Duke University’s Provost Initiative on the Middle East is an ongoing effort at Duke University to establish rigorous and respectful debate in which differing perspectives are welcome on current and past conflicts in the region, and also engage Duke faculty and students in projects working with partners in the region. As part of this initiative Duke University is partnering with two Middle East civil society organizations, the Arava Institute for Environmental Studies (IL) and Damour for Community Development (PA) to convene a conference in Washington D.C., September 18-19, 2025, bringing together Palestinian and Israeli voices to strategize ways to move from destruction towards sustainable regional recovery in the Middle East.
The Arava Institute and Damour hosted a unique invitation-only conference in Athens, Greece at the end of January 2025, convening 60 Palestinian, Israeli and Jordanian water, energy, food security and environmental (WEFE) experts from academia, non-governmental and governmental organizations. The conference focused on the security of supply of services in the region with an emphasis on Gazan recovery and development. The result of the conference was the decision by Damour and the Arava Institute to pursue seven initiatives to improve natural resource supplies and humanitarian wellbeing. Since the beginning of February, seven project groups have been established and are meeting once every two weeks virtually or in person. Palestinian and Israeli experts discuss practical ways to advance projects, which will provide more drinking water, sanitation, water for agriculture, electricity, food security and natural services to vulnerable peoples in the region.
Building on this initial success, the goals of the DC “From Destruction to Sustainable Regional Recovery” are to:
- Assess the current situation in the Middle East including Gaza, the West Bank, Israel and its neighbours, including stress on all natural resources and infrastructure.
- Engage the US Administration in a pragmatic process to rebuild Gaza and the West Bank’s economies to support growth and prosperity and reduce extremism and violence.
- Explore how the Abraham Accords can be leveraged to support the rebuilding and recovery of the region.
- Showcase ongoing and new cross-border cooperative resource and infrastructure initiatives between Israelis, Palestinians and Jordanians and how the Track II format enables cooperation even during periods of political turbulence, supporting a foundation of stability in the region.
- Focus on practical steps with rapid responses to real life challenges and improvement in people’s lives even before broader agreements are reached.
- Explore funding opportunities that will enable cross-border cooperation between Israelis and Palestinians to take hold, develop, and flourish.
- Widen the focus to view the challenges and opportunities within a regional context beyond Israel, Gaza, West Bank and Jordan.
- Address broader political issues affecting Palestinian Israeli relations with a political horizon, alongside a diplomatic process moving towards a two-state solution.
conference hotel
Residence Inn Washington, DC Downtown
1199 Vermont Avenue NW
Washington, D.C., USA, 20005
Conference Working Agenda
Thursday, September 18
Conference doors open – coffee and tea available
8:30 am
welcome and introductions
9:00
Keynote: Current Crisis in Palestine & Pathways to Regional Recovery
9:15
A comprehensive overview of the ongoing crisis in Palestine—covering both Gaza and the West Bank—and explore its broader geopolitical implications for Israel, Jordan, Egypt, and the wider region. The discussion will highlight the most pressing challenges for this conference while also examining diplomatic levers, regional agreements, and the political will required to shape pathways toward recovery and cooperation.
Amb. Stuart Jones, President, Middle East Institute
Amb. Dennis Ross, Ziegler Distinguished Fellow, Washington Institute for Near East Policy
Moderator: Amb. Daniel Shek, former Israeli diplomat and former Israeli Ambassador to France
Coffee break
10:30 am
A Track II response to the humanitarian and environmental crisis and vision for transitional recovery
11:00 am
This session presents the role of cross-border civil society partnerships in responding to the humanitarian and environmental crisis in Gaza and the vision for transitional recovery through the Green Refugee Shelters initiative. These models demonstrate how applied environmental diplomacy can bridge urgent humanitarian needs with long-term regional recovery.
