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Participant in MASHAV Course for Palestinian Farmers on Cooperative Development in Rural Areas

Israel’s cooperation with the Palestinian Authority focused on human capacity building and institution building. In 2000, for example, Palestinian professionals represented the largest contingent of participants in professional training courses in Israel. Over 775 Palestinians trained in Israel in the first three quarters of the year 2000. In particular, there was fruitful cooperation in the fields of Agriculture, Environment, and Civil Society with major projects being launched between Israeli and Palestinian Ministries, hospitals and utility services providers. Unfortunately, in September 2000, the Palestinian Authority issued a clear directive to all official Palestinian bodies and NGOs to suspend all cooperation with Israel. It is our hope that with advances in the political process, it will be possible to once again achieve the high level of cooperation which we once enjoyed.