Herzliya Conference

The Herzliya Conference is an annual policy conference held in Herzliya Israel hosted by the Interdisciplinary Center Herzliya

Influence

In 2009 the Herzliya Conference was described in an article in the neoconservative Middle East Quarterly as 'arguably the most influential think tank event in Israel'. The article quoted Benjamin Balint, a fellow at the Van Leer Jerusalem Institute as saying: "the Herzliya Conference does have a large effect: It draws political officials and visitors. They had Mitt Romney this year, everyone from Natan Sharansky to Uzi Ayalon. That does have an effect in terms of shaping strategic studies. People fight over slots at Herzliya." It quoted Nir Boms, vice president of the Center for Freedom in the Middle East as saying: "Herzliya in many ways put themselves on the map. They work an entire year for one conference. It's no coincidence that Sharon eventually gave his speech about disengagement [from Gaza] at the conference."

The Conferences

First Herzliya Conference

In December 2000, the Interdisciplinary Center hosted the First Herzliya Conference.

Uzi Arad said of the conference, which he chaired, that "If you weren't there, it showed you weren't in the major league." An abstract of the conference, entitled The Balance of National Strength and Security in Israel: Policy Directions was published in March 2001 and presented to Israeli President Moshe Katzav. Ha'aretz described the document as "quite astounding":

The core of Israel's political and defense establishment has come out with a document that corresponds, in some of its recommendations and in general tone, with the views of the far right. This is mainly true with respect to the importance attached to the demographic threat to Jewish Israel posed by the Palestinians and Israeli Arabs.

Second Herzliya Conference

At the Second Herzliya Conference, Israel in Battle and in the International Arena in December 2001, Arad spoke over a video link with US National Security Advisor Condoleeza Rice. Asked whether it was time for a formal US-Israeli strategic alliance, Rice agreed that there was scope for co-operation on counter-proliferation and missile defence. On Iraq, Rice stated: "Iraq is on our radar screen, its on the presidents radar screen, but there are certainly no recommendations to him at this point as to what to do about Iraq."

Third Herzliya Conference

Ahead of Third Herzliya Conference in 2002, Arad released a study arguing that Israel was losing its military edge over the Arab world.Prominent participants included William Kristol, Martin Indyk and Judith Miller.Vermont governor Howard Dean also attended as part of an AIPAC-sponsored visit to Israel.

Fourth Herzliya Conference

The Fourth Herzliya Conference (16-18 December 2003) was opened by Uzi Arad and addressed by Prime minister Ariel Sharon, Among the mainly Israeli speakers were: Reuven Erlich and Reuven Paz.

Fifth Herzliya Conference

Arad was chair and director of the Fifth Herzliya conference ('The Balance of Israel’s National Security') in December 2004. Among those who addressed the conference were Ariel Sharon, President Moshe Katsav, Defence Minister Shaul Mofaz, Finance Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Foreign Minister Silvan Shalom, Minister for Diaspora Affairs Natan Sharansky, Labour Party leader Shimon Peres and Chief of Staff Moshe Ya'alon. Foreign speakers included Nicolas Sarkozy, president of the Union pour le Mouvement Populaire in France; Peter Ricketts, the UK's permanent representative to NATO; Marc Otte, the EU's special representative to the Mideast peace process; and Prof. Philip Zelikow, executive director of the 9/11 Commission.

21st Century Hasbara conference

The Institute for Policy and Strategy held a conference entitled Media as 21st Century Hasbara: Israel, Media and Jihad in a era of Globalization on 17-18 December 2006.According to the Jerusalem Post, Arad told the conference, "We must learn to recognize the players in this theater, including the increasing numbers of NGOs Arab money the diplomatic arena and the 'judicialization' of the diplomatic arena with institutions such as the International Criminal Court in the Hague."

Seventh Herzliya Conference

The Seventh Herzliya Conference opened with John Lennon's song Imagine being played to the audience. According to the Jerusalem Post, 'The audience loved it. Some joined in singing quietly others hummed. If some had forgotten the lyrics most recalled the tune and the message. Thunderous applause was followed by silence.' The song was followed by presentations byWesley Clark the former Supreme Allied Commander of NATO, Avi Dichter Minister of Internal Security, Shabtai Shavit a Former Head of the Mossad, Boaz Ganor the founder of the Institute of Countert-Terrorism and Uriel Reichman Founder and President of the Interdisciplinary Center Herzliya.

The conference criticised by Ha'aretz for it's hawkish stance on Israel's security situation. "At the least, one can say Arad is part of the Israeli political discourse's right wing," correspondent Uzi Benziman said.

The Herzliya Conference - this year at least - is not, therefore, an impartial academic summit. It is an event with a clear ideological agenda.

