When Leon Berg and Susanna Knittel first went to Israel in 2001, their vision was to bring council to both Arabs and Jews through schools and coexistence groups. 

This effort took a leap into manifestation when Ronit Weintraub--now Ronit Renat Peleg--returned to her native country in 2002 with a passionate commitment to "bring council to the children of Israel." She and Leon created the Amuta (non-profit), "Ma'agal Hakshava" (Listening Circles) in 2003.

The story that has unfolded since then is a tribute to the power of council and the dedicated efforts of many people both in Israel and the U.S. Annual extended stays on Leon Berg's part and, more recently, shorter visits by Joe Provisor and Gigi Coyle have significantly supported a variety of trainings, including those in education and the Nature of Council. In 2004 Jack Zimmerman and Jaquelyn McCandless began a sequence of visits to Israel to bring their relationship work, council trainings, women's empowerment circles and, more recently, a new coexistence initiative. Jack has also been working intensively with the Amuta's Leadership Council for several years as it has matured and grown.

Ronit and Leon were joined in the early years by Ya'el Mey Ora and Ela Merom (both of whom were CCT international interns) and later by Eran Halevi. In 2005 Galit and Shay Hanien joined Ronit in guiding the Amuta. Since 2007 the current expanded Leadership Circle (Ronit, Galit, Shay, Aura Hammer, Itaf Awad, Tally Zahor, Nurit Avrahami, Yaeli Arama-Oren, Elana Flax, Noa Maayan and--most recently--Carmit Levi-David) now includes educators, members of the healing professions, community leaders and professionals who are involved in council based activities all over Israel. In 2007 Galit joined Ronit as a certified CCT Trainer.

The original vision has flowered in a way that has brought council into schools, colleges, intentional communities, women's empowerment groups, municipal governments, coexistence organizations, places of business, families and primary relationships. The Amuta Ma'agal Hakshava is linked with TOF as a major 'pod' in our growing worldwide network of council practitioners. The number of Israelis trained to facilitate council now exceeds 100, with more than a dozen playing the role of mentor on their way to becoming trainers themselves. The work in Israel has been supported by many individuals and foundations, including the Alan B Slifka Foundation, the TIDES Foundation (Ron and Tova Claman) and the Nathan Cummings Foundation.