Environmentalism and the Peace Process: Israel's Current Democratic Crisis

Because of its modest size, Israel’s environmental problems are largely transboundary. Without cooperation with its neighbors, progress in areas from stream restoration to species repatriation will be modest at best. This lecture reviews over twenty years of “below the radar” environmental cooperation in the region and considers the state of the present peace process and how it might be leveraged to ensure an ecological dividend for the region. 

Professor Tal's career has been a balance between academia and public interest advocacy. Between 2021-2022 he was a member of Knesset on behalf of the Blue and White party and serves as chair of the Knesset subcommittee for environmental and climate impact on health. Presently he is professor in the Department of Public Policy at Tel Aviv University. Tal has held faculty appointments at  Stanford, Ben Gurion, Hebrew, Michigan State, Stanford, Otago and Harvard Universities.  He has founded several environmental organizations including Adam Teva v’din, the Israel Union for Environmental Defense and the Arava Institute.  Tal has served as deputy chair of the international Jewish National Fund and co-chair of Zafuf, the Israel Forum for Population, Environment and Society.  Between 2010 and 2013 Tal served as chair of Israel’s green party - “the Green Movement”.