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The Middle East Forum at 30:

Shaping the Next Three Decades

Policy Conference in Washington, D.C.

May 13-15, 2024

The Path to Israel Victory:

Triumphs and Challenges as War Rages in Gaza

As Israel confronts an unprecedented multi-front war, the Israel Victory paradigm offers a bold new strategy for defeating Palestinian rejectionism. This panel will explore the political, military, and diplomatic imperatives for achieving a decisive Israeli victory over Hamas.

The Middle East Forum's Israel Victory Project contends that the path to genuine peace lies not in managing the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, but in resolving it through a decisive Israeli victory. For too long, the prevailing paradigm has been one of conflict management, incremental concessions, and temporary ceasefires. The current war in Gaza starkly demonstrates the failure of this approach.

This panel will bring together experts to discuss the strategic and tactical adaptations Israel must undertake to secure a decisive victory and establish a more stable regional order. They will examine the lessons of the October 7, 2023 attack and the ongoing campaign in Gaza.

Panelists will explore the key tenets of the Israel Victory paradigm, including:

The necessity of defeating Hamas militarily and dismantling its governance in Gaza

The demilitarization of Gaza and the establishment of Israeli security control

Confronting the Palestinian Authority's "lawfare" strategy and its efforts to undermine Israel's legitimacy

Overcoming the Palestinian rejectionist narrative and fostering a genuine acceptance of Israel's permanence

The Israel Victory Project offers a unique and provocative perspective on the conflict, challenging conventional wisdom and advocating for a fundamental shift in strategy. This panel promises to be a compelling and thought-provoking discussion, one that will offer valuable insights into the future of Israel and the Middle East.

Don't miss this opportunity to engage with leading experts and explore the Israel Victory paradigm at this critical juncture in the region's history. Register now for the Middle East Forum's annual conference May 13-15, 2024 in Washington, D.C.

Alberto M. Fernandez is Vice President of the Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI), a position he held from 2015 to 2017. He previously served as President of Middle East Broadcasting Networks (MBN), a US government-funded Arabic-language broadcast, online and radio news organization, from 2017 to 2020. Prior to joining MEMRI, Ambassador Fernandez was a career U.S. Foreign Service Officer from 1983 to 2015.

Gregg Roman is the director and chief operations officer of the Middle East Forum. Prior to joining MEF in 2015, he was the director of the Community Relations Council of the Jewish Federation of Greater Pittsburgh. In 2014, he was named one of the ten most inspiring global Jewish leaders by the Jewish Telegraphic Agency. He previously served as the political advisor to the deputy foreign minister of Israel and worked for the Israeli Ministry of Defense. Mr. Roman speaks at venues around the world about the Middle East and is frequently interviewed on international television channels, including Fox News, i24NEWS, Al-Jazeera, BBC World News, and Israel’s channel 12 and 13. He is a guest opinion contributor at The Hill and has been published in Newsweek, the Los Angeles Times, the Miami Herald, and the Jerusalem Post. He attended American University in Washington, D.C., and the Interdisciplinary Center (IDC) in Herzliya, Israel, where he studied national security studies and political communications.

Boris Zilberman serves as Director of Public Policy and Strategy for the CUFI Action Fund where he focuses on the organization’s governmental outreach, policy development, and political operations. He previously served as Deputy Director of Congressional Relations at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies (FDD) where he worked on a range of issues encompassing foreign affairs, defense, and cyber-enabled economic warfare. As part of FDD’s Center on Economic and Financial Power, he focused on the evolving financial and strategic developments in the U.S.-Russia relationship. Prior to joining FDD, Zilberman spent five years working as Manager of Defense Programs in the Policy and Government Affairs Department at the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC). Zilberman holds an M.A. in Global Security Studies from Johns Hopkins University and a B.A. in Political Science from The University of Alabama. He is fluent in Russian.

More speakers will be announced next week.

Special thanks to our host committee

Pat and Richard Irving, Committee Chairs

Talia and Ron Carner

Mr. Michael P. Levy, Chair of NextGen Outreach

Judith Friedman and Stuart Rosen

Dr. and Mrs. George Violin

For inquiries, please email Events@meforum.org or call 215-546-5406 ext. 113

Please register by May 8, 2024,

hotel rooms are limited

Conference location and hotel information will be provided upon registration