Matthew Levitt

Matthew Levitt is an American political scientist. He is an expert in Hamas.^[1][2][3][4]

Biography

He serves as the Fromer-Wexler Fellow and director of the Jeanette and Eli Reinhard Program on Counterterrorism and Intelligence at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy and an adjunct professor in Georgetown University's Center for Security Studies (CSS). From 2005 to early 2007 he was a deputy assistant secretary for intelligence and analysis at the U.S. Department of the Treasury. In that capacity, he served both as a senior official within the department's terrorism and financial intelligence branch and as deputy chief of the Office of Intelligence and Analysis. From 2001 to 2005, Levitt served the Institute as founding director of its Terrorism Research Program (now renamed as above), which was established in the wake of the September 11 attacks. Previously, he provided tactical and strategic analytical support for counter-terrorism operations at the FBI, focusing on fundraising and logistical support networks for Middle Eastern terrorist groups. During his FBI service, Levitt participated as a team member in a number of crisis situations, including the terrorist threat surrounding the turn of the millennium and the September 11 attacks.^[5]

Levitt has also lectured on international terrorism on behalf of the Departments of State, Justice, Defense, and Homeland Security, consulted for various U.S. government agencies and private industry, and testified before the Senate and House on matters relating to international terrorism. He is a term member of the Council on Foreign Relations, a member of the international advisory board for both the Institute for Counter-terrorism in Israel and the International Centre for Political Violence & Terrorism Research in Singapore, and a CTC fellow with the Combating Terrorism Center (CTC) at the U.S. Military Academy (West Point). He serves on the advisory board of Foundation for Defense of Democracies' Center on Sanctions and Illicit Finance (CSIF) and formerly served on the academic advisory board for the Emirati Center for Strategic Studies and Research (ECSSR). Levitt was a graduate research fellow at Harvard Law School's Program on Negotiation and previously taught at Johns Hopkins University's Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS) and Zanvyl Krieger School of Arts and Sciences.^[5]

Levitt received his B.A. from Yeshiva University and his M.A. and Ph.D. from The Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University. He attended high school at the Maimonides School.^{[citation needed]}

Levitt has written extensively on terrorism, countering violent extremism, illicit finance and sanctions, the Middle East, and Arab-Israeli peace negotiations, with articles appearing in peer-reviewed journals, policy magazines, and the press, including the Wall Street Journal, Washington Post, Foreign Affairs, Foreign Policy, and numerous other publications. He is also a frequent guest on the national and international media, and the author of several books and monographs.

Levitt was an expert witness during eight trials against terrorism suspects between 2004 and 2008, including the 2005 trial of Mohammed Ali Hassan Al-Moayad, Sami Al-Arian, and the Holy Land Foundation.^[4][6]

Books

• Hezbollah: The Global Footprint of Lebanon's Party of God (Georgetown University Press, 2013)^[7]
• Hamas: Politics, Charity, and Terrorism in the Service of Jihad (Yale University Press, 2006)^[8]
• Targeting Terror: U.S. Policy toward Middle Eastern State Sponsors and Terrorist Organizations, Post-September 11 (Washington Institute for Near East Policy, 2002)^[9]
• Negotiating Under Fire: Preserving Peace Talks in the Face of Terror Attacks (Lanham: Rowman & Littlefield, 2008)^[10]

References

1. Burke, Jason (2024-01-30). "Hamas regroups in northern Gaza to prepare new offensive". The Guardian. Retrieved 10 June 2024.
2. "The world's never seen a mass kidnapping quite like this. Here's how the Israel-Gaza hostage crisis could play out". Australian Broadcasting Corporation. 2023-10-13. Retrieved 10 June 2024.
3. "Hamas official tells umbrella Hamas-funding group they are 'room full of terrorists'". Jerusalem Post. 2014-08-19. Retrieved 10 June 2024.
4. Bartosiewicz, Peter (2008-02-04). "Experts in Terror". The Nation. Retrieved 10 June 2024.
5. "Matthew Levitt". Experts. Washington Institute. Retrieved 2024-05-29.
6. Peled, Miko (2018) Injustice. The Story of the Holy Land Foundation Five. Just World Books. ISBN 978-1-68257-085-2. pp.117-121
7. Matthew Levitt (2013). Hezbollah: The Global Footprint of Lebanon's Party of God. Hurst Publishers. ISBN 978-1-84904-333-5. Reviews:

   • Ilan Berman, Middle East Quarterly, ProQuest 1641986833
   • Daniel Byman, Studies in Conflict & Terrorism, doi:10.1080/1057610X.2013.823765
   • Michael Clark, Cambridge Review of International Affairs, doi:10.1080/09557571.2015.1029270
   • Thomas F. Lynch III, Prism, JSTOR 26470386
   • Richard Phelps, Terrorism and Political Violence, doi:10.1080/09546553.2014.881673
   • Mark Roberts, Journal of Strategic Security, JSTOR 26466754
   • Joshua Sinai, Perspectives on Terrorism, JSTOR 26297049
   • Michael J. Totten, The Wall Street Journal,
   • John Waterbury, Foreign Affairs, JSTOR 23526991
   • Ido Zelkovitz, Middle Eastern Studies, JSTOR 24585708
8. Matthew Levitt (1 October 2008). Hamas: Politics, Charity, and Terrorism in the Service of Jihad. Yale University Press. ISBN 978-0-300-12901-4. Reviews:

   • Khaled Hroub, Journal of Palestine Studies, doi:10.1525/jps.2006.35.4.73
   • Laleh Khalili, International Affairs, JSTOR 4541789
   • Sara Roy, Middle East Policy, ProQuest 203676297
   • Lawrence Rubin, Terrorism and Political Violence, doi:10.1080/09546550601141555
   • Dorothée Schmid, Politique étrangère, JSTOR 42716606
   • Anders Strindberg, H-Net,
   • SaraJane Tompkins, Domes: Digest of Middle East Studies, doi:10.1111/j.1949-3606.2008.tb00165.x
   • Publishers Weekly,
9. Matthew Levitt (2002). Targeting Terror: U.S. Policy Toward Middle Eastern State Sponsors and Terrorist Organizations, Post-September 11. Washington Institute for Near East Policy. ISBN 978-0-944029-81-7. Review:

   • Rita Katz, Middle East Quarterly,
10. Matthew Levitt (28 August 2008). Negotiating Under Fire: Preserving Peace Talks in the Face of Terror Attacks. Rowman & Littlefield Publishers. ISBN 978-0-7425-6566-1. Review:

    • Asher Kaufman, Middle East Journal, JSTOR 25482641

External links

• Appearances on C-SPAN