2005 Recipient: Alon Tal

Jerusalem’s Municipal Chambers were transformed into a floral desert oasis to serve as the site for the presentation of The Charles Bronfman Prize 2005 to Dr. Alon Tal, one of Israel’s young environmental visionaries, on January 10, 2006.

Flanked by friends, family, and government and business colleagues, Jerusalem Mayor Uri Lupolianski and Andrew Hauptman, representing the Prize founders, opened the ceremony in which Prize judge, former Minister of Justice Dan Meridor and Charles Bronfman spoke of Alon’s achievements and impact on Israel and the region.

Inspired by the trailblazing efforts of Israel’s founding fathers to secure the Jewish homeland, Tal, born in North Carolina and educated at Harvard University, made aliyah in the early 1980’s and enlisted in the Israel Defense Forces.

His service in the IDF was only the first expression of his commitment to the State of Israel. As he accepted the $100,000 prize, Tal expressed his thoughts about the role his generation could play in Israel’s future. “The first fifty years of Israeli history were a fight for survival and Jewish political sovereignty. The challenges associated with the next 100 years are far more compelling,” he said. “My generation will be laying down the lines that define what will be paved, exploited and consumed and what we will leave protected so that future generations can enjoy the same inspiration that so moved pilgrims and prophets for millennia.”

From his service as a paratrooper to the range of key positions he held as an advocate for progressive environmental policies, Tal set out to define his life’s mission -- protecting and preserving the land of Israel.

In a letter to Dr. Tal read at the awards ceremony, Dr. Miriam Haran, Director General of the Israeli Ministry of Environment, praised the Prize’s selection. “The Charles Bronfman Prize justifiably recognizes your endeavors and achievements in shaping the seeds of change in the environmental community in Israel.”

Indeed, Tal’s impact could be felt in many of Israel’s top environmental organizations and initiatives. In 1996, Tal founded the Arava Institute for Environmental Studies (www.arava.org) on Kibbutz Ketura. Set up under the auspices of Tel Aviv University, he recruited students from throughout the Middle East to pursue graduate degrees in environmental studies in Israel. His message resonated with them and they registered for the program by the dozen to tackle the region’s emerging environmental threats under Tal’s leadership. The Arava Institute has become fertile ground for the region’s environmentalists. Today, eighty percent of its graduates hold key regional environmental positions.

Tal’s work unifying players in the region was reflected in a statement by one of the Prize’s judges, James D. Wolfensohn, Quartet Special Envoy for Disengagement and Former President of the World Bank, “Dr. Tal has clearly demonstrated the exciting breadth of possibilities in the Middle East when Arabs and Israelis work together for the good of the region and its shared resources. His work proves that joint efforts can yield benefits far beyond those accomplished working alone. His selection as Prize winner should encourage us all.”

Naim Daoud, Director of the Environmental Department of The Arab National Society For Health Research and Services, was one of those who nominated Tal for the Prize. In his nominating letter, Daoud wrote: “Alon Tal is an environmentalist who understands that ecology can be a force that brings people together and bridges our differences in the region. Few have done more in our field to make this happen.”

Tal was an early leader in Israel’s environmental community. At age 29, he founded Adam Teva V’din, The Israel Union for Environmental Defense, to fight for Israeli environmental rights. Considered Israel’s most effective environmental organization, Tal’s creation has won countless legal actions, garnered more stringent regulations, tougher enforcement policies, and increased environmental initiatives. Tal’s undertakings have produced tangible results. His accomplishments in reshaping the country’s clean air, water, and soil policy drew praise from former Israeli Minister of Justice, Dan Meridor, another Prize judge.

Meridor acknowledged Tal’s feat of inspiring a generation to invest in their land. The attitude used to be apathetic, said Meridor. "Who has time to think of the environment? Now hundreds of students have come to Israel to tackle the pressing problems of the day with Dr. Tal. Alon Tal’s vigorous defense of Israel’s resources and environment has benefited our country immensely.”

Dr. Tal’s abilities were recognized by his peers as he was unanimously voted chairman of Life and Environment, an umbrella group for Israel’s environmental community. The organization initiates national environmental projects and under his stewardship, has grown from 24 to 80 member organizations.

“Our struggle is not against anything in particular but rather in favor of clean air, clean water and recycling,” said Tal in articulating his approach to the challenges facing the environment’s protectors. “We need to say yes – yes to eco-system integrity, yes to energy conservation and yes to the Zionist ideal of fighting for a greater quality of life in Israel.”

Charles Bronfman spoke movingly about being honored by his children, who founded the Prize and by the judges’ selection of Alon Tal as the Prize’s second recipient. “I am so grateful that my children established this prize. Alon Tal epitomizes its true spirit. His life has been an impressive tapestry of initiatives woven together to better the world, reflecting the best of Jewish and universal values alike. Through his profound commitment, he has inspired Israelis and others throughout the Mideast to find common ground in preserving the region’s environmental health.”

“Israelis are tremendously committed to the environment. Our mission is as old as the marching paper that Adam and Eve received in Genesis to ‘work’ and ‘protect’ the Garden of Eden,” Tal said in accepting the Prize. “We can move mountains if optimism motivates us.”

The Prize provides Tal a once-in-a-life-time philanthropic opportunity to fulfill his dream, creating a foundation to support Israeli grassroots activists who face emergency situations.

“Surely we can galvanize this country's prodigious creativity and intelligence to find other solutions -- solutions that will allow us and our children to live lightly on this land we love, and leave an Israel that is closer to an Eden than that which we received."

Visibly moved by Alon’s comments, Andrew Hauptman concluded the ceremony noting that “Alon set out to change the world and he has done so impacting not only our world today but the world we shall leave behind for the next generation.”

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