Jerusalem hotels, restaurants, attractions, tours & events. Helping since 2008

The below article was published in GoJerusalem.com's Winter 2009-2010 issue of our Everything Jerusalem guide book, which was published on the occasion of the second annual Israeli Presidential Conference, via sponsorship from the Municipality of Jerusalem.

Only a year and a half ago, dozens of the world's most prominent politicians, brightest scholars and savviest business minds convened in Jerusalem for the inaugural Israeli Presidential Conference, "Facing Tomorrow," a celebration of Israel's sixtieth anniversary and a serious investigation of Israel's place in what President Shimon Peres called "the three tomorrows": the global tomorrow, the Israeli tomorrow and the Jewish tomorrow.

Attendees, ranging from then-President George W. Bush and former Prime Minister Tony Blair to Google co-founder Sergey Brin and News Corporation CEO Rupert Murdoch, spent three days debating the issues most fundamental to Israel's identity and its place in the global order. Jerusalem faced tomorrow, and now, in a sense, it has arrived there: ready, once again, to evaluate the state of the world, of the nation, and of the people.

The 2009 Israeli Presidential Conference will once again take place over three days in the Binyanei HaUma International Convention Center, and again will bring intellectuals by the planeload to mull over the country's future. The new media and the Internet innovators that fuel its growth will be represented by President of Skype Josh Silverman, Wikipedia founder Jimmy Wales and AOL CEO Tim Armstrong; delegates from the traditional media include Thomson Reuters CEO Tom Glocer and Mathias Dopfner, CEO of European newspaper publishing house Axel Springer AG.

From the global economics sphere - which has been attracting a bit of attention this year, to say the least - come French Minister of Finance Christine Lagard, US Investment Strategist for Goldman Sachs Abby Joseph Cohen, Governor of the Bank of Israel Stanley Fischer, and Executive Chairman of the Rothschild Group Baron David de Rothschild. Conductor Zubin Mehta and architect Frank Gehry will discuss culture and the arts in the modern world, and chronicling the steady march of science will be neuroscientist Henry Markram, former Genentech CEO Art Levinson and futurist Raymond Kurzweil. Dozens of Israeli politicians and intellectuals will also participate in the convention's panels, and like last year, an audience full of web and print journalists and pundits will comment on the proceedings.

Among the issues to be probed and debated in a series of plenary meetings and panels throughout the three days of the conference:

The Global Economic Crisis: Building a Functioning World Economic System

As the world shrinks and commerce goes global, the economic security of one nation becomes inextricable from the economic security of all nations. Poor policy and economic mismanagement in one country invariably becomes the burden of another. As one of the Middle East's major financial hubs, and a nation whose fiscal health is closely tied to that of its major benefactor, the United States, it behooves Israel - as well as the rest of the world - to help develop transnational programs to sustain and regulate the global market and to avoid the tactical errors which led to the current recession.

Geopolitical Challenges of the 21st Century

Rogue nations like Iran and North Korea develop nuclear technology to bolster their totalitarian governments, and the international community has so far been powerless to stop them. War becomes not a formal clash of nations but rather a series of asymmetrical conflicts between governments and small, diffuse groups espousing a host of fringe ideologies. Resources become scarce and the environment suffers as heavily populated nations like India and China rapidly develop, their populaces clamoring for the luxuries citizens of the First World take for granted. And the entire planet runs on environmentally harmful substances whose supplies are worryingly finite. Perhaps no nation's very existence is as threatened by these challenges as that of tiny Israel - and therefore no nation has as much incentive to overcome them.

A Greener Planet for Tomorrow

Never blessed with an abundance of natural resources and constrained by narrow borders, expansive desert and limited fresh water, Israel has always been on the cutting edge of green technology. With the rest of the world increasingly attuned to issues of environmentalism, sustainability, water management and clean energy, Israel is now in a position to share its advances in these areas and to collaborate with its global partners in building initiatives for the greening of the planet.

Culture and the Arts: Adjusting to the New World

The arts in Israel, from Canaanite sculpture to Soviet Realist murals in the pre-state era to modern dance troupes and multimedia political allegories today, have always struck an interesting balance between adherence, or at least reference, to Jewish tradition and flirtation with the global avant-garde. How does the land of Israel itself and Jewish tradition inform modern Israeli art, how have foreign trends and opinions manifested themselves, and to what extent will these trends be informed in the years to come by the changes in the landscape?

Islam: Between Moderation and Extremism

When the history books delve into the early years of the 21st century, it will be impossible to overstate the significance of ascendant radical Islam. Israel has been on the vanguard of conflict with extremist Muslims, and stands to benefit the most from the encouragement of enlightened, peaceful strains of the religion. Who are the moderate, forward-thinking Muslims, and how can the world help empower them?

The Role of the New Media in Shaping our Future

The classic saying goes, "Two Jews, three opinions," but it might be truer to our times if it were, "Two Jews, six blogs." Many of the technologies and phenomena that define the new media were partially developed or enthusiastically adopted in Israel, and these alternate sources of information have allowed the world to see glimpses of an Israel overlooked in mainstream media sources. Increasingly, it is the new media that will define the world's view of Israel, and it is up to Israel to find the best way to effectively harness it.

