The Economic Cooperation Foundation (ECF, Hebrew: הקרן לשיתוף פעולה כלכלי) was founded by Dr. Yair Hirschfeld (the initiator of the Oslo Peace Process), together with former Minister of Justice, Dr. Yossi Beilin at the end of 1990 as a non-profit, non-governmental track II think tank, whose objectives are to build, maintain and support Israeli-Palestinian and Israeli-Arab cooperation in the political, economic, and civil society spheres in support of creating a sustainable Permanent Status based on a two-state solution.

[1] Over the years, ECF has developed a unique network of intimate relations with all the relevant players – Israel, Palestine, Egypt, Jordan, America, Europe, and others.

In turn, this has enabled the ECF to create coalitions, design concepts, suggest creative solutions and build structures that have been translated into agreed-upon agendas and specific proposals.

[2] The ECF initially began and led the secret talks in Oslo, Norway, that resulted in the signing of the Declaration of Principles (DOP) in September 1993.

ECF also played a noticeable role in preparing for the Israeli Disengagement Plan from Gaza and parts of the northern West Bank in August–September 2005.