I arrived in Istanbul in early 2025 as part of the first cohort of the Rotary Peace Fellowship for the Middle East and North Africa at a time when the region was still engulfed in the ongoing war that followed October 7. As an Israeli, I was aware that I was entering a space defined by political and personal complexity.

In a cohort that included Palestinians, Yemenis, Somalis, Egyptians, and Jordanians, identity was  immediate, political, and often charged. I understood the context in which my presence would be interpreted, just as I understood the broader dynamics shaping those perceptions.

That awareness brought a certain tension in those first days. Not fear, but a clear understanding of the environment.

That perspective, however, began to evolve.

I came to understand that even this mindset, however grounded it may have felt, was still placing my own experience ahead of the purpose of the space. It placed my own perception, at the forefront of a space that was not about me.

Peace cannot begin from ego.

It cannot begin from the assumption that we must be understood on our own terms. It must begin with a willingness to step outside of ourselves and toward something larger, something shared.

So I made a deliberate choice. I entered that space not as an Israeli navigating perception, but as a human being committed to peace. I led with openness, with humility, and with a clear sense of purpose. I listened. I engaged. I built relationships not based on identity, but on intention.

That did not come easily.

It required a great deal of discipline, and there were difficult days. The fellowship took place during an ongoing war, and the weight of that reality was never far from the surface. As we........

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