The Middle East Forum (MEF) is a foreign policy think tank that promotes American interests in the Middle East. MEF intends to protect Western values from threats both foreign and domestic. ¹

Activities

The Middle East Forum intends to influence U.S. foreign policy through its projects, each of which focuses on a specific area. ² MEF’s projects include Campus Watch, which reviews and critiques Middle East studies in an effort to make improvements, especially as it relates to politicizing scholarship, intolerance of alternative views, and abuse of power over students; ³ Islamist Watch, which supports the idea that lawful Islamism is as much a threat as radical Islam; ⁴ the Legal Project, which protects freedom of speech for writers, researchers, and analysts who discuss radical Islam, terrorism, and terrorist funding; ⁵ the Washington Project, which advocates for policy change focused on reforming the UNRWA (United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East) definition of a “Palestine refugee,” vetting Muslim immigrants, and designating the Muslim Brotherhood as a terrorist organization; ⁶ and the Israel Victory Project, which seeks a resolution to the Israel-Arab conflict through Palestinian acceptance of the state of Israel. ⁷

The Middle East Forum’s Education Fund (MEFEF) was established in 2008 and disburses about $2 million annually to researchers, writers, anti-Islamist Muslims, investigators, and activists who are aligned with and promote the goals of MEF. MEFEF funds individuals and organizations in the U.S. and abroad, including the Algemeiner Journal, Committee for Accuracy in Middle East Reporting in America (CAMERA), the American Freedom Law Center, correspondent Patrick Poole, NGO Monitor, and the Australia/Israel and Jewish Affairs Council. ⁸

The Middle East Forum publishes the Middle East Quarterly (MEQ), a peer-reviewed publication that provides in-depth analysis of the ever-evolving situation in the Middle East. MEQ includes interviews, studies, commentary, interviews, and reviews of concerns in the Middle East, covering a broad range of topics from culture to economics to politics. ⁹ The Winter 2023 issue of MEQ features articles discussing the contradiction of politicians’ public and private speech, especially as it relates to the State of Israel, the lesser-known war between Israel and Iran, and Iran’s influence over Syrian society. ¹⁰

Funding

The Middle East Forum is funded by donations from individuals, foundations, and businesses. While MEF does not disclose its donors, tax filings confirm donations from DonorsTrust ($2.1 million in 2019), ¹¹ Donors Capital Fund ($2.1 million in 2016), ¹² and the Snider Foundation ($50,000 in 2017). ¹³

Board of Governors

Daniel Pipes is the founder and president of Middle East Forum and formerly worked as director of the Foreign Policy Research Institute. Pipes is a former fellow at the Hoover Institution, a former vice chair of the Fulbright Board of Foreign Scholarships, and formerly sat on the board of the U.S. Institute of Peace. ¹⁴

Joshua Katzen is the vice chair of MEF, publisher of Jewish News Syndicate, ¹⁵ and the president of Research + Evaluation = Promoting Organizational Responsibility and Transparency (REPORT). ¹⁶

Gregg Roman is the COO and secretary of the board of MEF. Roman formerly worked at the Jewish Federation of Greater Pittsburgh, the Israeli Ministry of Defense, and as political advisor to the deputy foreign minister of Israel. ¹⁷

William Comanor sits on the board of the American Antitrust Institute. ¹⁸

Brian Grodman sits on the Boston advisory council of the Committee for Accuracy in the Middle East (CAMERA) and Boston’s Jewish Community Relations Committee Council. They are member of the Jewish Leadership Project. Grodman formerly sat on the boards of NH4Israel and the Zionist Organization of America (ZOA) and on the executive committee of the Jewish Federation of New Hampshire. ¹⁹

Arthur Karafin sits on the board of trustees of the Jewish Federation of Greater Philadelphia. ²⁰

Adam Milstein is a cofounder of both the Adam and Gila Milstein Family Foundation and the Israeli-American Council. Milstein sits on the boards of StandWithUs, Stand by Me, and the Israel on Campus Coalition. ²¹

Howard Rosenbloom is president and executive director of the Ben and Esther Rosenbloom Foundation and a co-chair of the American Jewish International Relations Institute. Rosenbloom sits on the board of the Associated Jewish Federation of Baltimore and formerly sat on the board of the Institute for Islamic, Christian, and Jewish Studies. ²²

