The Interreligious Coordinating Council in Israel (ICCI) is an interfaith umbrella organization based in Israel that promotes interreligious and intercultural understanding among Jewish, Muslim, and Christian communities. It was founded in January 1991 and functions as an umbrella body bringing together dozens of religious, cultural, and academic institutions active in interfaith dialogue and coexistence work.
Core values of the ICCI are: dialogue and action, local and regional involvement, participation by the community and by the individual, building long-term relationships, and use of faith texts and values for "learning from each other".Interreligious Coordinating Council in Israel website: "About us". ICCI posts blogs on the internet about such current issues and developments, and reflections thereon.ICCI Blog website. Although both dialogue and action are on its agenda, the ICCI believes that "Dialogue is not enough."Interreligious Coordinating Council in Israel website: "About us".
"Our mission is to harness the teachings and values of the three Abrahamic faiths and transform religion's role from a force of division and extremism into a source of reconciliation, coexistence and understanding for the leaders and followers of these religions in Israel and in our region."Interreligious Coordinating Council in Israel website: "About us".
History In 2015, ICCI became associated with Rabbis for Human Rights.Rabbis for Human Rights website.
An umbrella organization, ICCI works with about sixty Jewish, Muslim, and Christian organizations in Israel. Included are Jewish-Arab groups, various interfaith forums, institutes, universities, and museums. The ICCI also associates with several international institutions: Religions for Peace, affiliated with the United Nations;Religions for Peace website . Started in 1961, Religions for Peace has inter-religious bodies in 92 nations, including in Israel: the ICCI. and the International Council of Christians and Jews, a group which also fosters dialogue between Jews, Christians, and Muslims.International Council of Christians and Jews website. Cf., Seelisberg Conference (1947).
The ICCI was founded by its first director, Rabbi Dr. Ron Kronish, who retired in 2015–2016. Educated at Brandeis University, Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion, and Harvard Graduate School of Education, he has lived in Jerusalem since 1979. He also writes and blogs in the media.Ron Kronish page at The Huffington Post. Rabbi Kronish also blogs for The Times of Israel. ICCI found a new director, Yonatan Shefa, a resident of the Jerusalem area. He has a track record as an activist, both in various professional capacities and as a volunteer, he also studies at Yeshiva Sulam Ya'akov for the rabbinate. Originally from Toronto, he's a graduate of McGill University, with a masters from the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University. ICCI's organization is supported by the staff and works in consultation with Council trustees.Interreligious Coordinating Council in Israel website: "About Us" ICCI Staff.
Programs and activities Accordingly, for the last several years ICCI has sought to abate crimes of domestic terrorism, especially those associated with the slogan "price tag" [Hebrew: tag melchir], alleged to be done by a small faction of Israeli settlers."Security sources: 100 followers of racist rabbi are behind hate crimes" in Haaretz 8 May 2014. The ICCI's counter program is called Tag Meir (spreading the light)."Tag Meir voices Christian solidarity against vandals" in The Jerusalem Post, October 5, 2012. Tag Meir proponents and others fear that the unsolved acts of vandalism and violence against 'civilian enemies' that are claimed by "price tag" will harm Israel's moral standing. "Arsonists damage and deface Mosque in West Bank village" in The New York Times, June 7, 2011. Members of the ICCI, through the Tag Meir program, visit the victims to show their support; they have coordinated in public demonstrations with thirty other organizations.Interreligious Coordinating Council in Israel website: "Our Work" Interfaith Activism."Tag Meir coalition responds to hate" at New Israel Fund website. Tag Meir is also active in helping other victims of similar attacks."Tag Meir activists visit victim of racist attack" in The Jerusalem Post, April 7, 2013.
The ICCI publishes a newsletter, and distributes articles and media promoting dialogue, understanding, and activism for peace.ICCI publications at WorldCat Identities. Included is the film I am Joseph your Brother.Interreligious Coordinating Council in Israel website: "Stay Informed". ICCI produces a poster in Hebrew showing the Golden Rule as it's articulated in the world's religions, including Judaism, Christianity, and Islam.ICCI's Golden Rule poster announced at International Council of Jewish Women website. Cf., Scarboro Missions website. Among recent programs sponsored by the ICCI is a Jewish-Muslim dialogue group for professionals and community leaders which meets in Haifa. According to Rabbi Kronish:
"Jewish-Muslim Dialogue is a rare phenomenon in Israel. As far as I know, we (within the Interreligious Coordinating Council in Israel) are the only ones doing it. ... [¶] I have come to believe in recent years that a healthy Jewish-Muslim Dialogue is not only an imperative for us in Israel, but one that is doable and practical, since both sides have much to gain, both in terms of knowledge and in terms of enabling us to learn to live together in the same society.""Kodesh: Jewish and Muslim religious voices for peace" in The Times of Israel, January 28, 2014.
Within the ICCI there are sections for Religious Leaders, Youth and Young Adults, Interfaith Study Tours, and Interreligious Activism. The section for religious leaders seeks to promote "Education, dialogue and action programs encompassing the spectrum of religious communities in Israel."Interreligious Coordinating Council in Israel website: "Home".
In February 2026, at the 15th Council of Heads of Religions in Nazareth (organized by Israel's Ministry of the Interior), leaders including Chief Rabbi Kalman Bar, Druze Sheikh Mufak Tarif, and Patriarch Theophilos III issued a trilingual joint call for unity, peace, and action against division, echoing ICCI's Abrahamic reconciliation focus, though not directly led by ICCI.
See also Religions for Peace World Congress of Imams and Rabbis for Peace The Centre for the Study of Muslim-Jewish Relations International Council of Christians and Jews New Israel Fund
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