The Jerusalem Conference

About The Conference

The Jerusalem Conference provides a unique forum for the discussion of Israel's national priorities, social values, and aspirations, as well as the challenges and external threats faced by Israel and the West. Every year the Jerusalem Conference hosts key figures, opinion-molders and policy-makers from Israel and around the world -- all leaders in the political, economic, academic, media, communal, security, military, and rabbinic spheres.

The Jerusalem Conference is dedicated to the promotion of Jewish heritage and values and to Israel’s future as a viable, modern, democratic and Jewish state. The setting for the Jerusalem Conference – Mt. Scopus, Jerusalem – underscores the Conference’s devotion to Israel’s capital city. In the near future the Jerusalem Conference expects to hold additional conferences in other locations in Israel and in key cities in the United States.

The Jerusalem Conference invites your participation.

6th Annual Conference

"New Leadership, New Directions"

Monday Afternoon – Wednesday Evening,
January 26-28, 2009, Shvat 1-3, 5769

Monday, January 26, 2009

19:00-19:30 Opening Address:
Fmr. IDF Chief of Staff Lt. General (res) Moshe "Bogey" Ya'alon

19:30 Opening Session

Can New Leadership Succeed in Entering Israeli Politics?

Participants: MK Gilad Erdan(Likud) MK Ophir Pines-Paz(Labor) Adv. Tzipi Hotobeli (Likud candidate) Ya'akov "Katzele" Katz (Chairman, National Union Party) Brig. General (res) Nachman Shai (Kadima candidate)

Tuesday, January 27, 2009

8:30 - Registration
9:00 - Refreshments
9:30 Greetings – Rishon Letzion Rabbi Shlomo Amar, Sephardi Chief Rabbi of Israel
9:40 - Opening Address: Mayor of Jerusalem Nir Barkat

10:00-11:30

"Will Jerusalem Remain Israel’s Eternal Undivided Capital?"

Participants: Prof. Uzi Arad Founder and head of Institute for Policy and Strategy, Herzliya Amb. Dore Gold former ambassador to the United Nations and President of the Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs Dr. Eilat Mazar Archeologist, Fellow at the Shalem Center's Institute for the Archaeology of the Jewish People Dr. Mordechai Kedar Lecturer, Department of Arabic, Bar Ilan University Nissim Arazi Director, Jerusalem Jewish Quarter Development Company

11:30-11:40 Coffee break

11:40-13:10

Israel under Attack, and the Civilians of the Gaza Area Respond

Participants: Alon Davidi, ChairChairman of the Committee for a Secure Sderot, candidate for National Union Party Chaim Yellin Chairman Eshkol Regional Council Hon. Yitzhak Cohen Minister for Religious Affairs (Shas) and resident of Ashkelon Rachel Saperstein Former spokeswoman of Gush Katif and resident of Nitsan

11:40-13:10

Israel’s War against Corruption and Crime

Participants: Zvi Slonim, Chair Criminologist and former head of Gush Emunim Dr. Uzi Landauformer MK and Minister for Internal Security, candidate for Yisrael Beiteinu Moshe Mizrachiformer police commissioner and head of investigations department in Israel’s police Prof. Yochanan WoznerFmr. Dean of School of Social Work, Tel Aviv Univ.

13:10-14:00 Lunch Break

14:00-15:30

The Global Economic Crisis and Its Meaning for the Israeli Economy

Participants: Eli Kazhdan, Chair CEO, CityBook Services for the real estate market in the US Fred EhrmanBrean Murray Carret & Company, NY Zvi Stepak Chairman, Meitav Investment Group Ken AbramowitzManaging General Partner, NGN Capital. NY

14:00-15:30

Changing of the Guard, New Leadership in the Arab World

Participants: Prof. Martin Kramer Fellow, Shalem Center's Institute for Strategic Studies Maj. General (res) fmr. MK Danny Yatom(Labor), former head of the Mossad Prof. Barry Rubin Head of Global Research in International Affairs at IDC Dr. Hillel Frisch Associate professor in the Departments of Political Studies and Middle East History in Bar-Ilan University

15:30-15:40 Coffee Break

15:40-17:00

Iran’s Internal and Foreign Policies: Can the Regime Be Shaken?

Participants: MK Dr. Yuval Steinitz(Likud), former head of the Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee Maj. General (res.) Uzi Dayan fmr. head of National Security Council Dr. Emily Landau Senior Researcher at the Institute for National Security Studies at Tel Aviv University Brig. General (res) Prof. MK Aryeh EldadFmr. IDF Chief Medical Officer (National Union)

15:40-17:00

Arab and Islamic Internet Sites as Tools of Influence

Participants: Dr. Rachel Ehrenfeld, ChairDirector, American Center for Democracy Lt. Colonel (res) Jonathan D. Halevi Senior Researcher, Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs Itamar Marcus Director, Palestinian Media Watch Koby Huberman Senior Vice President of Global Marketing, NICE Systems

17:00-17:10 Coffee Break

17:10-17:30 Plenary Address: Dep. PM & Minister of Industry, Trade & Labor MK Eli Yishai (Shas)

17:30-17:50 Jerusalem Conference Awards Ceremony
Awardees: Mr. Shmuel Birnbaum, CEO Mishav Construction Co. & Dr. Aryeh Morgenstern

17:50-18:15 Plenary Address: MK Avigdor Lieberman (Chairman, Yisrael Beiteinu)

18:15-19:45

Will U.S.-Israel Relations Be the Same after the U.S. and Israeli Elections?

