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.
While the summit touched on broader regional ambitions, such as expanding normalization agreements, it largely focused on cross-border collaboration without addressing the ongoing conflict in Gaza and making almost no reference to Palestinians.
Although some participants identified as Palestinian citizens of Israel, including speakers, Palestinian women from Gaza or the West Bank were notably absent, which was not explicitly addressed during the event.
Instead, 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.
Nazanin Afshin-Jam Mackay, an Iranian-Canadian human rights advocate who participated in the summit and spoke at the event, expressed hope for the fall of the Islamic regime and normalization between Iran and Israel.
“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.
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.
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.