The conference, which was titled “The Arab Spring: the Post-2015 Agenda and Spanish Cooperation for Development”, was organized by the Spanish Consulate in Jerusalem and the Foundation for the Social Promotion of Culture, and was attended by professors and authorities from Spain and several Middle Eastern countries.

Over the two days, the assembled experts reflected on and discussed the opportunities and threats posed by the Arab Spring for development cooperation in the Middle East, the convergences and divergences between them, and the post-2015 agenda.

Professor Espaliú moderated a roundtable session on the subject “Israel and Palestine, Spanish Cooperation and Peace Building”. During this session, the two Israeli participants and the Palestinian participants, all leading figures in Middle Eastern politics and civil society, expressed their opinions on developments since the end of July 2013 in the Washington-sponsored dialogue between Israelis and Palestinians, the purpose of which is to reach a framework agreement by 29 April 2014.

Although all participants were generally hopeful of reaching an agreement on time, they also analysed the scenarios that might arise if this new episode in the peace process were not successfully concluded by the end of April. In particular, the former Minister of National Economy of the Palestinian Authority stressed that if no agreement was reached soon, the door would be open for submitting further complaints to the International Criminal Court. On the Israeli side, it was argued that this situation could cause Israel to resort to retaliation measures, including the use of force.