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Israel

Arabic and Hebrew translations of this page are available below

The recent emergence of dozens of grassroots community mediation and dialog centers across Israel represents a promising force for peace in their communities. The MBB Israel Project is working with leaders in community mediation in Israel and the US to share and disseminate successful programs and lessons learned through direct partnerships, conferences and publications.


Board Liaison: Steven Seeche
Project Team Leader: Karmit Bulman
Project Team: Efrat Almog, Yvette Benedek, Christine Eyal, Martha Harty, Mark Kleiman, Mariana Valency, and Rachel Wohl
Project Intern: Kristen Letich

Partners in Israel:

Current Program:

Establishment and nurturing of Learning Partnerships between community mediation and dialogue centers in Israel  (Jerusalem, Rehovot, Haifa) and centers in the US (New York, Minneapolis, Maryland). These partnerships are still young, and each is unique. They involve regular high level conference calls and virtual meetings to share programs, policies, strategies, curriculums, etc. After getting to know one another’s work, the teams choose focus areas where they can help each other “up their games.” As the effort progresses, visits, conferences, and online archives are envisioned to document results and enable access for other centers.

In addition to Learning Partnerships, the Israel Project team is exploring new collaborative partnerships,  including with Palestinian communities, as well as ways to expand the use of restorative justice processes.

View the Arabic translation of this project page by clicking here. To view the Hebrew translation of this project page, please click here.

The project's initial partner, Neve Shalom School of Peace, wins S.E. R. Reconciliation Award!

Congratulations to the Neve Shalom/Wahat al-Salam School for Peace. Their program for "Palestinian and Israeli Literature Teachers" won the 2014 German S.E.R. Foundation prize, given for promoting long-term reconciliation.

This program is based on "Two People Write from Right to Left," the anthology developed by the School for Peace. It has led to further courses for high school teachers from Israel and Palestine. Congratulations to the School for Peace, having an impact on thousands of Jewish and Palestinian children in Israel and Palestine, helping to humanize the 'other,' and opening dialog on Jewish-Arab relations in the classroom.