Eligibility

IIE awards the Victor J. Goldberg Prize for Peace in the Middle East annually to honor outstanding work being conducted jointly by two individuals: one Israeli Jew, and one Arab Muslim whether or not a citizen of Israel, 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$20,000 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.  

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 judgements, 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.  

Please contact IIE Goldberg Prize program team at IIEGoldbergPrize@iie.org with any questions.