European Investment Bank President Werner Hoyer and Vice President Gelsomina Vigliot recently visited Israel and the West Bank and met separately with Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett and with Palestinian Prime Minister Mohammed Shtayyeh. In their meetings with both leaders, the bank’s officials discussed supporting climate action, innovation and business investment. On May 17, the EIB published a summary of its findings, titled, "EIB climate action and business engagement welcomed by Israeli and Palestinian leaders."

Labor Knesset member Emilie Moatti and Regional development Minister Esawi Frej have been advancing climate issues and related business opportunities for and with the Palestinians. On May 10, Israel’s Regional Cooperation Minister Esawi Frej participated in the spring session of the international donor coordination group in support of the Palestinian economy. While Frej was in Brussels exploring diplomatic and economic cooperation, Labor Knesset member Emilie Moatti convened the subcommittee for Foreign Policy and Public Diplomacy she chairs to explore Israeli-Palestinian cooperation on the environment and climate change.

When Moatti convened a first general meeting on Israeli-Palestinian cooperation on Feb. 15, she promised to hold five sessions on specific fields of cooperation. The next session was held May 10 to address Israeli and Palestinian civil cooperation over climate change, agriculture and environmental protection. A session on education is forthcoming.

Opening the session, Moatti stated, "All the debate's participants — committee members, representatives of government ministries, representatives of civil society organizations and academic institutions — agreed that in issues related to environment, climate and agriculture, in which Israel and the Palestinian Authority are effectively a single unit and borders have no meaning, there is potential and a shared interest in collaboration regardless of the geopolitical reality."