Rabbi Yonatan Neril

Rabbi Yonatan Neril founded and directs the Interfaith Center for Sustainable Development (ICSD), which reveals the connection between religion and ecology and mobilizes faith communities to act. Yonatan is coauthor of the bestselling book Eco Bible, An Ecological Commentary on the Hebrew Bible, which shines new light on how the Hebrew Bible and great religious thinkers have urged human care and stewardship of nature for thousands of years as a central message of spiritual wisdom.

He speaks internationally on religion and ecology, including at the World Economic Forum in Davos, multiple UN climate conferences, and the Parliament of World Religions. In 2023 he initiated and co-organized the first-ever Faith Pavilion at a UN climate conference (COP28 in Dubai), which included 70 sessions with 325 speakers. He co-organized thirteen interfaith environmental conferences in Jerusalem and the US. Yonatan is a member of the World Economic Forum's Faith In Action working group. Yonatan is lead author of two other books on Jewish environmental ethics including Uplifting People and Planet: 18 Essential Jewish Teachings on the Environment.

Raised in California, Yonatan completed an M.A. and B.A. from Stanford University with a focus on global environmental issues, and received rabbinical ordination in Israel. He lives with his wife, Shana, and their two children in Jerusalem.

Rabbi Leo Dee served for six years as a community rabbi in the United Kingdom, and then worked in the field of sustainable development in the Israeli financial community, and later as ICSD director of programs. In April 2023 his wife, Lucy, and two daughters, Maia and Rina, were brutally massacred by Hamas terrorists on the way up to a family holiday in Tiberias. He now dedicates his time educating on the topic of Shalom and lives in Efrat with his remaining three children.