After the Gaza Conflict: Hamas’ Goals, Military Capabilities, and Financial Networks

Friday, November 14, 2014
11:00 am – 1:00 pm

Registration will begin at 10:45 am

Lunch will be served

Two months after the ceasefire between Israel and Hamas, what is known of Hamas’ military capabilities, tactics, and regional alliances? Where will the group’s monetary and military resources come from next? Will Hamas benefit from taking part in a revived unity government with the Palestinian Authority? What, if anything, can Washington do to prevent a resurgence of Hamas in the Middle East?

This event is open to government officials, Hill staff, foreign policy professionals, members of the diplomatic corps, the think tank and advocacy communities, and press.

Matthew Levitt is the Fromer-Wexler fellow and director of The Washington Institute’s Stein Program on Counterterrorism and Intelligence. Previously, Levitt served as deputy assistant secretary for intelligence and analysis at the U.S. Department of the Treasury and before that as an FBI counterterrorism analyst.  Levitt is the author of several books and monographs, including Hamas: Politics, Charity and Terrorist in the Service of Jihad (Yale 2006) and Hezbollah: The Global Footprint of Lebanon’s Party of God (Georgetown 2014).

Dan Moger is a former Assistant Director in Treasury’s Office of Terrorist Financing and Financial Crimes, where he led the Middle East and North Africa team in the development and execution of Treasury policy on Iran, Hezbollah, Hamas, elements of Al Qaeda, and illicit finance and sanctions issues across the region. Previously, Mr. Moger was the Treasury Attaché in Jerusalem, representing the Department on the full range of its financial, development and national security equities.

Jonathan Schanzer is the Vice President for Research at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies. He worked as a terrorism finance analyst at the U.S. Department of the Treasury, where he played an integral role in the designation of numerous terrorist financiers.  A former research fellow at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy, Dr. Schanzer has published numerous books, including State of Failure: Yasser Arafat, Mahmoud Abbas, and the Unmaking of the Palestinian State and Hamas vs. Fatah: The Struggle for Palestine. Dr. Schanzer has testified before Congress and publishes widely in the American and international media.

Samuel Tadros is a Senior Fellow at the Hudson Institute’s Center for Religious Freedom and a Contributor to the Hoover Institution’s Herbert and Jane Dwight Working Group on Islamism and the International Order. His current research focuses on Egyptian politics, Islamist movements, and the fate of religious minorities. He is the author of Motherland Lost: The Egyptian and Coptic Quest for Modernity and most recently Reflections on the Revolution in Egypt, both published by the Hoover Institution Press.  Mr. Tadros previously was a Professorial Lecturer at the Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS) at Johns Hopkins University. Born and raised in Egypt, he received an M.A. in democracy and governance from Georgetown University and a B.A. in political science from the American University in Cairo. Tadros’ articles have been published by the Wall Street Journal, National Review, Current Trends in Islamist Ideology, and the Weekly Standard.

Jeffrey White is a defense fellow at The Washington Institute, specializing in the military and security affairs of the Levant and Iran. Before joining the Institute, Mr. White completed a thirty-four-year career with the Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA). He was a member of the Defense Intelligence Senior Executive Service (DISES), and served in a wide variety of senior analytical and leadership positions, including: military capabilities analyst, current intelligence analyst, senior analyst for the Arab-Israeli confrontation states, chief of the Middle East current intelligence division, chief of the Office for Middle East/Africa Military Assessments, and chief of the Regional Military Assessments Group. In these capacities, Mr. White participated in operational and policy planning and wrote extensively for senior defense officials, including the Secretary of Defense and the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. Mr. White provided intelligence support during multiple Middle East crises, from the 1968 Arab-Israeli War of Attrition to the developing conflict with Iraq in 2002. From 1995 to 2000, Mr. White provided extensive intelligence support to both Israeli-Syrian and Israeli-PLO negotiations.

Rosie Gray, reporter for BuzzFeed, will serve as moderator.

Open Press Coverage – Video Cameras Will Be Restricted to Interviews Outside the Meeting Room

Kennedy Caucus Room | Russell Senate Office Building, Room 325