Overview of Humanitarian and Environmental Crisis in Gaza
- Dr. David Lehrer, Director of the Center for Applied Environmental Diplomacy, Arava Institute for Environmental Studies
Israeli civil society initiatives in response to the crisis in Gaza
- Rachel Hadari, Director of Medicine, Business & Environment Department at the Peres Center for Peace and Innovation
Jumpstarting Hope in Gaza
- Tahani Abu Daqqa, Co-Founder of Damour for Community Development
- Barak Talmor, Project Manager of Jumpstarting Hope in Gaza
Green Refugee Shelters – Model for interim recovery period
- Dr. David Lehrer, Director of the Center for Applied Environmental Diplomacy, Arava Institute for Environmental Studies
Lunch
12:30 pm
Tentative: Ambassador Prince Zeid Ra'ad al-Hussein, President and Chief Executive Officer of the International Institute of Peace
New initiatives from the Track II Environmental Forum
2:00 pm
Introduction to the Arava Institute and Damour for Community Development’s Track II Environmental Forum, and the effectiveness of applied environmental diplomacy in the region. Presentation of the Track II Environmental initiative as an important paradigm for macro approaches to Gaza, West Bank and the region. Discussion of technical and strategic insights into new trilateral initiatives emerging from the Forum’s January 2025 Athens Conference.
What is the Track II Environmental Forum?
Via Zoom: Ashraf Ajrami, Chair of Damour for Community Development & Co-Chair of the Track II Environmental Forum
- EcoFuture – Sustainable Development in the Jordan Valley
- Liana Berlin-Fischler
- Trinational Jordan River/Dead Sea Rehabilitation
- Dr. Shaddad Attili
- TRUST – Artificial Gaza Island Rubble Reuse Proposal
- Dr. Ali Shaath
Moderator: Dr. Deborah Sandler, Co-Chair of the Track II Environmental Forum
Coffee Break
3:00 pm
Looking forward to: A Political Vision for the Middle East
3:30 pm
Present current initiatives to resolve the Middle East Conflict through diplomacy and negotiations.
- Tentative: U.S. Rep. Brad Schneider, (D-Ill.)
- Fmr. Egyptian Amb. Heshem Youssef
- Ahmed Fuad Alkhatib, Atlantic Council - Realign for Palestine
- Odeliya Matter, New Story Leadership - Phoenix Plan
Closing of first day
5:00 pm
reception
5:30 pm
Opening Remarks: Alec D. Gallimore, Provost Chief Academic Officer, Duke University
Conference doors open – coffee and tea available
8:15 am
Policy Actions for sustainable recovery and development
8:45 am
Connect high-level policy proposals to field-based recovery initiatives and identify a pragmatic role for the Palestinian Authority and other governance actors.
- The role of the PA and civil society actors in recovery and development.
- Recognize and empower the Cross-border WEFE Experts Forum to talk about pragmatic issues, to share knowledge and formulate pragmatic and specific solutions.
- Focus on humanitarian work in Gaza and private sector engagement in the West Bank.
- Yael Parag, Vice Dean and Head of the Energy Program of the School of Sustainability at Reichman University
- Lucy Kurtzer-Ellenbogen, Senior Fellow at the Middle East Institute
- Dr. Ali Shaath
- Moderator: Rabbi Michael Cohen, Friends of the Arava Institute
Mobilizing Finance for Policy Implementation
10:00 am
Address mechanisms for mobilizing blended finance and investment in recovery and resilience
- What are the financial challenges at hand?
- How do we bridge policy and finance for effective execution?
- How do we promote public-private partnerships?
- What is the role of Gulf countries and other global donors?
- Tentative: John Barkat, Mediator for the International Monetary Fund
- Tentative: Sean Carroll, President & CEO of ANERA
- Tentative via Zoom: Syed Husain Quadri, Director of Resilience & Climate Action, Islamic Development Bank
- Moderator: Ely Sandler, Fellow at the Harvard Kennedy School & Managing Partner of the Article Six Group
Coffee break
11:15 am
Conference Summary and roadmap session
11:30 am
Present key takeaways and announce a process for post-conference engagement
Dr. Tareq Abu Hamed, Executive Director of the Arava Institute for Environmental Studies
prescheduled working meetings
12:00 - 1:30 pm
Scheduled meetings between the Arava Institute and Damour leadership and project teams with donors, technical experts, implementation partners, and media representatives to secure partnerships, align goals, and discuss funding. Meetings will be scheduled the day before.