and in 2000 he received a master's degree in strategic studies from tel aviv university. he later received another master's degree in business administration from bar ilan university in 2010.