Dr. David Scharia
Dr. David Scharia originally graduated in the class of 1995, and later went on to earn a Doctorate at Buchman in 2007. David cherishes his time in the law school and especially his connection with Prof. Shlomo Giora Shoham, for whom he also served as research assistant. “I was privileged to work with a person who made me see how criminal law was the image of society. I learned a great deal about the motives behind people’s violent actions, how our society treats violence, and why.” These unique insights set the corner stone for David’s current role as Senior Legal Officer and Coordinator of the Legal and Criminal Justice Group at the Counter Terrorism Committee Executive Directorate (CTED) of the United Nations Security Council.
“Prof. Giora’s connection with his students was the essence of his work. He was never satisfied with just giving class lectures and holding office hours. He frequently invited us for dinners in his home. He was a wonderful cook, and we held long sessions discussing philosophical questions in criminology till the small hours of the night.” This has inspired David to pursue and earn a Doctorate degree, not only for the sake of knowledge, but mostly in order to take part in raising the next generation of legal scholars.
David actually started his law career practicing corporate law in a big law firm. When he discovered that he didn’t relate, David took up a position with the state prosecution. Rabin’s assassination was what ignited David’s fascination with terrorism. “Incitement to violence is a predominant feature in terrorist acts, as was the case with Rabin.” says David.
During 2000-2005, David served as First Senior Deputy at the Supreme Court Division in the Attorney General’s office. In that role, he was the Lead Attorney in major counter-terrorism cases before the Supreme Court.
In 2005 David became a legal officer at CTED. David worked in this position till 2013 and since has been leading the CTED’s legal group. CTED supports the UN Security Council Counter-Terrorism Committee of the UN Security Council in monitoring the implementation of Security Council resolutions dealing with terrorism, facilitates counter-terrorism technical assistance to countries, and is among other things tasked to deal with the phenomenon of foreign terrorists joining militant Islamist groups such as the so-called Islamic State.
