The Foundation for Middle East Peace was created in 1979 by Merle Thorpe, Jr., a Washington-based lawyer and philanthropist, to promote a just resolution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Recognizing that the Israeli-Palestinian issue was at the core of the Arab-Israeli conflict, Thorpe became deeply involved in searching for a conflict-ending agreement.

The Foundation advances this goal through education and advocacy, publications about the conflict, a speakers’ program to introduce Israeli, Palestinian, and other experts to U.S. audiences, public speaking by officers of the Foundation, and a small grant program to support groups that advance the cause of peace in Israel and Palestine.

In 1992, in view of the growing threat of Israeli settlements to peace, the Foundation introduced the bimonthly Report on Israeli Settlements in the Occupied Territories, edited by Geoffrey Aronson. The Report contains detailed, authoritative analysis, data and maps on settlements and related issues, and was published until 2014.