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 in 2009: "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.

Journalist Jonathan Cook argued similarly that the conference represented a sea-change in Israeli politics:

All the Palestinians between the Mediterranean Sea and the River Jordan were lumped together and reclassified in demographic terms — as an ethnic enemy poised to achieve numerical dominance.

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, who used the occasion to announce his unilateral disengagement plan. Then Finance Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said at the conference; "If there is a demographic problem, and there is, it is with the Israeli Arabs who will remain Israeli citizens." 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.

Sixth Herzliya conference

The Sixth Herzliya Conference on The Balance of Israel’s National Security was held from January 21-24, 2006. In his keynote speech, Prime Minister Ehud Olmert elaborated on the disengagement strategy announced by Ariel Sharon two years earlier:

In order to ensure the existence of a Jewish national homeland, we will not be able to continue ruling over the territories in which the majority of the Palestinian population lives. We must create a clear boundary as soon as possible, one which will reflect the demographic reality on the ground. Israel will maintain control over the security zones, the Jewish settlement blocs, and those places which have supreme national importance to the Jewish people, first and foremost a united Jerusalem under Israeli sovereignty. There can be no Jewish state without the capital of Jerusalem at its center.

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 by Wesley 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 Counter-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.

Eighth Herzliya Conference

The Eighth 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.

Ninth Herzliya Conference

• Main Page Ninth Herzliya Conference

The Ninth Herzliya Conference on the Balance of Israel’s National Security (February 2-4, 2009). speakers included: Prof. Uzi Arad Founding Director of the Institute for Policy and Strategy at the Lauder School of Government, Diplomacy & Strategy, IDC Herzliya;President José María Aznar Former Prime Minister of Spain. President of FAES (Foundation for Social Studies and Analysis); Lt. Gen. (res.) Ehud Barak Minister of Defense and Deputy Prime Minister; Rafael L. Bardaji Director of International Policy at FAES Fundacion, Madrid; Amb. John Bolton Former US Ambassador to the United Nations. Presently a Senior Fellow at the American Enterprise Institute; Michael D. Brown Former US Under Secretary of Homeland Security for Emergency Preparedness and Response (EP&R); Dr. Stephen J. Canner Vice President of Investment and Financial Services at the US Council for International Business; Dr. John Chipman Director General and Chief Executive of the International Institute of Strategic Studies (IISS) in London and is its former Director of Studies; Sir Ronald Cohen Chairman of Portland Capital and Portland Trust; Dr. Liam Fox Member of the UK Parliament; Maj. Gen. (res.) Amos Gilead Director of the Politico-Military Bureau at the Ministry of Defense. Previously served as Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories, Head of the Military Intelligence Research Department, and as the IDF Spokesperson; Amb. Dr. Dore Gold President of the Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs; Richard Gordon President of the American Jewish Congress; Maj. Gen. (res.) Amb. David Ivry President of Boeing Israel and Boeing’s Vice President of International Relations; Dr. Josef Joffe Editor-Publisher of Die Zeit German weekly and Visiting Professor at Stanford's Hoover Institute; Dr. Ariel (Eli) Levite is Senior Associate at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace; Tzipi Livni Vice Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs; Mr. Sverre Lodgaard Senior Research Fellow of Norwegian Institute for International Affairs (NUPI), Oslo and its former Director; Prof. Herbert London President of the Hudson Institute and Professor Emeritus at New York University; Amb. Alfred H. Moses Chairman of UN Watch and partner and chief attorney in the Civington & Burling Law Firm; MK Benjamin Netanyahu Opposition leader and former Prime Minister; Mr. Michael Oxley is Vice Chairman of The NASDAQ OMX Group, Inc. Formerly served for 25 years as US Representative of Ohio’s Fourth Congressional District; Sir Michael Pakenham Former UK Chairman of the Joint Intelligence Committee, Intelligence Coordinator, and Cabinet Secretary for Defence and Overseas Affairs; Jonathan S. Paris Adjunct Fellow at the Hudson Institute; Shimon Peres President of the State of Israel. Former Prime Minister; Dr. Jamie Patrick Shea is Senior Advisor to the Secretary General of NATO for Strategic Planning and Lecturer at Collège d’Europe; R. James Woolsey Venture Partner with VantagePoint. Former US Director of the Central Intelligence Agency;Dr. David Wurmser Director of Delphi Global Analysis and until recently served as the Senior Advisor on National Security Affairs at the Office of the Vice President, Dick Cheney; Lt. Gen. (res.) Moshe Ya'alon Senior Fellow at the Adelson Institute for Strategic Studies at the Shalem Center. Former Chief of IDF General Staff; Maj. Gen. (res.) Danny Yatom CEO and General Director of GSG ltd. Previously served as the Head of the Mossad.

Tenth 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.

Eleventh Annual Herzliya Conference

• Main Page: Eleventh Annual Herzliya Conference
• The Eleventh Annual Herzliya Conference was held on 6-9 February 2011 at the IDC Herzliya.

Twelfth Herzliya Conference

The Twelfth Herzliya Conference took place from 30 January to 2 February 2012 at the campus of the Interdisciplinary Center Herzliya, in Israel.

Thirteenth Herzliya conference

Herzliya 2013 took place on 11-14 March 2013. The delay from the usual January date was a result of the Israeli general election.

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

Venues

Past conferences have taken place either at the campus of the Interdisciplinary Center Herzliya or at the Daniel Hotel, Herzliya. The latter venue is owned by Poju Zabludowicz's Tamares Group.

Resources

• Matthew Duss Letter From Herzliya, Neocon Woodstock The annual gathering of Israeli and American policy elites was supposed to focus on Iran. Then the Egyptian revolution scrambled Israeli conservatives’ worldview. The Nation, February 14, 2011.