As more than two years have passed since the Oct. 7 atrocities, a new report offers a rare, wide-angle look at how Israelis across different sectors view the country’s future and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, pointing to notable areas of shared concern and a stronger foundation for national unity.

Last week, the TEMA Leadership Network — a cross-sector Israeli grassroots initiative — released the findings of a year-long study examining how different communities understand the conflict, broader Middle East dynamics, and intergroup relations between Jews, Arabs, and Muslims.

To mark the 1,000th day since the invasion of and massacre across southern Israel by the Palestinian terrorist group Hamas on Oct. 7, 2023, TEMA brought together more than 150 public figures and opinion-makers at the Council for a Beautiful Israel in Tel Aviv, aiming to foster “an inclusive and meaningful dialogue about the future of Israel’s relations with the Palestinians.”

While not intended to represent every sector of Israeli society, the report sheds light on discussions held over the past year among leadership groups, and how identity, trauma, religion, politics, and personal experience have shaped their perceptions of regional dynamics and conflicts.

According to the group, the initiative is not about eliminating disagreement, but about building a new public discourse that allows Israelis from diverse backgrounds to engage the conflict openly while encouraging practical, grassroots projects to grow from the ground up.

Rabbi Ben David, who heads the educational center at Yad HaRav Nissim and the Shaarei Zion Beit Midrash in Jerusalem, praised TEMA’s initiative, noting how even profound differences can still allow space for meaningful conversation.

“Even amid deep disagreement, there is room for listening that allows us to truly see one another,” Ben David, a Religious Zionist rabbi, said in a speech at the conference. “From there, real change can begin.”

One of the report’s key insights was that Religious Zionist participants expressed a strong sense of responsibility rooted in Torah, the Jewish people, and the Land of Israel, while also recognizing that others often perceive their language and worldview as forceful or extreme.

By contrast, secular participants voiced concern about the weakening of liberal and democratic values, while acknowledging that conventional Western approaches have often overlooked the powerful influence of religion and identity in shaping regional conflicts.

As for the Haredi (ultra-Orthodox) participants, their views were shaped by Torah, the principle of saving life (pikuach nefesh), and pragmatism, with some believing their community could help bridge divides because it is less centered on territorial ideology.

Mizrahi participants — Jews from Middle Eastern and North African backgrounds — took a more relational than ideological approach, focusing on trust-building before formal diplomacy and emphasizing belonging to the region, family, honor, Jewish continuity, and cultural familiarity with the Arab world.

The report also found that Arab citizens of Israel framed the conflict around recognition, justice, dignity, and identity, pointing to the complexity of their position as members of Israeli society with strong ties to the Palestinian people.

Among the youth cohort, one of the network’s most diverse groups, a shared theme was a call for a new Israeli story that includes different identities, difficult histories, and hopes for the future, with many less focused on old ideologies and more on the country they will inherit.

During the conference, Ofir Toubul, founder of the Tor HaZahav Movement — a group working to strengthen social cohesion and amplify diverse voices within Israeli society — stressed the importance of recognizing difference as a basis for dialogue.

“To build a shared future, we first need to understand the diversity of voices that make up Israeli society,” Toubul said. “That is the starting point for any meaningful conversation.”

Looking to offer new ways of engaging with the conflict, the conference presented 15 initiatives, including efforts to make understanding of the issue accessible to Haredi audiences through a Torah-based, practical approach, a Mizrahi-rooted policy framework, and a multilingual platform for Jewish-Arab dialogue that engages disagreement rather than avoiding it.

According to TEMA, the initiatives embody its broader mission of turning difficult conversations into practical, actionable outcomes.