Participants: Dan Diker, ChairSenior Foreign Policy Analyst, JCPA and Adjunct Fellow, Hudson Institute Amb. Danny Ayalon Former Ambassador to Washington, Candidate for Yisrael Beiteinu Prof. Eitan GilboaProfessor of political science and senior researcher at the BESA Center at Bar Ilan University US Rep. Mark Kirk (R-IL)Member of the House Appropriations Committee US Rep. Eliot Engel (D-NY)Member of the Foreign Affairs Committee

Wednesday, January 28, 2009

8:30 - Registration
9:00 - Refreshments
9:30-9:40 Greetings: Rabbi Yona Metzger, Ashkenazi Chief Rabbi of Israel
9:40-10:00 Plenary Address: Fmr. Prime Minister MK Binyamin Netanyahu (Likud)

10:00-11:30

The Threats Facing Israel and the West, Is There a “Clash of Civilizations?”

Participants: Rabbi Shalom Gold, ChairFounder & Dean, Avrom Silver College and Center for jewish Unity, Jerusalem Prof. Yisrael Aumann Nobel Laureate Prof. Shlomo Avineri Hebrew University and former director of the Foreign Ministry, winner of the Israel Prize MK Silvan Shalom (Likud), former Minister of Foreign Affairs Natan Sharansky former prisoner of Zion and minister, Chairman of the Adelson Institute for Strategic Studies

11:30-11:40 Coffee Break

11:40-13:10

The New Challenges to the IDF on the Battlefield and in International Law

Participants: Ken Abramowitz, ChairManaging General Partner, NGN Capital, N.Y. Colonel (res) Rabbi Eliezer SheinfeldOperations Officer for Northern Command (res.), Dean of Modi'in Hesder Yeshiva Maj. General (res) Yossi Peled Fmr. OC Northern Command, Candidate for Likud Colonel (res) Danny Reisner Fmr. Dir. of International Dept of IDF Prosecution Office Dan MeridorFmr. Minister of Justice (Candidate for Likud)

13:10-14:00 Lunch Break

14:00-15:30

The UN and the International Assault on Israel

Participants: Prof. Anne Bayefsky, ChairProf., Touro College & Senior Fellow at the Hudson Institute, Dir. Touro Institute on Human Rights & the Holocaust Caroline GlickDeputy Managing Editor, Jerusalem Post Melanie PhillipsLeading British journalist and author Minister Ariel AttiasMinister of Communications, (Shas) Mark RegevInternational Spokesman for the Prime Minister

15:30-15:40 Coffee Break

15:40-16:00 Jerusalem Conference Awards Ceremony
Awardee: Paamonim Organization

16:00-16:30 Plenary Address: US Rep. Eric Cantor (R-Va), Republican Whip

16:30-18:00

The Crisis of Confidence in the Israeli Judicial System

Participants: MK Zevulun Orlev, Chair (Habayit Hayehudi) Rabbi Shmuel EliyahuChief Rabbi of Tzfat (Safed) Judge (ret) Uri StruzmanRetired District Court Judge Adv. Nitzana Darshan-LeitnerFounder and Chairwoman of Shurat HaDin Law Center Adv. Prof. Ya’akov Ne’emanFormer Minister of Justice

16:30-18:00

Is Aliya Relevant Today?

Participants: Tony Gelbart, Chair Founder and chairman of Nefesh B’Nefesh Michael FreundChairman of Shavei Yisrael Organization Shmuel YesselsonSenior Dept Head of Conversions, Prime Minister's Office MK Uri Ariel (National Union) Eli Cohen Director, Aliya and Absorption Department, Jewish Agency

18:15-19:40

Stopping the Financing of Terrorism and the Financial Jihad

Participants: Adv. Devora Srour-Politis, ChairAuthor of Money Laundering, Terrorism Financing and Financial Networks Dr. Rachel EhrenfeldDirector, American Center for Democracy & author of "Funding Evil: How Terrorism is Financed" Lt. Colonel (res) Jonathan D. HaleviSenior researcher, Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs US Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, (R-FL)Member of Foreign Affairs Committee US Rep. Brad Sherman, (D-CA)Member of Foreign Affairs Committee

19:40-20:00 Plenary Address: Acting Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Tzipi Livni, (Chair Kadima)
20:00-20:10 Jerusalem Conference Awards Ceremony
Awardee: Achiya Olive Oil Manufacturer
20:15-21:00 Plenary Session: Prof. Bernard Lewis, interviewed by Dan Diker (Senior Foreign Policy Analyst, JCPA and Adjunct Fellow, Hudson Institute)