Washington Institute for Near East Policy

Washington Institute for Near East Policy (WINEP) is a Washington-DC-based think tank and part of the so-called pro-Israel Lobby; WINEP was founded in 1985. WINEP was founded by AIPAC, and initially WINEP staff and offices overlapped; WINEP’s founding director was Martin Indyk, AIPAC’s former research director. While AIPAC sought to influence the US Congress directly, WINEP is seen as a means to influence US foreign policy, discussion of foreign policy in the media, to serve as a conduit to place its own personnel in key policy-making position, and to recruit important policymakers to its cause. WINEP’s means used to influence US foreign policy include the following:
 * 1) Write policy papers
 * 2) Host seminars/discussions – WINEP hosts or appears in most foreign policy discussions in Washington DC.
 * 3) To recruit academics, out-of-office/revolving door policymakers, and wannabe policymakers as fellows to the institute
 * 4) Influence US military staff by hosting military as “visiting Military Fellows”
 * 5) Place WINEP members in policymaking positions
 * 6) Issuing endless streams of press releases
 * 7) Provide pundits or commentators for the US or Western media.
 * 8) Provide forums where it engages in discussions on policy in the Middle East with similar-minded academics, journalists, and policymakers in the Middle East
 * 9) Create new foundations or forums to affect specific policy issues or aspects of regional politics WINEP/AIPAC seek to influence

Critical Assessment
MJ Rosenberg comments on WINEP:

 I was working at AIPAC and it was Steve Rosen who cleverly came up with the idea for an AIPAC controlled think-tank that would put forth the AIPAC line but in a way that would disguise its connections.

There was no question that WINEP was to be AIPAC's cutout. It was funded by AIPAC donors, staffed by AIPAC employees, and located one door away, down the hall, from AIPAC Headquarters (no more. It has its own digs). It would also hire all kinds of people not identified with Israel as a cover and would encourage them to write whatever they liked on matters not related to Israel. "Say what you want on Morocco, kid." But on Israel, never deviate more than a degree or two.

So why does it matter?

It matters because the media has totally fallen for this sleight of hand and WINEP spokespersons appear (especially on PBS) as if WINEP was not part of the Israel lobby.

2005

 * Matthew Levitt, director of the Terrorism Research Program at The Washington Institute for Near East Policy, has been named to lead the Treasury Department office responsible for intelligence in the fight against terror financing and financial crimes, the research organization announced today. Dr. Levitt assumes his new post as deputy assistant secretary of the Treasury for intelligence and analysis on November 14, 2005. In that capacity, he will head the Office of Intelligence and Analysis, which is part of the Office of Terrorism and Financial Intelligence.[WINEP press release]

2005

 * John P. Hannah, a research fellow and deputy director at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy, was named on October 31, 2005, by Vice President Dick Cheney to be his national security adviser. Hannah and David S. Addington, who will serve as Cheney's chief of staff, are replacements for I. Lewis Scooter Libby who was indicted October 28, 2005.


 * Hannah was sourced by the Washington Post as having said "during a recent meeting that the administration considers 2007 'the year of Iran'" and indicating "that a U.S. attack was a real possibility.

Principals, Directors and Staff: 2012

 * Washington Institute for Near East Policy: People (2007)
 * WINEP: Previous Principals and Research Staff

Affiliations

 * AIPAC -- parent organization
 * Fikra Forum -- project created by WINEP

Contact Details

 * The Washington Institute for Near East Policy
 * 1828 L Street, NW, Suite 1050
 * Washington, DC 20036
 * Phone: 202-452-0650
 * Website: www.washingtoninstitute.org

External Resources

 * Joel Beinin, Pro-Israel Hawks and the Second Gulf War, 6 April 2003. (Joel Beinin, a contributing editor of Middle East Report (MERIP), is a professor of Middle East history at Stanford University.)
 * PowerBase: WINEP profile
 * Rightweb WINEP profile

Related SourceWatch

 * Former Trustee, Orna Shulman
 * Richard L. Plepler - Trustee
 * Alexander Haig, former Board member
 * Paul Wolfowitz, former Deputy Secretary of Defense - former Board member