Washington Institute for Near East Policy

Founded in 1985 by Barbi Weinberg and Martin Indyk, the Washington Institute for Near East Policy grew out of research support for the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, though it has always maintained formal independence. Headquartered in Washington DC with a Jerusalem office, it employs a roster of in-house research fellows and visiting scholars, many of whom have served in senior State Department, National Security Council, and ambassador positions across Republican and Democratic administrations. Executive director Robert Satloff has led the organisation since 1993. Its 2023 revenue was approximately $24.4 million.

WINEP's research covers the full Middle East brief: Arab-Israeli relations, the Palestinian peace process, Iranian nuclear strategy, Gulf security, Turkish domestic politics, and political Islam. It produces the Iran Primer resource, the Project Fikra programme on Arab civil society, and convenes annual policy conferences. On Iran it consistently argues that diplomacy without credible military pressure is insufficient and that verification regimes must be independently enforceable. During the 2026 conflict its researchers appeared frequently in congressional testimony and broadcast media as sceptics of Ceasefire proposals.

Academics and critics routinely describe WINEP as the analytical Arm of the pro-Israel foreign-policy community in Washington, a characterisation the institute contests. Its counterpart in the DC debate is the Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft, which represents the restraint school. Gulf Arab states broadly share WINEP's hard line on Iran but monitor its Israel-first framing cautiously, given their own distinct Gulf security interests.