Gregg Roman

Expert Topics:

Israel
Warfare
Counter Terrorism
Determined Fighter for the State of Israel and Jews Everywhere

Gregg Roman

Director - Middle East Forum | Political Commentator | Former Political Advisor to the Deputy Foreign Minister of Israel

Director of the Middle East Forum
Worked in Israel’s Defense and Foreign Ministries as well as at the Interdisciplinary Center (in Herzliya, Israel)
Former Research Director on Information Warfare and Cyber-Terrorism
Served as director of the Community Relations Council of the Jewish Federation of Greater Pittsburgh.
In 2014 named one of the ten most inspiring global Jewish leaders by the Jewish Telegraphic Agency.
Served as the political advisor to the deputy foreign minister of Israel and worked for the Israeli Ministry of Defense.
Frequent speaker at venues around the world, often appears on television, and has written for the Hill, the Forward, the Albany Times-Union, and other publications.
Attended American University in Washington, D.C., and the Interdisciplinary Center (IDC) in Herzliya, Israel, where he studied national security studies and political communications.

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Bio

Gregg Roman has been the director of the Philadelphia-based Middle East Forum since 2015. His work with the organization includes management of all aspects of its day-to-day communications and financial strategies. Gregg Roman’s writing has appeared in publications that include Newsweek, The Jerusalem Post, The Times of Israel, Los Angeles Times, and the Miami Herald.

Mr. Roman’s previous career includes distinguished service as political advisor to the State of Israel’s deputy foreign minister, as well as in a position with the Israeli Ministry of Defense. He additionally served for almost three years as director of the Community Relations Council of the Jewish Federation of Greater Pittsburgh.

In 2014, the Jewish Telegraphic Agency (JTA) named Gregg Roman one of the 10 “Jews Who Inspired Us” that year. JTA selected Mr. Roman for this honor due to his untiring race against time, while director of the Jewish Federation of Greater Pittsburgh’s CRC, to remove internet references to the Jewish identity of American-Israeli journalist Steven Sotloff. Sotloff was being held captive by the militant group ISIS operating in Iraq and Syria.

Tragically, ISIS ultimately murdered Sotloff. However, Gregg Roman’s dogged battle to save the journalist’s life drew widespread attention for upholding the Jewish maxim that to save one life is to save an entire world.

Mr. Roman’s additional ongoing work in the Jewish community includes service on the board of directors of the Pennsylvania Jewish Coalition and on the technology and fundraising committees of the Jewish Council for Public Affairs. From 2011 to 2012, he served on the development team that established the Lone Soldier Center in Memory of Michael Levin, a Philadelphia native who fought and died as a member of the Israel Defense Forces.

Gregg Roman worked on a BA from American University in Washington, DC. He went on to study political communication and national security issues at the Interdisciplinary Center in Herzliya, Israel.

About The Middle East Forum

The Middle East Forum, a Philadelphia-based think tank, founded in 1994 by Daniel Pipes, promotes American interests in the Middle East and protects Western values from Middle Eastern threats.

In the Middle East, we focus on ways to defeat radical Islam; work for Palestinian acceptance of Israel; develop strategies to contain Iran; and deal with advancing anarchy. Domestically, the Forum emphasizes the danger of lawful Islamism; protects the freedoms of anti-Islamist authors and activists; and works to improve Middle East studies.

Videos

Projects

The Washington Project

The Washington Project works to translate the Forum’s ideas into U.S. policy. It identifies American interests toward the Middle East, Israel and Islamism, and influences policy-makers through intensive educational efforts in the capital.

The Washington Project promotes the Forum’s agenda on the Hill, with the Trump administration, and among opinion-leaders. The project currently focuses on reforming UNRWA by re-defining a “Palestine refugee”; designating the Muslim Brotherhood as a terrorist organization; and finding support for an Israel victory over the Palestinians.

Directed by Clifford Smith, a former Hill staffer and campaign operative, and supported by two government relations specialists, the Washington Project is supervised by Forum president Daniel Pipes, a Middle East scholar who has served in five presidential administrations, and Forum director Gregg Roman, a former Israeli government official.

Washington Project Agenda

Redefining “Palestinian Refugee.” Background: The United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) perpetuates the Arab-Israel conflict through its indiscriminate practice of granting refugee status to Palestinians. Under UNRWA’s unique definition of refugees that includes unlimited descendants of refugees, it counts nearly 6 million Palestinian refugees, whereas U.S. law and policy count around 30,000.The Washington Project supports: (1) survival of language in the State and Foreign Operations Appropriations Bill report forcing the State Department to justify UNRWA’s practice of Palestinian refugee proliferation and its ruinous impact on Middle East peace; and (2) forcing the State Department to declassify the number of Palestinian “refugees” supported by U.S. aid, and how many were actually displaced in 1948-49, both as required by the Kirk amendment.
Preventing Muslim Brotherhood (MB) Infiltration. Background: The UKrecently issued a scathing indictment of the MB, while the UAE has declared it, and its American satellite CAIR, terrorist organizations. We are working with Forum fellow and Egyptian Liberal Party founder Cynthia Farahat to educate policymakers on the need for the U.S. to take similar action.The Washington Project supports three bills: (a) the Muslim Brotherhood Terrorist Designation Act (S.68 and H.R.377 ; (b) the Naming the Enemy Within Homeland Security Act (H.R.5823), prohibiting the DHS from funding or collaborating with organizations or individuals associated with the Muslim Brotherhood; and (c) the Religious FIRE Act (H.R.5824), prohibiting foreignersfrom countries that do not respect religious liberties from funding religious activities in the United States.
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Articles

Gregg Roman’s writing has appeared in publications that include Newsweek, The Jerusalem Post, The Times of Israel, Los Angeles Times, and the Miami Herald.

Israeli and Palestinian Researchers Strive to Work — Beyond Barriers