Skip links
Login

HE

Author: Schweitzer, Yoram

author

Senior Research Fellow, INSS, Israel An expert on international terrorism and head of the INSS Program on Terrorism and Low Intensity Conflict, has been a researcher at the Institute for National Security Studies (INSS), which incorporated the Jaffee Center for Strategic Studies (JCSS), since February 2003, following a distinguished career in the Israeli intelligence community as well as in the academic world. Among other positions, he served as a consultant on counter-terror strategies to the prime minister's office and the Ministry of Defense, Head of the Counter International Terror Section in the IDF, and a member in a Task Force dealing with Israeli MIAs at the Prime Minister's Office. Mr. Schweitzer was a researcher and head of Educational Curriculum at the International Policy Institute for Counter Terrorism (ICT) at the Inter Disciplinary Center in Herzliya. Schweitzer has lectured and published widely on terror-related issues, and serves as a consultant for government ministries on a private basis. His areas of expertise include al-Qaeda and its affiliates – also known as the "Afghan alumni phenomenon," suicide terrorism, and state-sponsored terrorism. Among his publications are The Globalization ofTerror: The Challenge of Al - Qaida and the Response of theInternational Community (co authored with Shaul Shay, 2003) and Al-Qaeda and the Internationalization of Suicide Terrorism (with Sari Goldsetin Ferber, 2005), and he is the editor of Female Suicide Bombers: Dying for Equality? (2006). Schweitzer's current research involves extensive meetings with failed suicide terrorists and their operators in an effort to analyze their motivations and objectives. Schweitzer holds an MA in military and diplomatic history from Tel Aviv University. For a full list of professional activiies, see Labat Terrorism.

Osama Bin Ladin: Wealth plus Extremism Equals Terrorism

Bin Ladin, a Saudi millionaire and veteran of the Afghan war of 79-89, came to see that conflict in the light of “Muslim believers vs. heretics.” In his view, the term, “heretics” embraces the “pragmatic” Arab regimes (including his homeland, Saudi Arabia), and the United

Abu Nidal – The Sooner the Better

Recent reports concerning the reappearance in an Egyptian hospital of Sabri el-Bana–better known by his trade name, “Abu-Nidal”–has once more brought into the spotlight the matter of the many terrorist leaders still walking around free. It would seem that this time Abu Nidal may not

Iranian Transnational Terrorism

The recent State Department Report on International Terrorism (issued on 30 April), together with the Turkish “non paper,” showing Iran’s involvement in terrorist actions in Turkey, provided yet another proof that Iran qualifies for the dubious title of the world’s leading “terror-sponsoring state.”

Iran – Terror by Proxy

The capture of the “Karine A,” a vessel loaded with more than 50 tons of high quality arms and explosives has not only shed light on the strategic aims of the Palestinian Authority, but also on those of Iran. What is known about the arms