Fourth Herzliya Conference
The Fourth Herzliya Conference took place on 16-18 December 2003.[1]
Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon announced his unilateral disengagement plan during his speech to the conference.[2]
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”
“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[3]
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.
Notes
- ↑ The Fourth Annual Herzliya Conference, herzliyaconference.org, accessed 7 December 2012.
- ↑ Address by PM Ariel Sharon at the Fourth Herzliya Conference - Dec 18- 2003, Israel Foreign Ministry, 18 December 2003.
- ↑ Program, The 4th Conference, 2003, accessed 7 June 2012.
