RAMALLAH, 20 May 2026 — On Wednesday morning,, some 20 diplomats of Palestine-facing missions and several civil society leaders gathered for an intimate and focused briefing on peacebuilding as a core component of Israeli-Palestinian conflict resolution. The event was graciously co-hosted by the Representative Office of Switzerland in the Occupied Palestinian Territory and the Alliance for Middle East Peace (ALLMEP). It was a genuine attempt to bridge the diplomatic and civil society worlds at a moment of acute urgency.

ALLMEP provided its latest AI Pulse polling on Palestinian Israeli public opinion, indicating pathways for civil society to make inroads in both societies toward promoting an equitable peace agreement and required steps to get there. The numbers don’t lie: people on both sides are exhausted, skeptical, and yet — reachable. This is the playing field that civil society knows how to work with. 

The briefing then provided two areas of “peacebuilding in practice” in Palestine: protective presence against settler violence (delivered by ALLMEP member NGO, the Unarmed Civilian Protection in Palestine), and work in Gaza that often combines humanitarian and development aid with an element of Israeli-Palestinian cooperation and a political vision.  Following the conversation, the participants were left to have unstructured conversations over lunch, joined additionally by the directors of ALLMEP members: Jerusalem Center for Women, EcoPeace Palestine, Project Rozana Palestine, Combatants for Peace, Challenge, and the Federal Forum.

Civil society leaders left with valuable contacts, meaningful conversations, and a sharper understanding of how diplomatic briefings work. Diplomats left with a clearer picture of how civil society peacebuilding is playing a critical role in building societal support for a just and equitable future between Palestinians and Israelis, while responding on the ground to this atmosphere in Palestine of increased violence in the West Bank and an ongoing humanitarian catastrophe in Gaza war, not to mention a woefully stalled peace process. By synchronizing on their understandings and activities, civil society peacebuilders and the diplomatic community can complement their respective efforts to raise a critical mass of society-led momentum and advance initiatives at the political level for a genuine changing-of-the-tide toward a sustainable peace.