Relevance in the region:

The Israeli–Palestinian conflict has been obstructing peace, development, and social cohesion in the region for decades. ALLMEP has built networks, dialogue, and trust beyond political deadlock. To this end, ALLMEP works with more than 200 member organizations, both within Israel and Palestine, toward a just society for all Israeli and Palestinian citizens, as well as across borders in the West Bank, Gaza, and East Jerusalem.

Relevance in Germany:

The impact of the conflict extends far beyond the region. It has divided many societies in Europe, including Germany, where the loudest voices often represent extreme, one-sided positions. It is therefore crucial that the voices of Israelis and Palestinians working on the ground toward a shared future are heard and amplified here as well. Supporting and raising awareness of these local voices can resonate within our own society and have a positive influence. A sustainable, civil society–driven peace in Israel and Palestine is therefore also in Germany’s and Europe’s interest

The example of the International Fund for Ireland shows that even deeply rooted conflicts within a society can be overcome. Long-term investment in civil society peacebuilding played an immense and decisive role in the conclusion and success of the Good Friday Agreement, which ended the armed conflict in Ireland in 1998. Multilaterally funded support made it possible to sustain civil society initiatives over time, strengthen local actors, and build trust between communities. Peace was not imposed from above, but built from the ground up.

It is precisely from this that the Middle East conflict can learn: lasting peace emerges where civil society peacebuilding is supported over the long term, connected through networks, and taken seriously at the political level. ALLMEP has internalized this approach. Resources must be pooled, local organizations strengthened, and in this way the foundation for a durable peace between Israeli and Palestinian civil society can be created.

For this reason, ALLMEP has been advocating for over a decade for the establishment of an International Fund for Israeli-Palestinian Peace, which – through multilateral coordination and pooled funding – would sustainably support peacebuilding efforts on the ground and thereby drive meaningful change in both societies.

ALLMEP leverages its network of 200 member organizations, as well as its collaboration with international governments, to achieve the following concrete objectives:

1. Peace, cooperation, and mutual understanding among citizens in Israel and Palestine.
2. To this end, an International Fund for Israeli-Palestinian Peace is to be established. The fund will support local organizations so that peace can be built from the ground up.
3. Strengthening the organizations within the Israeli–Palestinian “peace field” as a diverse yet united whole.
   To achieve this, ALLMEP carries out on-the-ground activities aimed at strengthening cooperation among organizations and supporting them in increasing the impact of their work (capacity building). Israeli–Palestinian civil society peace organizations have been active for decades. Despite the Hamas terrorist attack on October 7 and the war in Gaza, members have continued their work to counter violence and polarization in their societies.
4. With staff based in Berlin, Paris, London, Washington, D.C., New York, as well as in Israel-Palestine, where ALLMEP collaborates with relevant embassies, ALLMEP is one of the most important partners in the dialogue between Israeli-Palestinian civil society and governments worldwide.

ALLMEP is committed to ensuring that civil society peacebuilding is a central component of diplomacy in resolving the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. As the collective voice of its member organizations, ALLMEP consolidates their ambitions in order to achieve greater political impact.

ALLMEP pursues its mission through three core approaches:

1) Supporting peacebuilding on the ground

• Promoting programs that enable dialogue, cooperation, and mutual exchange between Israelis and Palestinians, especially among young people.
• Supporting initiatives that foster mutual understanding and overcome prejudice.

2) Capacity building for member organizations

• Increasing visibility and providing training to strengthen fundraising capabilities and organizational structures of peace actors.
• Providing training, networks, and support for peace practitioners.

3) International advocacy

• Advising donor governments on peacebuilding and the integration of local civil society into diplomatic processes.
• ALLMEP acts as a spokesperson and intermediary between local peace initiatives and global political decision-makers.
• The goal is to generate greater public, private, and international support for peacebuilding and to secure this support through an international peace fund.

