Grassroots diplomacy in practice: initiatives by Israeli civilians at bridging the divide with the Iranian people

Over the past decade (2006–18), a number of Israelis from Iranian background initiated Civilian Relations Building Initiatives (CRBIs) dedicated at bridging the divide with the Iranian people and help in preventing war between Israel and Iran. They mostly use information technologies (IT), including social media and radio platforms, to connect with the Iranians and have been successful at gaining such an Iranian audience. Given the important role that such CRBIs could play in defusing the growing Israeli-Iranian tensions, this pioneering study aims at evaluating how effective these CRBIs have been and analyze the obstacles they confront.