Geopolitical Developments and Their Impact on the Jewish People

As the last century amply demonstrated, the Jewish people have occupied a precarious position throughout human history, a small and scattered tribe often at the mercy of events far beyond its control. Even though they now have their own state, the Jews remain a global people, and rare is the global development that does not in some way affect them.

Will We See Peace in Our Region?

After generations of diplomatic efforts, intifadas and regional war, the Middle East's political borders remain more or less exactly as they have been since 1967, the majority of Arab capitals are still devoid of Israeli embassies, and extremist elements are still plotting against the efforts of regional peacemakers. Can this dispiriting trend ever be reversed, and can decades of mutual distrust ever be overcome?

The Influence of the Global Economic Crisis on the Jewish World

Many prominent Jewish-led philanthropic bodies have suffered greatly from the aftermath of the global economic situation. How does the crisis bear on the Jews specifically, and what is, or should be, the Jewish communal response?

In Which Fields Can Israel Act as a World Hub?

Medical tech, water management, Internet research and development, marginal-land farming: Israel is at the forefront of many industries essential to building a prosperous global society. How can the state further develop (and publicize) its people's talents to position itself as being indispensable to the world?

Jewish Peoplehood: Unity Versus Pluralism

In a nation where secular and traditional elements rub elbows daily, and in a world where the vast majority of the Jewish population is clustered in Israel and the United States, itself a country that affords Jews an unprecedented opportunity to assimilate, what is the common thread uniting the Jewish people? When, if ever, do differences between Jews become too great to bridge? Who shall determine what Jewish identity entails, and are we made stronger or weaker by emphasizing our persity?

Should the Jewish World be Organized Differently?

Do the apparatuses of the Jewish community worldwide - federations, synagogues, charitable organizations, community centers, youth programs, religious outreach initiatives - serve and engage the greatest possible number of Jews? Can a Jew who wants to find a comfortable niche in a community find it regardless of his or her outlook or set of beliefs? And if not, how can we restructure ourselves to better serve our people?

The Future of Capitalism

With the world's governments stepping in to help save the institutions that serve the masses, "Socialism" is a word on many people's lips in 2009, and the economic crisis has shaken trust in the philosophical and practical underpinnings of the free-market system. As a state that to some degree straddles capitalist and socialist systems of government, a land of socialized medicine and limited property ownership but a relatively free economy and a conservative government, what light can Israel shed on the global debate?

The Future of Artificial Intelligence

Futurist and computer scientist Raymond Kurzweil has attracted much attention in the scientific community for this theories on the exponential development of computer technology and what he considers the inevitably of computer sentience in the near future. In a dialogue with President Shimon Peres, Kurzweil will discuss a world of intelligent computers and the moral, political and scientific implications thereof.

What is the Scientific Community Striving to Discover?

Whether it's the detection of cancer through a simple breath sample or an experimental vaccine for honeybee colony collapse disorder, Israeli scientists are breaking through the modern world's most troubling issues. What's on the horizon for science in Israel and worldwide, and what are the implications for the Israeli people and the human race?

What Will We Eat Tomorrow?

Globalization puts Chilean fruit in Alaska's supermarkets, Mediterranean tuna onto the trading floor of Tokyo's Tsukiji fish market, and hamburger counters on Israeli streets. But the world's expanding population and the growing economic clout of the developing world means that food resources will inevitably become strained in the near future. Between the competing forces of broadening palates and contracting resources, what will be the viable global diet of tomorrow? And how, if at all, can the frequently deleterious effects of modern diets in prosperous Western countries be addressed?

The Challenges of Jewish Continuity in a Changing World

Never in their long history has it been so easy for Jews to assimilate, to cast off or to redefine their Jewish identities. Can Jewish populations in the Diaspora resist assimilation in the future, and can Israel maintain a viable Jewish identity while remaining a democratic rather than theocratic state? What will the Jewish population of tomorrow's world look like, and where will it live?

The Future of the Trilateral Relationship: Jerusalem, Washington and the US Jewish Community

Washington's close relationship with Israel is not merely the product of strategic consideration - or even of the two nations' oft-heralded "shared values." Rather, the current US-Israel relationship has resulted in large part from persistent lobbying from the American Jewish population, nearly half of world Jewry, whose clout in the United States far outweighs its numbers. But as administrations change, the peace process stagnates and the US Jewish community becomes less centrally organized and politically unified, will America's attitude towards Israel change? How should Israel go about preventing - or preparing for - the specter of a suspended "special relationship"?

How Can Tertiary Education in Israel Reach an Ivy League Standard?

Israel is on the cutting edge of numerous scientific disciplines, its leading academics are at the forefront of their fields in the world, and the Hebrew University of Jerusalem was recently ranked by China's Shanghai Jiao Tong University as being among the top 100 institutes of higher education worldwide. However, given the abundance of bright Israelis and the traditional Jewish emphasis on learning, what is keeping Israel's universities overall from becoming undisputed global beacons for scientific progress and academic rigor? How can we reverse the trend of "the brain drain," and how can Israel attract promising students from abroad?

Alongside the panels, representatives in the fields of alternative energy, water technology, stem cell research, advanced learning applications, counterterrorism and communications will participate in an exhibition of relevant Israeli advances and initiatives.

And while the conference itself is invitation-only, those interested in the substance of debates can keep abreast both on the Conference's website at presidentconf.org.il/en and in the news media.