Maher Bitar

Maher Bitar is an American government official who worked in the Obama and Biden Administrations.

Early life
In 2006, Bitar graduated from the School of Foreign Service at Georgetown University, where he was on the executive board of the school's Students for Justice in Palestine. Bitar has a Master's degree from Oxford University, where he was a Marshall Scholar. He studied at Georgetown Law School. He has written about political organizing among Palestinian refugees. His family is of Palestinian origin.

Career
Bitar worked at the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) in Malaysia and the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) in Jerusalem.

Obama Administration
Bitar is a career Department of State employee. At the State Department, Bihar developed a close relationship with Jake Sullivan. During the Obama Administration, Bitar worked at the National Security Council (NSC) as Director for Israel and Palestinian Affairs from 2013 to 2015. From 2015 to 2017, he was Deputy to U.S. Permanent Representative to the United Nations Samantha Power

In 2017, Bitar joined the House Intelligence Committee as general counsel for the Democrats, where he played a role in the first impeachment of Donald Trump. He was also legal counsel to U.S. Representative Adam Schiff.

Biden Administration
At the beginning of the Biden Administration in January 2021, Bitar was appointed Special Assistant to the President and Senior Director for Intelligence Programs at the NSC, succeeding Michael Ellis. His appointment was praised by Rob Malley and Ziad Asali of the pro-Palestinian group American Task Force on Palestine.

In January 2024, National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan moved Bitar into a new role at the NSC as Deputy Assistant to the President and coordinator for intelligence and defense policy. Bitar is the highest-ranking official at the White House responsible for coordinating the U.S. government's intelligence and defense policy.