What exactly did the ADL’s National Counterterrorism Seminar (NCTS) curriculum include from 2003–2019?
Executive summary
The Anti-Defamation League’s National Counterterrorism Seminar (NCTS) was a week‑long program run for senior U.S. law‑enforcement leaders that, from the early 2000s through trips paused after 2019, taught lessons on extremist and terrorist violence, mass‑casualty response, information‑sharing and community resilience through briefings, presentations and site visits in Israel [1] [2]. ADL descriptions, participant statements and reporting show the curriculum emphasized Israeli counterterrorism tactics, leadership and societal resilience while including visits to Holocaust and religious sites; internal debate and external criticism prompted a 2020 review and a pause after 2019 [3] [1] [4].
1. Origins and stated purpose: an executive‑level seminar on terror and resilience
ADL materials present the NCTS as an educational delegation designed to “increase [participants’] understanding of extremist and terrorist violence, mass casualty attacks and community resilience,” framing Israel as a country with long experience of terrorism and a laboratory for response lessons ADL believed could help U.S. law enforcement [1] [2].
2. Core curriculum topics: what was taught
Across ADL public statements and press material, the program’s curriculum centered on preventing and responding to terror attacks, sharing operational best practices (information‑sharing), tactics and strategies for mass‑casualty incidents, leadership in crisis, and approaches to bolstering societal resilience so communities can return to normal after attacks [2] [1] [3] [5].
3. Methods of instruction: briefings, presentations and immersive site visits
ADL describes the seminar as an “intensive program” combining formal briefings and presentations with site visits and meetings with Israeli counterparts — notably the Israel National Police — so participants could see training sites, exercises and locales that had experienced attacks; ADL also included Holocaust education (Yad Vashem) and visits to Jewish, Christian and Muslim holy sites as part of the itinerary [2] [1] [3].
4. Audience and scale: senior practitioners, cross‑agency participation
The NCTS targeted senior federal, state and local law‑enforcement executives — ADL says more than 115 officials participated since the program’s 2003/2004 launch, and reporting lists attendees from police chiefs to university public‑safety officials and federal agents, indicating a cross‑agency audience [2] [6] [5].
5. Variations, framing and institutional claims
ADL framed the curriculum as focused on lessons learned in Israel — practical techniques, information‑sharing models and “best practices” for resilience — and emphasized that delegations sometimes met Palestinian law enforcement to understand operational complexity [3] [1]. Wikipedia and ADL materials also describe the program as emphasizing tactics, strategies and leadership in counterterrorism [5] [2].
6. Controversy, review and pause: how curriculum and impact were questioned
Reporting indicates criticism arose over the optics and potential unintended effects of sending U.S. police to study Israeli security practices, prompting internal debate at ADL and an internal memo that questioned purpose and impacts; ADL considered ending the trips, revised curricula and evaluation processes, and ultimately paused trips after 2019 while defending a revised approach [4] [5]. ADL told press it intended to continue with revisions and evaluation after the pause [4].
7. What the sources show — and what they do not
Official ADL materials and mainstream reporting clearly describe topics, methods and audience, but available public sources do not provide exhaustive syllabi, minute‑by‑minute lesson plans, or detailed curricula showing specific tactical drills, classroom reading lists or how Israeli tactics were translated into U.S. policies; internal curricular materials and full after‑action evaluations are not included in the cited public record [1] [4] [2].