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FFN World Desk Faith & Freedom News • Reporting from the Frontlines of Freedom

In a rare moment of candor, the radical Islamist group Hizb ut-Tahrir in Tunisia has published a lengthy “investigation” targeting the Abrahamic Movement and its founder, Israeli strategic consultant and peace activist Tom Wegner. The document — translated and shared by Wegner himself — offers an extraordinary window into the anxiety of those who profit from perpetual conflict when genuine people-to-people bridges begin to form.

Participants of the Abrahamic Movement holding Israeli, Syrian, and Moroccan flags in a show of interfaith solidarity
Members and supporters of the Abrahamic Movement display the flags of Israel, Syria, and Morocco — a visual rejection of the zero-sum narrative promoted by radical groups. Photo courtesy of the Abrahamic Movement.

For decades, organizations such as Hizb ut-Tahrir have thrived on a simple formula: keep Muslims and Jews permanently alienated, frame every Israeli as an existential threat, and brand any Arab or Muslim who dares to speak of coexistence as a traitor. When that formula begins to crack, the reaction is predictable — and revealing.

Wegner, who has spent years building quiet channels of dialogue across the Middle East, recently received a detailed Arabic-language tract from the Tunisian branch of Hizb ut-Tahrir. The piece, titled “The Abrahamic Movement: From Normalization Agreements to a Project for Reshaping the Middle East,” attempts to portray the growing network of Abrahamic dialogue as a sophisticated plot to “re-engineer political and cultural consciousness.”

The fact that a transnational Islamist network feels compelled to issue a lengthy public investigation against a civilian dialogue initiative is itself the strongest possible endorsement of that initiative’s impact.

Who Is Tom Wegner?

Tom Wegner is not a shadowy operative. He is a veteran of Israeli public life who has served as spokesperson for former Prime Minister Ehud Barak, media consultant to Defense Minister Amir Peretz, and spokesperson for the Peres Center for Peace under Shimon Peres. During his IDF service he coordinated liaison between the Israeli military and the Palestinian police in the Jericho area — an early, practical education in the complexities of coexistence.

In early 2024 he founded the Middle East Center / Abrahamic Movement, a platform that facilitates direct Zoom dialogues, social-media conversations, and grassroots WhatsApp and Facebook groups connecting Israelis with partners across the Arab and Muslim world. The Movement now maintains branches or active partnerships in more than twenty countries and communities, including Morocco, Iraq, Syria, Pakistan, Ghana, Somaliland, Gaza, and the Palestinian Authority.

Tom Wegner speaking on stage about the Original Zionist and the Abrahamic vision
Tom Wegner addresses an audience on the theme of “Repaying a 2,500-Year-Old Debt,” highlighting the historical and spiritual roots of Jewish peoplehood and the broader Abrahamic heritage. Photo from a recent public appearance.

His latest book project, The Abrahamic Codex, is being co-authored with Muslim intellectuals at the request of Yedioth Books, Israel’s largest publishing house, and is scheduled for publication in Hebrew, English, and Arabic. An earlier work, Cannabis Wars, became a bestseller and won the Global Book Award.

What the Islamist Tract Actually Reveals

The Hizb ut-Tahrir document, written by “Engineer Wissam Al-Atrash” for the group’s Central Media Office, spends considerable energy trying to link the Abrahamic Movement to the Abraham Accords, to statements by President Trump, and to regional security discussions involving Turkey, Pakistan, Egypt, and the Gulf states. Its central claim is that political normalization is insufficient; what truly alarms the authors is the attempt to create a shared cultural and civilizational narrative rooted in the common heritage of Jews, Christians, and Muslims.

“The Abrahamic Movement does not view normalization merely as an agreement between governments, but as a project aimed at redefining relations among the peoples of the region themselves.” — Hizb ut-Tahrir Central Media Office

In other words, the radicals understand perfectly well that once ordinary people begin to see one another as fellow descendants of Abraham rather than as permanent enemies, the entire architecture of rejectionism begins to collapse. That is why the tract fixates on Iraq and Syria as “testing grounds,” why it singles out Dr. Jamal Sabbagh (president of the Syrian Abrahamic Movement), and why it warns that the project seeks to create a “supra-national identity.”

The document even concedes that the Movement’s activity in Iraq provoked “strong reactions from opposing Iraqi forces” — a tacit admission that local citizens are engaging with the idea of dialogue.

A Movement Built on Dialogue, Not Domination

Far from the conspiratorial portrait painted by Hizb ut-Tahrir, the Abrahamic Movement’s public record is one of transparent, often live-streamed conversations between rabbis and imams, business collaborations, cultural exchanges, and grassroots digital communities. Its website, abrahamic.org, lists partners ranging from Nobel Peace Prize nominee Juliana Taimoorazy to Al-Azhar scholar Dr. Moustafa Rashed, Sheikh Musa Drammeh, and numerous regional chapter chairs across Africa, the Middle East, and beyond.

Key Pillars of the Abrahamic Vision

  • Direct, unfiltered dialogue between citizens of Middle Eastern nations
  • Recognition of a shared Abrahamic heritage as a foundation for cooperation
  • Rejection of zero-sum identity politics in favor of mutual flourishing
  • Grassroots networks that complement — rather than replace — formal diplomacy
  • Publication of joint intellectual works that reclaim moderate interpretations of sacred texts

Wegner has repeatedly emphasized that sustainable peace cannot rest on government signatures alone. It requires a change in collective consciousness — precisely the change that groups like Hizb ut-Tahrir exist to prevent.

Why the Attack Matters

Radical movements rarely waste ink on irrelevancies. When Hizb ut-Tahrir feels compelled to publish a multi-page “investigation” into a civilian initiative led by a former Peres Center spokesperson, it is because that initiative is succeeding in places the radicals cannot easily control: private WhatsApp groups, Zoom rooms, university campuses, and living rooms from Rabat to Baghdad.

The same document frets about the possible expansion of the Abraham Accords, about Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan’s remarks on a new regional security architecture, and about the prospect of a demilitarized Palestinian entity existing alongside Israel. In short, it fears any future in which conflict is no longer the organizing principle of the Middle East.

Tom Wegner has indicated he will soon publish a full response. Until then, the Hizb ut-Tahrir tract stands as an unintended testament: the poison machine is glitching because too many people on both sides of old battle lines have begun to talk.

Abrahamic Movement Tom Wegner Hizb ut-Tahrir Middle East Peace Abraham Accords Interfaith Dialogue Israel
Tom Wegner

About Tom Wegner

Tom Wegner is an Israeli senior strategic consultant, award-winning author, and peace activist. He is CEO of the PR firm “Wegner – Strategy and Communications” and founder of the Middle East Center / Abrahamic Movement, an organization that facilitates direct dialogue between Middle Eastern nations and promotes a shared Abrahamic identity.

Previously, Wegner served as spokesperson for Prime Minister Ehud Barak, media consultant to Defense Minister Amir Peretz, and spokesperson for the Peres Center for Peace. During his IDF service he coordinated liaison between the IDF and the Palestinian police in the Jericho area. He has worked with the United Nations, the European Union, the World Bank, and numerous coexistence initiatives.

His first book, Cannabis Wars, became a bestseller and won the Global Book Award. He is currently co-authoring The Abrahamic Codex with Muslim leaders and intellectuals, to be published by Yedioth Books in Hebrew, English, and Arabic. Learn more at abrahamic.org.

This article was prepared by the FFN World Desk based on primary material released by Tom Wegner and publicly available information about the Abrahamic Movement. Faith & Freedom News is committed to reporting that advances religious liberty, peaceful coexistence, and the dignity of every human being created in the image of God.