Gidon Bromberg

The way of water

Meet Gidon Bromberg, a 60-year-old Israeli environmental lawyer who is the driving force of EcoPeace, the organisation behind last year's landmark agreement between Israel and Jordan to save the Jordan River.

Gidon was born in Israel, and his family moved to Australia when he was 3 years old. He credits growing up in the multicultural suburb of Elsternwick in Melbourne with sowing the seeds of his peace-building skills. At the age of 11, he returned to Israel on a family holiday and was so enchanted by the country’s energy that he vowed to live there one day.

As a teenager, Gidon decided he wanted to contribute to the peace process in the Middle East. Although he did take part in the protests to save the Franklin River in Tasmania one summer, environmental activism was not on his radar. After graduating university, he moved to Israel to work as a human rights lawyer, but when there were no jobs available, he changed paths and became the first voluntary staff attorney with the Israel Union of Environmental Defence.

In 1993 he started a master's degree in environmental law in Washington and during his studies became concerned that peace in the Middle East could destroy the environment. Governments were focused on the economic development of highways and hotels, without considering the environmental impact.

Determined to put sustainability at the heart of the peace process, Gidon returned to Israel and rallied a group of environmentalists from Jordan, Israel, and Palestine to create a common vision around their shared ecosystem. The organisation became known as EcoPeace.

When peace negotiations in the Middle East fell apart in the late nineties, the organisation shifted focus to how the renewed conflict was polluting shared environmental resources, particularly waterways. In early 2001, the Good Water Neighbours project was launched, with 28 cross-border communities from Palestine, Israel, and Jordan committing to work together on saving the Jordan River. In November 2022, this community-led initiative resulted in the Israeli-Palestinian agreement.

We don't need to be best friends; we need to just understand that our destiny is completely entwined through the common natural resources we share.