In shadow of war, Iranian, Afghan women join others in Tel Aviv to push for change

Thirty women leaders, from or with roots across the Middle East and North Africa, gathered in Tel Aviv last week to discuss collaboration on social change, offering a quieter form of regional dialogue amid headlines dominated by war and diplomatic rifts.

Israeli, Lebanese, Iranian, Tunisian, Saudi, Afghan, Moroccan, Emirati and Iraqi women — several of whom reside in the United States, Canada and UK — were part of the inaugural Women Champions for Change summit. The multi-day conference, which concluded on Thursday, at the Peres Center for Peace and Innovation in Jaffa.

“The fastest way to change the Middle East is to mobilize the women of the Middle East,” said co-leader Stav Bar-Shany, noting that women often bring empathy and authenticity into spaces where traditional diplomacy struggles.

The initiative, founded by social entrepreneur Danny Hakim, brought together activists, social entrepreneurs, athletes, business executives and diplomats from across the region with a focus on grassroots leadership in civil society.

The goal of the summit was to create a platform for cross-border connection and to highlight the role of women in leading social change, even amid political and military conflict, with participants coming together to discuss shared challenges and brainstormed opportunities for collaboration.

Iranian native Nazanin Afshin-Jam Mackay, who participated in the summit, told The Times of Israel that “the conflicts tearing through the Middle East today are overwhelmingly driven and negotiated by men. Since October 7, not a single woman has been at the negotiating table in efforts to end the war.”

The summit largely focused on wider regional ambitions and cross-border collaboration, including expanding normalization agreements. Though organizers did refer to the toll of Israel’s ongoing war with Hamas in broad terms, little reference was made to Gaza or Palestinians.

Some participants, including speakers, identified as Palestinian citizens of Israel. Other participants included a Palestinian woman from East Jerusalem and Hanan Abu Quedar, a Bedouin sports and social change leader originally from Khan Younis in Gaza, who resides in Israel, but no Palestinian women living in Gaza or the West Bank were present, and their absence was not explicitly addressed.

Discussions were framed around areas of consensus, including the lack of women in leadership roles across the region, which participants directly linked to the ongoing strife and violence embroiling it.

Organized with support from the Peres Center, the Abraham Women’s Alliance and MENA2050, the summit was timed to mark five years since the signing of the Abraham Accords, with speakers discussing the impact the 2020 Accords had on the region, and hope for expanded future ties.

Afshin-Jam Mackay expressed hope for the fall of the Islamic regime and normalization one day between Iran and Israel during her remarks at the event.

“I am looking forward to seeing the groundbreaking projects we can fulfill together, and perhaps even expand the Abraham Accords to include Iran through the ‘Cyrus Accords,’” she said, to great applause.

Afshin-Jan Mackay was born in Iran and fled with her family to Canada after her father was tortured and nearly executed by the Iranian Revolutionary Guards.

She has been a target of death threats for her activism against the regime, including for successfully lobbying the Canadian government to shut down the Iranian embassy in 2012 and blacklist the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) in 2024.

Shirin Taber, co-founder of the Abraham Women’s Alliance, said that “this collaboration underscores the strength of bringing together leaders from diverse cultural and religious traditions — even amidst conflict — to drive reconciliation, spark innovation, and lay the foundation for inclusive, peaceful societies in the Middle East for generations to come.”

That the gathering took place in Israel at all was striking, given the ongoing war in Gaza, heightened regional hostility toward Jerusalem, and the reluctance of many Arab states to be publicly associated with such events.

“It is still remarkable that some of these candidates made it to Israel despite the obstacles,” said Hakim in his remarks at the event. “Your presence here is itself an act of courage and commitment and brings us all light.”

Participants acknowledged that their choice to come reflected both risk and resolve.

“I got a lot of backlash, anger and resistance from my own Afghan community and friends over the fact that I dared to come to Israel,” said Mariya Goodbrake, who participated in the summit and emceed the event.

Goodbrake, the founder and director of Global FC, fled her native Afghanistan with her family during the Soviet invasion before immigrating to Canada and later the US.

While Afshin-Jam Mackay’s main focus is Iran’s human rights and democracy movement, “the conflict between Israel and Palestine weighs heavily on my heart. It profoundly affects us all.”

“I did not want to be a passive observer. I wanted to explore ideas that could help bring greater stability to the region — ideas that might allow both Israelis and Palestinians to live without fear and want,” she added.

She said visiting Israel right now was “a risk I and others were willing to take in order to imagine creative, outside-the-box ways to foster cross-cultural collaboration that promote peace and unity.”

Many spoke of how the initiative was a source for hope amid an immeasurably bleak period.

“While the cannons are roaring, at a time when war continues to claim lives and deepen divides across our region, we choose to come together and to speak about hope,” said Tamar Hay, the Peres Center’s deputy director general.

“Shimon Peres dreamed of a new Middle East built on cooperation, innovation and shared prosperity,” she said. “The women gathered here not only share that dream, they are making it real.”

The summit concluded without major public announcements or joint statements, in part by design. Organizers suggested that in the current political climate, the quiet act of meeting across borders may itself be the most important outcome.