Forum of Strategic Dialogue

Mission

The Forum of Strategic Dialogue (FSD) organizes and facilitates high-level strategic dialogues between Europe and Israel, focusing on the major geopolitical issues facing both parties and on Israeli-European relations. The FSD provides a unique platform for “Track 1.5” dialogues involving governmental and non-governmental participants in brainstorming and exchanges that go beyond the constraints of formal inter-governmental dialogues. The FSD fosters open communication that encourages participants—senior governmental officials and leading experts—to probe and develop new ideas and enhance relations-building and bilateral cooperation.

Goals

  • To promote an in-depth dialogue between Israeli and European officials and experts involved mainly (but not exclusively) in the fields of national security and foreign policy
  • To enhance mutual understanding and advance joint interests
  • To establish professional ties and personal relations between decision-makers and members of the policy community

Dialogues

There are a total of eleven strategic dialogues that ELNET has established. The first Strategic Dialogue, between France and Israel, was launched by ELNET in 2010. The success of this event led to the development of collaboration with prestigious European and Israeli think tanks, research centers and governmental institutions, and to the establishment of the FSD in 2013.

Today, the FSD carries out annual Israeli-European bilateral dialogues with senior partners, governmental and non-governmental, from key European countries—France, Germany, Italy, the United Kingdom, and Spain. In addition to bilateral dialogues, the FSD has also established multilateral dialogues, including with the European Union (EU), the US-Europe-Israel Trilateral Strategic Dialogue, occasional strategic dialogues with NATO, and the Europe–Middle East and North Africa (MENA) Forum, established in 2020.

In 2023 the FSD launched two new annual strategic dialogues – the Romania-Israel expert dialogue, and the CEE-Israel strategic dialogue with Central and Eastern Europe countries.

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