Israeli Presidential Conference

Previous Conferences
The Israeli Presidential Conference 2013 Facing Tomorrow: The Human Factor
Date	18 – 20 June 2013
LOCATION	Jerusalem
URL	Presidential Conference 2013
The Israeli Presidential Conference 2012 Facing Tomorrow
Date	19 – 21 June 2012
LOCATION	Jerusalem
URL	Presidential Conference 2012
The Israeli Presidential Conference 2011 Facing Tomorrow: A thriving tomorrow or a declining tomorrow?
Date	21 – 23 June 2011
LOCATION	Jerusalem
URL	Presidential Conference 2011
The Israeli Presidential Conference 2009 Facing Tomorrow: Our Mutual Tomorrow
Date	20 – 22 October 2009
LOCATION	Jerusalem
URL	Presidential Conference 2009
The Israeli Presidential Conference 2008 Facing Tomorrow
Date	13 – 15 May 2008
LOCATION	Jerusalem
URL	Presidential Conference 2008
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The Israeli Presidential Conference is a high level conference being held in Jerusalem previously once every 18 months and more recently annually, under the auspices of the Israeli President and Nobel Prize laureate, Shimon Peres. The gathering, titled "Facing Tomorrow", brings together the world top leaders and thinkers in a wide variety of fields including policy, energy, science, economics, culture, art, religion and thought to navigate the most pressing global challenges ahead.

History

The Conference was inaugurated in May 2008 through the vision of Israel's ninth President Shimon Peres. His vision was to create a conference that brought together the world's best minds to examine the "tomorrow" we are all facing. The Conference seeks to investigate the crises and solutions, trends and innovations, visions and ideals that are shaping our collective future by exploring actions that could and should be undertaken towards the betterment of "tomorrow" for Israel, the Jewish people and the world at large.

The aim of the Conference was the development of an annual event that not only ‘talks’ but also drives action and encourages practical initiatives intended to positively shape our future.

Previous Conferences had as speakers a variety of global leaders, international scholars and activists, poets and scientists, artists and clergy, entrepreneurs, economists and industrialists including: George W. Bush, Tony Blair, Václav Havel, Mikhail Gorbachev and Lech Kaczyński; Nobel Peace Prize Laureates including Elie Wiesel and Henry Kissinger, Nobel Prize Laureate for Chemistry Professor Ada Yonath; Rupert Murdoch, former World Bank President James D. Wolfensohn, Baron David de Rothschild, economist Dominique Strauss-Kahn, Governor of the Bank of Israel Stanley Fischer, Yahoo! CEO Susan Decker, Google Founder Sergei Brin, Wikipedia Founder Jimmy Wales, futurist Ray Kurzweil, philosopher and writer Bernard-Henri Lévy, Abby Joseph Cohen, Professor Ruth Gavison, Professor Michael Walzer, writer Amos Oz, filmmaker Claude Lanzmann, conductor Zubin Mehta and many more.^[1]

Conference Structure

Each Conference assembles heads of state, thinkers and people of action, poets and scientists, artists and clergy, businessmen and entrepreneurs, as well as representatives of the next generation of leaders - promising young people with immense talent and originality. The deliberations of the select group of the world’s best minds take place in the Conference’s plenary meetings and within a diverse array of panels dedicated to a wide range of significant issues

Each Conference consists of plenary sessions, panel discussions, roundtables, master classes and an exhibition.

The 2008 Conference Steering Committee partnered with The Jewish Policy Planning Institute to develop and produce the Conference.^[2]

The 2009, 2011, 2012 and 2013 Steering Committees partnered with The Hebrew University of Jerusalem to develop and produce the Conference.^{[3] [4]}

The Israeli Presidential Conference 2013 Facing Tomorrow: The Human Factor

“Facing Tomorrow” – the fifth Israeli Presidential Conference inspired by President Shimon Peres – will take place in Jerusalem on 18–20 June 2013. As in previous years, the Conference will look at 'Tomorrow' and engage the central issues that will influence the face of our future: geopolitics, economics, society, environment, culture, identity, education, new media, and more.

In the 2013 Conference, we will give special emphasis to the human factor and its role in shaping our tomorrow. We will ask whether the quality of leadership – in all realms of human activity – can make a difference. What is the desired dynamic in relationships between people and leaders in the face of powerful processes of change? To what degree can human beings really be involved in influencing their futures? We will examine what threats may lie in an individual's tomorrow, in terms of identity, family, health, ability to find happiness, and meaning in life.

2013 Boycott Campaign

On 7 May 2013, physicist Stephen Hawking informed the organizers that he was cancelling his participation as keynote speaker. He indicated that this was in support of the academic boycott protesting Israel's treatment of Palestinians.^[5] It was later found that among the 20 academics who lobbied Hawking to boycott were Professor Noam Chomsky and Professor Malcolm Levitt who advocated boycott as the proper method for scientist to respond to the "explicit policy" of "systemic discrimination" against the non-Jewish and Palestinian population. Hawkings decision was heavily criticized by several academics, including former Harvard University president Larry Summers and David Newman, who warned that "an academic boycott just destroys one of the very few spaces left where Israelis and Palestinians actually do come together." ^[6][7][8]

Selected Topics of discussion

1. Should We Wait It Out? Israel and a Changing Middle East
2. Is there Hope for a Green Tomorrow
3. Brain Research - The Wondrous Voyage into Ourselves
4. Tomorrow's Wars - No Longer Science Fiction
5. The Lands of Milk and Honey... and Natural Gas - Challenges and Opportunities
6. Leadership that Makes a Difference
7. The New Media: is it Still Renewing?
8. The Global Economy's Tomorrow
9. The Decisions that will Shape Tomorrow

Selected speakers from 2013

1. Bill Clinton
2. Sharon Stone
3. Robert De Niro
4. Tony Blair
5. Rahm Emanuel
6. Munther Dajani Daoudi
7. Larry Summers
8. Barbra Streisand
9. Ayaan Hirsi-Ali
10. Daniel Kahneman
11. Prince Albert II of Monaco
12. Ruth Gavison
13. Dan Ariely
14. David Axelrod
15. Tony Blair
16. Mikhail Gorbachev
17. Daphne Koller
18. Larry Brilliant
19. Wendy Kopp
20. Stanley Fischer
21. Natan Sharansky
22. Shibley Telhami

References