French-Israeli activist Ofer Bronchtein, president and co-founder of the International Peace Forum, died Monday in Paris at the age of 69. A unique figure in Israeli-Palestinian dialogue, he dedicated his life to defending the two-state solution, often going against the grain of war and isolationism.
Born in 1957 in Beer-Sheva, in the Negev, Ofer Bronchtein grew up between Israel and France. According to the Élysée Palace, he moved to France as a child, before returning to Israel as a teenager, and then settling in Tel Aviv in the working-class neighborhood of Shkhunat Hatikva. It was there that his convictions were forged: social justice, dialogue with the Palestinians, and a rejection of the cycle of hatred.
His commitment took on a political dimension in the 1980s. In 1987, he met Mahmoud Abbas in Spain, even though Israeli law prohibited contact with the Palestine Liberation Organization. This meeting led to his imprisonment upon his return to Israel, but it also marked the beginning of a path entirely dedicated to mutual recognition. Later, as a close associate of Yitzhak Rabin, he closely followed the negotiations that led to the Oslo Accords, a symbol of a time when peace still seemed possible.
In 2002, Ofer Bronchtein co-founded with Anis el Qaq the International Peace ForumBased in Paris, the organization's mission is to build bridges between Israelis and Palestinians, as well as between civil societies in Europe, the Middle East, and the Mediterranean. The Forum states that it has been working for over twenty years on dialogue and educational, cultural, economic, and social cooperation, with the understanding that peace cannot be solely diplomatic: it must also become a tangible reality in the lives of people.
Mahmoud Abbas had presented him with a Palestinian passport in recognition of his commitment to peace.
Bronchtein was a rare figure: Israeli, Jewish, an activist for the recognition of the Palestinian state, and, since 2011, holder of a Palestinian passport awarded by Mahmoud Abbas in recognition of his commitment to peace. This symbol encapsulated much of his life's journey: belonging to a people without ceasing to listen to the suffering of others.
From 2020, Emmanuel Macron He was entrusted with a mission related to peace and Israeli-Palestinian reconciliation. Bronchtein then strongly advocated for France to recognize a Palestinian state, alongside the recognition of Israel by Arab and Muslim states. In September 2025, when France recognized the State of Palestine at the UN, the Élysée Palace presented this moment as a significant milestone in the struggle it had been waging for decades.
Although ill in recent months, suffering in particular from a respiratory illness, he had continued to speak out publicly and defend his beliefs.
To the very end, Ofer Bronchtein sought to transform the language of war into political projects. In February 2025, he notably presented the report “Imagine Gaza”, a reconstruction plan for Gaza for the period 2025-2035, proposing an International Reconstruction Authority, a peacekeeping force, a special economic zone and a fund dedicated to reconstruction.
With Ofer Bronchtein disappears a man of hope, an activist convinced that coexistence between a State of Israel and a Palestinian State was a vital necessity.
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