War and ongoing violence also leave severe environmental damage. Destroyed infrastructure, polluted soils and water bodies, as well as acute water scarcity, are exacerbating the climate crisis in an already vulnerable region. Some of ALLMEP’s member organizations are also addressing this issue.

EcoPeace is a regional environmental and peace organization that brings together Jordanian, Palestinian, and Israeli environmentalists to protect their shared environment. They do this, for example, by promoting joint solutions to cross-border environmental and water challenges in Israel, Jordan, and the Palestinian territories – one of the most water-scarce regions in the world. This includes building cross-border cooperation between communities to restore and protect shared water resources (e.g., through collaboration on river and aquifer projects). During the war, EcoPeace launched initiatives to reconnect and repair water pipelines in the Gaza Strip.

Another member organization is the Arava Institute. As a leading environmental institute, it brings together students from across the region to develop innovative solutions to ecological challenges and to advance peacebuilding in the Middle East, helping to secure a sustainable future for the region. For urgent support in Gaza, the Arava Institute is part of the project “Jumpstarting Hope in Gaza”, aimed at restoring water, sanitation, hygiene, and energy supply in the Gaza Strip. This includes providing decentralized, off-grid technologies such as solar-powered water purification systems to ensure that internally displaced people in Gaza have access to clean and safe drinking water.

The work of ALLMEP actively contributes to seven of the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs):

SDG 3: Good Health and Well-being

• Members of the ALLMEP network improve healthcare cooperation between Israelis and Palestinians.

SDG 4: Quality Education

• ALLMEP’s network includes various educational institutions, schools, and research centers. This leads to improved educational standards in society, particularly in peace education and joint learning between Israelis and Palestinians.

SDG 5: Gender Equality

• ALLMEP’s member organizations and the Women Leadership Network (WLN) actively promote women’s empowerment and gender equality.

SDG 6: Clean Water and Sanitation

• ALLMEP brings together various member organizations to connect projects and activities addressing the humanitarian crisis in Gaza and to strengthen coordination.

SDG 10: Reduced Inequalities

• ALLMEP’s mission is to promote cooperation, trust, justice, equality, mutual understanding, and peace within and between communities in Israel and Palestine.

SDG 13: Climate Action

• ALLMEP brings together members who work collectively to advance climate-sensitive peacebuilding (“environmental peacebuilding”).

SDG 16: Peace, Justice, and Strong Institutions

• ALLMEP promotes a peaceful and inclusive society between Israel and Palestine by connecting and strengthening local organizations.
• This leads to conflict prevention, peaceful cooperation, and the development of stable structures.

SDG 17: Partnerships for the Goals

• ALLMEP connects local peace actors with global policymakers and leaders. In doing so, ALLMEP relies on international cooperation to advance peace on the ground.
• Leverage through collaboration and networks, multiplying impact.

ALLMEP will use the donated funds to finance the work of the European team and general organizational operations. This includes hiring five staff members in Europe, travel and event costs for carrying out advocacy activities, including in the German Bundestag, organizing advocacy trips with regional peace actors, and supporting regional project implementation.

By supporting ALLMEP, you enable civil society ideas to gain space in international peace processes as well as in the field of sustainability, and help unlock new funding for civil society. This ensures that a peace process and on-the-ground work take place in alignment with the local population. The work of ALLMEP’s members makes this possible through a diversity of projects across various fields, such as education, interfaith dialogue, ‘environmental peacebuilding,’ solidarity work, activism, high-tech promotion, and much more.

These projects cultivate sustainable support for people on the ground who make peace possible and ensure that local voices gain traction in international politics, enabling a sustainable peace process.

ALLMEP consistently places its member organizations at the center and strives to increase resources and visibility for their work. As a large part of the work takes place behind the scenes, the organization is still relatively unknown to the public. To sustain this work and to strengthen and expand the entire field of peacebuilding, ALLMEP relies on the generosity of private donors and supporters.