IIE awards the IIE Victor J. Goldberg Prize for Peace in the Middle East annually to recognize outstanding work being conducted jointly by two individuals, one Arab and one Israeli, working together to advance the cause of peace in the Middle East. The two individuals whose work is judged to be most successful in bringing people together and meeting the goals of the Prize share a US$10,000 prize. The winners are selected by a prestigious international selection committee. Award ceremonies are generally held each June, along with public announcement of the winners to press and social media. In 2019, the Prize celebrated it's 15th anniversary of recognizing and supporting continued work towards peace. The 2019 Prize was presented in Jerusalem on June 12. Read about the winners, Yuval Roth and Naeem Al-Baeda from Road to Recovery. 

The 2020 Nomination Cycle is open; the Deadline to submit a nomination is February 1, 2020. Please cite PCDN as the source of the posting in your application.

Download the 2020 Goldberg Prize Nomination Form 

“While there is no magic solution, one positive force may be to encourage people to live and work together at the grass roots, learning to trust and depend on one another for their common good.”

—Vic Goldberg, IIE Trustee

"The Goldberg IIE Prize will encourage some of the best and the brightest young professionals to contribute their valuable knowledge and experience to the cause of peace in the Middle East, and will reward them for their courage and conviction in doing so."

—Allan Goodman, IIE President and CEO

Goals of the Prize:

• Advance the cause of peace in the Middle East
• Reward those who are courageous and committed to work to overcome the religious, cultural, ethnic and political issues which divide the region
• Break down barriers of hate towards “the other”
• Recognize innovation
• Inspire others working at the grassroots level, and demonstrate that their efforts are worthy of wider recognition

To recognize the full range of excellent work being done in this very difficult and important area, IIE is encouraging applications from any two individuals whose activities meet the criteria and goals outlined above.  Eligibility in the past was limited to teams in which one member had some prior connection with IIE’s programs or sponsors.  Such prior connection will still get preference in close judgments, but will not automatically determine the winner.

Examples of relevant “prior connection” include State Department programs such as Fulbright Programs, Humphrey Fellowships, International Visitor Leadership Programs, as well as USAID, U.S. Institute for Peace, Ford Foundation and other foundations, government agencies and corporate-sponsored programs associated with IIE.

Download IIE Goldberg Prize 15th Anniversary Brochure

Please contact the IIE Goldberg Prize program team at [email protected] with any questions.