Peace between Israelis and Palestinians has been the subject of international fora since the 1948 partition of mandatory Palestine, but with the events of 7 October 2023, the international community was reminded, with a rude reawakening, of the lack of effective leadership related to the Middle East peace process on the part of Israelis, Palestinians and the international community. Over the years, many of the initiatives were started and designed in a non-inclusive manner or they were ideas that simply failed during the execution phase. Davos and regional WEF summits have served as venues for efforts to break the impasse of the conflict, from 1994 to the present day, yet despite convening together decision makers, no solution has been reached, and the division between the two parties to the conflict has deepened as extremists on both sides have co-opted the cause of reaching a negotiated settlement. The net impact is the loss of lives, humanitarian and social strife, the globalization of the conflict itself, and lost opportunity for regional and economic integration.

This session was designed as a debate to surface new leadership-focused solutions. We included voices representative of Palestinian and Israeli aspirations, the public sector, the international community, business, youth and scholarship.

Speakers:

• Khalid Abdulla-Janahi, Co-founder, Maryam Forum Foundation, UK

• Mohammed Alghanim, CEO, Hamad S. Alghanim Group of Companies, Kuwait

• Eric Cantor, Vice Chair, Moelis & Company, USA

• Samer Khoury, CEO, Consolidated Contractors Company, Greece

• Yossi Vardi, Chairman, International Technologies, Israel

• Sir Martin Sorrell, Executive Chairman, S4 Capital, UK