Environmental diplomacy and the Middle East

As the nations of the world turn more of their attention to the crisis of the earth’s environment, it becomes clear that no nation can address the needs of its environment unilaterally. The Middle East is no exception. With that understanding, in 1996, the Arava Institute for Environmental Studies was founded. Located on Kibbutz Ketura on the Israeli-Jordanian border, the institute teaches and prepares future Israeli, Palestinian, Jordanian and Egyptian leaders to cooperatively solve the region’s environmental challenges. Missing from that equation are Syria and Lebanon. If the region’s shared environment is to be fully addressed, both of these countries must be part of the equation; that equation cannot be completed until Israel is able to sign a peace treaty with both of them. In the dance of peace with Israel’s northern neighbors, Syria must be the first partner.