Matthew Levitt
Dr. Matthew Levitt is the Fromer-Wexler Fellow at The Washington Institute for Near East Policy where he directs the Institute's Reinhard 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, including work on the Millennial and September 11th plots. He also served as a State Department counterterrorism advisor to Gen James L. Jones, the special envoy for Middle East regional security.
Levitt teaches at Georgetown University’s School of Foreign Service and the Center for Jewish Civilization and has previously taught at Johns Hopkins University's Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced International Studies. He is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations and sits on the advisory boards of several think tanks around the world. Widely published, Levitt is the author of Hezbollah: The Global Footprint of Lebanon’s Party of God (Georgetown, 2013 & 2024) and Hamas: Politics, Charity and Terrorism in the Service of Jihad (Yale, 2006). Levitt hosts the podcast Breaking Hezbollah’s Golden Rule and created open access, interactive maps of Lebanese Hezbollah worldwide activities and Iranian external operations
Loay Alshareef
Loay Alshareef is a linguist and educator based in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, with a profound passion for modern and ancient Semitic languages, particularly Arabic, Hebrew, and Syriac.
Born and raised in Saudi Arabia with a religious Muslim background, Loay was initially exposed to negative views about Jews and Israel, but his perspective began to shift during his studies in France, where he lived with a Jewish host family.
This experience challenged and ultimately transformed his views, inspiring him to actively counter antisemitic disinformation and support initiatives like the Abraham Accords.
Since 2012, Loay has been creating and producing educational content on YouTube, focusing on language, history, and cultural understanding. He aims to leverage his deep knowledge of Judeo-Arabic heritage to foster better relations between Arabs and Jews, contributing to a future of mutual respect and cooperation. Loay holds a Master’s degree in Software Engineering from Penn State.
Einat Wilf
Dr. Einat Wilf is a leading thinker on Israel, Zionism, foreign policy and education. She was a member of the Israeli Parliament from 2010 to 2013, where she served as Chair of the Education Committee and Member of the influential Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee.
Born and raised in Israel, Dr. Wilf served as an Intelligence Officer in the Israel Defense Forces, Foreign Policy Advisor to Vice Prime Minister Shimon Peres and a strategic consultant with McKinsey & Company. Dr. Wilf has a BA from Harvard, an MBA from INSEAD in France, and a PhD in Political Science from the University of Cambridge. She was the Goldman Visiting Professor at Georgetown University.
Dr. Wilf is the author of seven books that explore key issues in Israeli society. "We Should All Be Zionists", published in 2022, brings together her essays from the past four years on Israel, Zionism and the path to peace; the co-authored “The War of Return: How Western Indulgence of the Palestinian Dream Has Obstructed the Path to Peace”, was published in 2020.
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Amos Yadlin
General Yadlin is the president and founder of MIND Israel, an action-oriented strategic consulting team advising Israeli leadership and entities involved in Israel’s security.
General Yadlin is the former Executive Director of the Institute for National Security Studies (INSS). Prior to that, he served for more than 40 years in the Israel Defense Forces (IDF), including 10 as a member of its General Staff. He served as a fighter pilot for 33 years, ultimately becoming Deputy Commander of the Israeli Air Force. He then earned the rank of Major General, served as a commander of the IDF Military Colleges and the National Defense College, Defense Attaché to the United States, and Chief of the Military Intelligence Directorate. In his last military position, General Yadlin was the Head of Israel's Defense Intelligence.
As a fighter pilot, General Yadlin conducted over 250 combat missions behind enemy lines, accumulating over 5,000 flight hours on various combat jets. Among his many missions, General Yadlin fought in the Yom Kippur War (1973), Operation Peace for Galilee (1982) and filled a crucial role in Operation Tamuz: the destruction of the Iraqi nuclear reactor “Osirak” (1981).
General Yadlin holds a master’s degree in public administration from the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University, and a B.A. in economics and business administration from Ben-Gurion University of the Negev.
Ayaan Hirsi Ali
Ayaan Hirsi Ali is a Fellow at the Hoover Institution at Stanford University, the Founder of the AHA Foundation, a Senior Fellow with the Future of Diplomacy Project at the Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs at The Harvard Kennedy School, a member of the Council on Foreign Relations, and the Founder of Courage Media. She is the best-selling author of Infidel (2007) and Heretic: Why Islam Needs a Reformation Now (2015).
Hirsi Ali was born in Mogadishu, Somalia in 1969. As she grew up, she embraced Islam and strove to live as a devout Muslim. In 1992 Hirsi Ali fled to the Netherlands to escape a forced marriage. There she was given asylum, and in time citizenship. She quickly learned Dutch and was able to study at the University of Leiden.
From 2003 to 2006, Hirsi Ali served as an elected member of the Dutch parliament. She then moved to the US, and in 2007 founded the AHA Foundation to protect and defend the rights of women in the US from harmful traditional practices.
Douglas Murray
Bestselling author and journalist Douglas Murray has dedicated much of the past few years to reporting from the frontlines in Ukraine and Gaza. His indepth coverage of the harrowing conditions in these war- torn areas has ofered a crucial perspective to audiences across the globe.
In an expansive conversation, Murray shares his frsthand experiences and observations from these confict zones, providing a vivid account of the human sufering — and strength — he has witnessed. He discusses the strategic and moral imperatives for the West to secure victories in both wars, highlighting the broader implications for global stability and democracy.
Douglas Murray is a bestselling author, journalist, and one of the most popular conservative political commentators in the world.
His latest book, On Democracies and Death Cults: Israel and the Future of Civilization (2025), drawing from intensive on-the-ground reporting in Israel, Gaza, and Lebanon, Murray presents a compelling case that places the latest violence in its proper historical context. He takes readers on a harrowing journey through the aftermath of the October 7 massacre, piecing together the exclusive accounts from victims, survivors, and even the terrorists responsible for the atrocities.