Washington, DC—October 24, 2022—The Atlantic Council, in partnership with the Jeffrey M. Talpins Foundation, will host President of Israel Isaac Herzog on Tuesday, October 25, to discuss his vision for regional cooperation and Israeli-Arab normalization.

The event marks a major expansion of the N7 Initiative to support the growing diplomatic ties between Israel and the Arab and Muslim world. In October 2021, the Atlantic Council, with generous support from the Jeffrey M. Talpins Foundation, convened the first, and to date only, gathering of ministers and other senior officials from Israel, Egypt, Jordan, the UAE, Bahrain, Morocco, and Sudan.

Over the coming months, N7 will hold a series of multilateral conferences to support the ongoing Negev Forum framework. These conferences will convene a select group of subject matter experts from government, civil society, academia, and the private sector.  The N7 Initiative is led by William F. Wechsler, senior director, and Ambassador Daniel B. Shapiro, director.

“The N7 Initiative continues to be a source of compelling ideas for ways normalization can benefit the citizens of the countries that have normalized relations with Israel,” said William Wechsler. “We are proud that the governments of the region, and the US administration, look to N7 as a key partner in the important work they are undertaking in the Negev Forum and other groupings.”

The first conference on Education and Coexistence will be held from December 5^th to December 7^th in Rabat, Morocco, with the support of the Kingdom of Morocco. It will be followed in early 2023 by a conference on Agriculture, Water, and Food Security in the United Arab Emirates, and a conference on Regional Free Trade.  A second senior leader conference will be held next year in Israel. Subsequent conferences will cover the subjects of other Negev Forum working groups. 

The N7 Initiative is a partnership between the Atlantic Council and the Jeffrey M. Talpins Foundation, with additional support from the Charles and Lynn Schusterman Family Philanthropies.

“The N7 Initiative will continue to work with governments to deliver results to the countries and peoples of the region,” said Oren Eisner, president of the Jeffrey M. Talpins Foundation. “We hope and expect that further countries will then normalize relations as they see the value of strong ties with Israel. We are thrilled to have Will and Dan leading this program and look forward to expanding our work together.”

More information about the N7 Initiative, its publications, events, leadership, and senior fellows can be found on the Atlantic Council website.  For press inquiries, please contact Austin Slater at aslater@atlanticcouncil.org.