Civil society NGOs urge Biden to establish international fund for Israeli-Palestinian peace at G7

A coalition of over 150 civil society NGOs is calling on the Biden administration to lobby for the establishment of an international fund for Israeli-Palestinian peace at the annual G7 summit in the UK next week.

“Envisioned as a $200 million annual fund dedicated to support people-to-people programs to heal divides between Palestinians and Israelis, this fund would mirror the International Fund for Ireland, which was created by the US Congress and funded by public and private entities across the world that was vital to brokering peace during The Troubles,” the Alliance for Middle East Peace (ALLMEP) says in a statement. 

ALLMEP says American funding for such an initiative already exists, thanks to the decision last year by Congress to pass legislation known as the Lowey Fund, which allocates $250 million over five years to expand Israeli-Palestinian peace and reconciliation programs in the region.

Support for an international version of the Lowey Fund is already gaining steam. Earlier this week, Sixty-five members of the UK parliament signed a letter to their Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab, urging London to push for the establishment of the peace-building fund at the G7.