UN Counter Terrorism Group Names TAU Alumnus Chief Legal Advisor
Thursday, August 23, 2012

Former senior deputy of Israeli AG office to head Counter Terrorism Executive Directorate legal team

Dr. David Scharia, a senior jurist and graduate of Tel Aviv University's Buchmann Faculty of Law, was appointed last month to head the UN Security Council's main anti-terror body, the Counter Terrorism Executive Directorate (CTED). He will serve as the senior legal advisor and criminal justice co-ordinator.

Dr. Scharia has had a notable career as a senior deputy in the Supreme Court Division of the Israeli Attorney General’s office, and has represented the state in a number of cases that dealt with the aftermath of terror. He was also the head of the Counter Terrorism Internal Investigations Unity in the Israeli Ministry of Justice and a chairman of the Inter-ministerial Counter Terrorism Committee. For the past six years, he has served as one of CTED's legal experts.

Seen as a response to the UN's perceived anti-Israel bias, Dr. Scharia's appointment is believed to challenge stereotypes of the international body, the Israeli newspaper Ha'aretz reports. Peter Yeo, executive director of the Better World Campaign dedicated to improving relations between the UN and the United States, offered his congratulations and said that Dr. Scharia has "proven himself to be a leader in international counter terrorism efforts time and time again."

For more on Dr. Scharia's appointment to CTED, see the story as it appeared in the July 18, 2012 issue of Ha'aretz here.

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