Other members of the board include board chair Scott Rosenblum, treasurer Lawrence Hollin, Marc Paul Blum, Nordahl Brue, Brian Decker, David E. Edman, Marc Epstein, Donald G. Ginsberg, Stanley D. Ginsburg, Gaye Slater Gross, Warren Grover, Robert Immerman, Georgette Joffe, Lawrence J. Kanter, Timothy Kapshandy, Joshua Landes, Joel Levine, Robert J. Levine, Peter B. Levy, Margo Spitz Marbut, Dror Nir, James Pollack, Adrienne Price, Rick Richman, Josiah Rotenberg, Milton S. Schneider, and Hilary Till. ²³

1. ^[1] “Home.” Middle East Forum, 2023. Accessed January 10, 2023. https://www.meforum.org/.
2. “Biographical Sketch of Daniel Pipes.” Daniel Pipes, December 2020. Accessed January 9, 2023. https://www.danielpipes.org/bios/.
3. “Campus Watch.” Middle East Forum, 2023. Accessed January 10, 2023. https://www.meforum.org/campus-watch/.
4. “Islamist Watch.” Middle East Forum, 2023. Accessed January 10, 2023. https://www.meforum.org/islamist-watch/.
5. “About the Legal Project.” Middle East Forum, 2023. Accessed January 10, 2023. https://www.legal-project.org/about.php.
6. “The Washington Project.” Middle East Forum, 2023. Accessed January 10, 2023. https://www.meforum.org/washington-project/
7. The Israel Victory Project.” Middle East Forum, 2023. Accessed January 10, 2023. https://www.meforum.org/israel-victory-project/.
8. “Middle East Forum Education Fund.” Middle East Forum, 2023. Accessed January 10, 2023. https://www.meforum.org/activities/education-fund.
9. “About the MEQ.” Middle East Forum, 2023. Accessed January 10, 2023. https://www.meforum.org/middle-east-quarterly/about-the-meq.
10. “Winter 2023 Volume 30: Number 1.” Middle East Forum, 2023. Accessed January 10, 2023. https://www.meforum.org/middle-east-quarterly/current-issue.
11. DonorTrust, Return of Organization Exempt from Income Tax (Form 990), 2019, Schedule I, Part II.
12. Donors Capital Fund, Return of Organization Exempt from Income Tax (Form 990), 2016, Schedule I, Part II.
13.  The Snider Foundation, Return of Private Foundation (Form 990-PF), 2017, Part XV, Line 3.
14. “Biographical Sketch of Daniel Pipes.” Daniel Pipes, December 2020. Accessed January 9, 2023. https://www.danielpipes.org/bios/.
15. “About JNS.” Jewish News Syndicate. Accessed January 9, 2023. https://www.jns.org/about/.
16. Research – Eval – Promoting Org Respon & Transparency – Report – Inc, Return of Organization Exempt from Income Tax (Form 990), 2020, Part VII, Section A, Line 1a.
17. “Staff Bios.” Middle East Forum, 2023. Accessed January 9, 2023. https://www.meforum.org/about/staff-bios.
18. “William S. Comanor.” American Antitrust Institute, 2023. Accessed January 9, 2023. https://www.antitrustinstitute.org/people/william-s-comanor/.
19. “Brian Grodman. Jewish Leadership Project, July 11, 2022. Accessed January 9, 2023. https://jewishleadershipproject.org/member/brian-grodman/.
20. “2022-2023 Jewish Federation Board of Trustees.” Jewish Federation of Greater Philadelphia. Accessed January 9, 2023. https://jewishphilly.wpenginepowered.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/2022-2023-BOT-Slate-as-of-10.4.2022-to-be-published.pdf.
21. “Home.” Adam Milstein, 2023. Accessed January 9, 2023. https://www.adammilstein.org/.
22. ^[1] “Howard Rosenbloom.” Hebrew at the Center. Accessed January 9, 2023. https://hebrewatthecenter.org/jet-popup/howard-rosenbloom/.
23. “Middle East Forum Board of Governors.” Middle East Forum, 2023. Accessed January 9, 2023. https://www.meforum.org/about/board-of-governors.