Fourth Herzliya Conference

The Fourth Herzliya Conference took place on 16-18 December 2003.

Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon announced his unilateral disengagement plan during his speech to the conference.

Program

Tuesday, December 16, 2003

08:00 Opening

• Dr. Uzi Arad, Head, Institute for Policy and Strategy, The Interdisciplinary Center Herzliya
• Ms. Yael German, Mayor of Herzliya

• Prof. Abraham (Rami) Friedman, Dean, The Lauder School of Government, Diplomacy and Strategy, The Interdisciplinary Center Herzliya

The National Scoreboard International and time-series comparison of Israel’s standing in the economic, social, and political spheres; Comparative in-depth surveys of Israeli society; Overall strategic assessment of Israel's situation.

“The Herzliya Indices”, Task Force Report

• Prof. Rafi Melnick, Arison School of Business, The Interdisciplinary Center Herzliya

“The Haifa Indices”, Task Force Report

• Prof. Gabriel Ben-Dor, Director, National Security Studies Center, University of Haifa

“The National Security Council Indices”, Task Force Report

• Col.(res.) Dr. Reuven Gal, Deputy Head, National Security Council, Prime Minister’s Office

“The Changing Strategic Landscape”

• Maj. Gen. Giora Eiland, Head-Designate of the National Security Council, Prime Minister’s Office

DEFENSE CHALLENGES The Palestinian-Israeli Impasse: Alternative Options and Approaching Decisions Review and assessment of the state of warfare against terror; Regional processes and their impact on the Palestinian-Israeli issue; Alternative diplomatic and political options; The future of Palestinian leadership.

• Chair: Mr. Ehud Olmert, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Industry, Trade, Labor and Communication.

“There is Life After Terror”

• Mr. Avi Dichter, Head, Israel Security Agency, (Shin Bet)

“Alternative Options for Resolving the Israeli-Palestinian Dispute” (English)

• Prof. Steven L. Spiegel, Burkle Institute for International Relations, UCLA
• Discussant: Dr. Shmuel Bar, Institute for Policy and Strategy, The Interdisciplinary Center Herzliya.

“IDF: The Military Posture and the New Defense Doctrine”

• Lt. Gen. Moshe Ya’alon, Chief of General Staff, IDF

The Iranian Challenge Iran’s nuclear program and its effort to acquire military nuclear capability; International and US approaches to the Iranian nuclear program; Regime stability and political undercurrents in Iran.

• Chair: MK Brig. Gen. (res.) Dr. Ephraim Sneh, Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee and Chair, Subcommittee for Defense and Security Doctrine.

“Heading Off an Iranian Nuclear Weapons Capability”

• Mr. Robert Einhorn, Center for Strategic & International Studies (CSIS)

“Putting More Muscle into the International Effort to Stop an Iranian Nuclear Bomb”,

• Dr. Patrick Clawson, Deputy Director, The Washington Institute for Near East Policy

“How to Liberate Iran”

• Dr. Michael Ledeen, American Enterprise Institute (AEI)

Discussants:

• Mr. Gideon Frank, Director General, Israel Atomic Energy Commission.
• Ms. Therese Delpech, Center for International Studies and Research (CERI).

13:30 Lunch “Main Issues in Israel's Defense Doctrine”

• Lt. Gen. (res.) Shaul Mofaz, Minister of Defense

Force Structure and the New Defense Posture v New look into force structure planning; v Budgetary constraints and IDF’s missions in the evolving strategic landscape; v Possibilities and trends in Israel’s military force structure in face of technological innovation and the lessons of the War in Iraq.

• Chair: MK Dr. Yuval Steinitz, Chair, Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee. Transcript

“Joint Force Building” (English)

• Gen. (ret.) Jim Jamerson, Vice President for Middle East and Africa, Lockheed Martin Corporation

“The Defense Budget and Force Structure”, Task Force Report

• Maj. Gen. (res.) Eitan Ben-Eliahu, CEO & Founder, Sentry Israel.
• MK Maj. Gen. (res.) Matan Vilnai. Transcript (Hebrew)

“Approaches to Force Structure Planning”

• Maj. Gen. Dan Haloutz, Commander-in-Chief of the Israel Air Force

Discussants:

• Rear Adm. (ret.) John F. “Dugan” Shipway, Vice President of General Dynamics and President of Bath Iron Works.
• Mr. Carl Benner, Maritime Systems and Sensors, Lockheed Marint Corp.

Discussion

A Reserve System for the Future IDF v Alternative options for the future structure of IDF reserves; v Military, economic, and social implications.

• Chair: MK Haim Ramon, Knesset Foreign Affairs & Defense Committee and Chair, Subcommittee for Manpower

“Positioning the Reserve Service in an Up-to-Date Defense Doctrine” (Hebrew)

• Maj. Gen. Gabi Ashkenazi, Deputy Chief of General Staff, IDF

“IDF Reserve Corps – Enduring Realities”

• Maj. Gen. (res.) Gideon Sheffer, Vice President, Elbit Systems

“IDF Reserve System and Israeli Society – Trends, Reforms, and Necessary Measures”

• Brig. Gen. Dr. Ariel Heiman, Chief Reserve Officer, IDF and Ministry of Defense

“Structural and Societal Implications of the IDF Reserve Corps Reform”

• Prof. Stuart Cohen, The Begin-Sadat Center for Strategic Studies (BESA), Bar-Ilan University

“The IDF Reserve Corps and the Israeli Society: Will New Reforms Exacerbate the Problem ?”

• Dr. Yagil Levi, Department of Sociology, Political Science, and Communication, The Open University of Israel

The Prospects for Israel’s Defense Industries v The role of the defense industries as a component of force structure and as a building bloc for economic, technological, and educational growth; v The defense industries’ ratio between investment and exports; v Preserving the qualitative edge of the defense industries at a time of budgetary cutbacks.

• Chair: Maj. Gen. (res.) Amos Yaron, Director-General, Ministry of Defense

“The National Role of the Defense Industries”, Task Force Report

• Mr. Moshe Keret, CEO, Israel Aircraft Industries (IAI).
• Mr. Nir Gilad, Former Accountant General, Ministry of Finance.
• Dr. Yacov Sheinin, CEO, Economic Models.

“The National Contribution of Israel’s Defense Industries”

• Mr. Eliezer Sandberg, Minister of Science and Technology

Discussants:

• Mr. Joseph Ackerman, President and Chairman of the Board, Elbit Systems.
• Mr. Giora Shalgi, Director-General, Israel Armament Development Authority (Rafael).

Discussion

20:00 Dinner session

• Chair: Mr. Shabtai Shavit

“Ben-Gurion and His Legacy” (

• Mr. Shimon Peres, Former Prime Minister

The Mood in the US Toward Israel

• Prof. Herbert I. London, President, Hudson Institute

External resources

• Address by Prime Minister Ariel Sharon at the Fourth Herzliya Conference, Israel Ministry of Foreign Affairs, 18 December 2003.
• Gideon Alon and Aluf Benn, Netanyahu: Israel's Arabs are the real demographic threat, Haaretz, 18 December 2003.
• Ewen MacAskill, Conal Urquhart and Julian Borger, Sharon: act now or we go it alone, The Guardian, 19 December 2003.