Herzliya Conference

Herzliya Conference 2008 - Israel

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 . There was a Chinn present at the Herzliya conference too, David Chinn, Partner with McKinsey & Co. Israel.

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 included...

• 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

The events Media Consultants were Arad Communications