A Dinner with Expert Negotiator Moty Cristal
September 15, 2008 - A group of Boston International members had the opportunity to dine with negotiations expert Moty Cristal at Boston’s Daily Grill.
Moty started the evening by giving us the background on his work in advising governments and companies on effective negotiation processes and strategies. Moty also advises US counter-terrorism experts on extortion terrorism, which he believes has been largely overlooked by US policymakers.
The group discussed at length the pros and cons of negotiating with – and “against” – terrorists, and compared the different perspectives of the US and Israel on this issue. Moty cited the recent example of Israel negotiating with Hezbollah for the release of its fallen soldiers to highlight Israel’s long-standing value of paying almost any price to retrieve its soldiers.
The discussion then turned to the dynamics in Israeli-Palestinian negotiations. Moty created Israeli Palestinian Negotiating Partners, an intensive networking program to bring together negotiators on both sides at the Harvard Negotiation Project. Moty recounted several fun anecdotes about the bonds he created during the programs, but noted that there’s still a long way to go to bridge the culture gap between the two sides’ negotiating parties.
Moty closed by commenting that in order for negotiations to succeed between Israel and its neighbors, both sides need to trust the process. His view is that it is not necessary for the individuals to trust each other, but if the negotiators lack faith in the process, a deal will never be achieved.
All in attendance left with a much stronger appreciation for the nuances and complexities of negotiation. Boston International would like to thank Moty for sharing his stories and insights with us!
About Mr. Cristal
Moty Cristal is the founder and CEO of Nest Consulting, a unique consulting group which provides complex negotiations and crisis management training, consulting and operational support to senior executives in the public and private sector in the US, Europe, Asia and the Middle East.
Nest Consulting provides its services using the Negosystem© model: a revolutionary form of negotiation system design engineered and administered exclusively at Nest Consulting, and cooperates with its strategic network of consultants and affiliated companies throughout Europe, US and South East Asia.
From 1994 to 2001, Mr. Cristal served in various official positions in Israeli negotiation teams with Jordan and the Palestinians, and experienced years of cross-cultural negotiations. His last position was Deputy Head of the Negotiation Management Center within Prime Minister Barak’s office. Since 2001 Mr. Cristal works closely with senior executives in the public and private sectors, in various negotiation training and consulting modes. Currently he serves as a senior consultant for civic crises to the Israeli Prime Minister.
Mr. Cristal is a Lt. Colonel (R.) in the IDF Crisis Negotiation Unit, and lectures worldwide on crisis negotiation and complex crisis management. He teaches international negotiations and crisis management to graduate students and executives at Tel Aviv University and the Lauder School of Government at the Interdisciplinary Center in Herzelia.
In cooperation with Harvard Prof. Roger Fisher, the co-author of “Getting to Yes” and the head of Harvard Negotiation Project, He established IPNP (Israeli Palestinian Negotiating Partners), a network of negotiators in the region. He is a research fellow at the Institute for Counter-Terrorism in Herzelia, founding member of Reut Institute and a visiting scholar in leading international negotiation institutions and think-tanks worldwide, in including the Program On Negotiation at Harvard Law School, and the IDSS in Singapore.
Mr. Cristal commentates regularly on the Israeli and international media, international conferences and academic 20 publications on negotiation processes and crisis interventions.
Mr. Cristal graduated from Bar-Ilan Law School in Israel, and Harvard Kennedy School of Government. He writes his PhD at the London School of Economics.