The participation of leading local Israeli politicians was important, because experience shows that mayors are often recruited for a significant role on the national level later in their political career. Therefore, in the interest of a pragmatic cooperation between Israelis and Palestinians oriented towards common problem-solving and conflict resolution, it is necessary to foster the involvement of local municipalities.

In recent months, the Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung Israel has focused especially on the issue of "Sustainability – Climate - Energy". In this respect, the KAS is eager to systematically involve the municipality level in the future. This approach is also taken into consideration with regard to the topic of integration of immigrants, which is another current field of engagement of the Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung.

Unlike in Europe, the separation of domestic and foreign policy is less pronounced in Israel due to the omnipresence of the Middle East conflict. As a matter of fact, the members of the Israeli delegation were eager to discuss the German perspective on that conflict and the issue of "Iran".

A ceremony in Weimar on June 10, 2012, honoring the Israeli writer Tuvia Rübner with the prestigious KAS Literature Prize, completed the study program. This event highlighted the Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung’s commitment to strengthening German-Israeli relations, a commitment that particularly KAS Israel is dedicated to for the past 30 years.

Translated by Motje Seidler