The subject of this year's conference is the balance of power and national security, and words like "patriotism," "national strength," "renewal" and "strengthening" appear time after time in the titles of the sessions. A significant portion of the speakers (at least on political-security matters) are known right-wingers like Richard Perle, James Woolsey, Dore Gold, Zalman Shoval and researchers from the Shalem Center.

8th Herzliya Conference

The 8th Herzliya Conference 'On the Balance of Israel's National Security', took place in January 2008 with the opening ceremonies being held at the Knesset in Jerusalem. The conference was run by IDC Herzliya, the Lauder School of Government Diplomacy and Strategy and the Institute for Policy and Strategy and was held in cooperation with the Adelson Institute for Strategic Studies (which is part of the Shalem Centre). Cooperation and staff were also provided by the Zionist Council of Israel.

The event covered strategies and policy recommendations 'across the five principal components of Israel’s national security – defense and foreign policy; economics; education and society; governance; and Jewish Peoplehood policy', with the aims of achieving 'a qualitative leap in all the dimensions of its national policy'. This included the possible use of military force against Iran, as well as discussions on energy security, partiotism, governance, Islam and education, to name a few.

The events participants are too numerous to mention, spanning many pages of the report. Dov Lautman was in attendance along with Gideon Siterman. Lautman and Siterman share a connection through their involvement with the Israel-Britain Business Council (IBBC), where they took part in a meeting prior to the Israeli Prime Minister’s Conference in 2005. Heading the delegation from the IBBC at the Prime Minister’s Conference was Trevor Chinn. Trevor Chinn's son David Chinn was present at the Herzliya conference. David Chinn is Partner with McKinsey & Co. Israel.

10th Herzliya Conference

• Main Page: Tenth Annual Herzliya Conference

The Tenth Annual Herzliya Conference was held at the Interdisciplinary Center Herzliya in Israel on 31 January - 3 February 2010.

Funding

2008

Principal Sponsors

The 2008 Herzliya Conference's principal sponsors were....

• Bank Hapoalim | Dor Alon - energy company | Tamares Group - Hotels, Resorts and Spas. Tamares is owned solely by Poju Zabludowicz and 'is a private investment group with significant interest in real estate, technology, manufacturing, leisure and media in many parts of the world'. | Israel Discount Bank | Boeing | First International Bank of Israel (FIBI) | Raytheon - 'an industry leader in defense and government electronics, space and information technology' with sales of $21.9 billion in 2005. Headquarters in Massachusetts and more than 80,000 employees worldwide. Its Israeli subsidiary is called Del-Ta systems LLP | Partner Communications Company Ltd - more commonly known as Orange. | Riwal Company - | Lockheed Martin - advanced technology systems, products and services. | Siemens Company | Eilat-Ashkelon Pipeline Company Ltd - handling, storage and the transit of crude oil. | Dexia Israel (Public Finance) Bank Ltd | NDS Technologies Israel Ltd - The NDS Group, a majority owned subsidiary of the News Corporation. | Shlomo Sixt Group - part of the automotive industry | Mikal - an International defence group | Coca Cola (The Central Bottling Company Ltd) | United States Embassy, Tel Aviv, Public Affairs Office. | B. Yair Building Corporation Ltd. | RAFAEL Advanced Defense Systems Ltd - which 'develops and produces state-of-the-art armaments for the Israel Defense Forces' | Ampa Group

Supporters

• Amb. Ronald S Lauder - President of the World Jewish Congress, Chairman of the International Public Committee of the World Jewish Restitution Organization and Chairman of the Jewish Heritage Council. Former Chairman of the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations, Served as U.S. Ambassador to Austria and as Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for European and NATO Policy, was former President of the Jewish National Fund. He is also described as an international businessman. | The Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung (FES) | Nadav Fund 'For the Advancement of Jewish Heritage' | The Russell Berrie Foundation | The Israeli Institute for Economic Planning | The Society for Excellence through Education (SEE) | Keren Kayemeth LeIsrael – Jewish National Fund | IDB Group | Roger Hertog | Ministry of Defense | Ministry of Foreign Affairs | The Posen Foundation | The Andrea and Charles Bronfman Philanthropies | The Alan B. Slifka Foundation | The Abraham Fund Initiatives | The Robert & Ardis James Foundation | The American Jewish Committee | The National Security Studies Center, University of Haifa | The Jewish Agency for Israel | Jewish Federation of Greater Philadelphia

Cooperating organizations'

• The Municipality of Herzliya | IDF Radio | Ifat Group - 'Israel’s leading information center' and a member of the International Association of Information and Media Companies (FIBEP). | The Israel Postal Company | The Daniel Hotel - part of the Tamares Group | Federman & Sons (Holdings) Ltd - agricultural (fertilizers), food products (coffee), hotels, restaurants and cafes. | The Israel Hotel Association (IHA) | Zionist Council in Israel

The events Media Consultants were Arad Communications