As climate change threatens food production across the Middle East, Israeli and Palestinian scientists have spent the past five years working together to tackle one of the region's biggest agricultural challenges: developing wheat that can produce under a changing climate. Led by the Hebrew University of Jerusalem in partnership with the Al-Quds Public Health Society, the project identified promising climate-resilient wheat varieties capable of withstanding increasing heat and drought. The collaboration continued despite substantial challenges, underscoring how scientific partnerships can help address global challenges that transcend borders, politics, and conflict.

As climate change intensifies drought and rising temperatures across the Middle East, researchers have successfully completed a five-year international research project to develop wheat varieties better suited to the region's increasingly harsh growing conditions.

The project has been initiated and managed by the Dutch Friends of Hebrew University. It is the Dutch Friends’ 4^th consecutive program since 2012 in which it aims to contribute to the research budget of Hebrew University and aims to build relationships and reconciliation between HU and Palestinian scientists and students. The foundation received funding of nearly €2.2 million from the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs, bringing together scientists from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and the Al-Quds Public Health Society, with scientific support from Wageningen University in the Netherlands. Despite the challenges, the team completed the project and developed promising new climate-resilient wheat lines.

Led by Prof. Zvi Peleg from the Robert H. Smith Faculty of Agriculture, Food and Environment at the Hebrew University, the research focused on identifying wheat varieties capable of maintaining productivity under limited rainfall and increasing temperatures. Over the past several decades, the region's rainy season has become shorter and less predictable, placing growing pressure on one of the world's most important staple crops.

The collaboration produced a new wheat line named "Ufuq"—Arabic for horizon—symbolizing a shared vision for improving agricultural resilience in the face of climate change.

"Our goal was to develop wheat varieties that can thrive under the changing environmental conditions farmers are increasingly facing," said Prof. Zvi Peleg. "Climate change is reducing the length of the growing season and making rainfall far less reliable. Improving crop resilience is essential for future food security—not only in our region but around the world."

The project combined expertise in plant breeding, genetics, agronomy, and field evaluation to identify wheat lines that require less water while maintaining strong agricultural performance.

Beyond its scientific achievements, the project also demonstrates how international scientific partnerships, and in particular an IL-PA partnership improves building mutual understanding and can continue addressing global challenges even during periods of profound political and security instability. The Dutch Friends of Hebrew University strongly belief in partnerships like these. In previous projects, the Dutch Friends funded HU - Palestinian research projects on vector-borne diseases (ticks) and waste water treatment.

"Food security is a challenge that transcends borders," Peleg said. "Science advances by bringing together complementary expertise to solve shared problems. Agricultural research aimed at improving crops and ensuring future food supplies benefits everyone."

As climate models predict hotter, drier growing seasons across much of the Mediterranean and Middle East, the researchers believe that developing more resilient crop varieties will become increasingly critical for sustainable agriculture and global food security.