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The "Israeli Presidential Conference" is a high level conference being held in Jerusalem previously once every 18 months and more recently annually under the auspices of the Israeli President and Nobel Prize laureate, Shimon Peres. The gathering, titled "Facing Tomorrow", brings together the world top leaders and thinkers in a wide variety of fields including policy, energy, science, economics, culture, art, religion and thought to navigate the most pressing global challenges ahead.

History
The Conference was inaugurated in May 2008 through the vision of Israel's ninth President Shimon Peres. His vision was to create a conference bringing together the world's best minds to examine the "tomorrow" we are all facing. To investigate the crises and solutions, trends and innovations, visions and ideals that are shaping our collective future by exploring actions that could and should be undertaken towards the betterment of "tomorrow" for Israel, the Jewish people and the world at large.

The aim of the Conference was the development of an annual event that not only ‘talks’ but also drives action. To encourage practical initiatives intended to positively shape our future.

Previous Conferences had, as speakers, a variety of global leaders, international scholars and activists, poets and scientists, artists and clergy, entrepreneurs, economists and industrialists including: George W. Bush, Tony Blair, Václav Havel, Mikhail Gorbachev and Lech Kaczyński; Nobel Peace Prize Laureates including Elie Wiesel and Henry Kissinger, Nobel Prize Laureate for Chemistry Professor Ada Yonath; Rupert Murdoch, former World Bank President James D. Wolfensohn, Professor Eva Illouz, Baron David de Rothschild, economist Dominique Strauss-Kahn, Governor of the Bank of Israel Stanley Fischer, Yahoo! CEO Susan Decker, Google Founder Sergei Brin, Wikipedia Founder Jimmy Wales, futurist Ray Kurzweil, philosopher and writer Bernard Henri-Levy, Abby Joseph Cohen, Professor Ruth Gavison, Professor Michael Walzer, writer Amos Oz, filmmaker Claude Lanzmann, conductor Zubin Mehta and many more.

Conference Structure
Each Conference assembles heads of state, thinkers and people of action, poets and scientists, artists and clergy, businessmen and entrepreneurs, as well as representatives of the next generation of leaders - promising young people with immense talent and originality. The deliberations of the select group of the world’s best minds take place in the Conference’s plenary meetings and within a diverse array of panels dedicated to a wide range of significant issues

Each Conference consists of plenary sessions, panel discussions, roundtables, master classes and an exhibition.

The 2008 Conference Steering Committee partnered with The Jewish Policy Planning Institute to develop and produce the conference.

The 2009, 2011, 2012 and 2013 Steering Committees partnered with The Hebrew University of Jerusalem to develop and produce the conference.

=PAST CONFERENCES =

The Israeli Presidential Conference 2013 Facing Tomorrow
“Facing Tomorrow” – the fifth Israeli Presidential Conference under the auspices of President Shimon Peres – will take place in Jerusalem on 18-20 June, 2013. As in previous years, the Conference will look at tomorrow and engage the central issues that will influence the face of our future: geopolitics, economics, society, environment, culture, identity, education, new media, and more. In the 2013 Conference, we will give special emphasis to the human factor and its role in shaping our tomorrow. We will ask whether the quality of leadership – in all realms of human activity – can make a difference. What is the desired dynamic in relationships between people and leaders in the face of powerful processes of change? To what degree can human beings really be involved in influencing their futures? We will examine what threats may lie in an individual's tomorrow, in terms of identity, family, health, ability to find happiness, and meaning in life.

The Israeli Presidential Conference 2012 Facing Tomorrow
Facing Tomorrow 2012, the fourth annual Israeli Presidential Conference inspired by President Shimon Peres, took place at the Jerusalem International Convention Center on June 19-21, 2012. Co-hosted by The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, the Conference program created a matrix bringing together three parallel yet interactive tracks: the global, Jewish and Israeli tomorrow. The topics that embodied this matrix were selected for their extraordinary influence in shaping tomorrow. The 2012 Conference assembled a record number of more than 4,500 participants from Israel and abroad including foremost economic, political, intellectual, and hi-tech leaders. The Conference hosted over 75 hours of discussions, consisting of seven plenary sessions, 27 panels, four roundtables and six master classes. It hosted some 210 speakers, with almost half from abroad, from 25 different countries as close as Jordan and as far away as New Zealand.

Selected Topics of discussion

 * 1) 	“Homoconnecticus” – Technological Evolution or a Social Revolution?
 * 2) 	Judaism and Democracy: Complementary or Conflicting Values
 * 3) 	New Interpretations of an Ancient Identity: The Next Jewish Generation
 * 4) 	The Arab Spring Tomorrow: Its Roads and Its Tolls?
 * 5) 	Questions of Morality and Justice in the Shaping of Tomorrow
 * 6) 	Tomorrow’s Jewish-Arab Coexistence in Israel: Moving Forwards or Backwards?
 * 7) 	The November Elections and Future American Middle-East Policy
 * 8) 	Tomorrow’s Religion: Part of the Problem or Part of the Solution?
 * 9) 	Israeli Art: Lines that Connect Yesterday and Tomorrow

Selected speakers from 2012

 * 1) 	Daniel Kahneman
 * 2) 	Ayaan Hirsi Ali
 * 3) 	Dr. Jacques Attali
 * 4) 	Eric Schmidt
 * 5) 	John Chambers
 * 6) 	Julius Genachowski
 * 7) 	Stéphane Richard
 * 8) 	Yuri Milner
 * 9) 	Niall Ferguson
 * 10) 	Michael Sandel

The Israeli Presidential Conference 2011 Facing Tomorrow: A thriving tomorrow or a declining tomorrow?
The Conference will take place at the International Convention Center in Jerusalem, attended by approximately 3500 people from around the world. During the two and half days, 200 of the world’s best minds (half from abroad) will embody the Conference’s plenary sessions and remarkably diverse array of panels, dedicated to designing a better tomorrow.

Selected Topics of discussion

 * 1) 	New Energy for a New Tomorrow
 * 2) 	Stopping Nuclear Proliferation - Reality or Illusion?
 * 3) 	A Hungry and Thirsty World – How can we feed 7 billion people?
 * 4) 	Space: Mystery, Opportunity, and Danger
 * 5) 	Cutting-Edge Medicine – so what will kill us tomorrow?
 * 6) 	Crossing the Border: Dilemmas of Migration in Today's Global Village
 * 7) 	Thin Ice – Criticism vs. Loyalty in Israel-Diaspora Relations
 * 8) 	Where is Jewish Philanthropy Headed?
 * 9) 	The Future of European Jewry – Thriving or in Decline?
 * 10) 	Conversion: Who Keeps the Gate for the Jewish Nation?

Selected speakers from 2011

 * 1) 	Tony Blair
 * 2) 	Henry Kissinger
 * 3) 	Yisrael Aumann
 * 4) 	Eric Maskin
 * 5) 	Abby Joseph Cohen
 * 6) 	Bernard-Henri Lévy
 * 7) 	Sarah Silverman
 * 8) 	David Trimble
 * 9) 	Jimmy Wales
 * 10) 	Shakira

The Israeli Presidential Conference 2009 Facing Tomorrow: Our Mutual Tomorrow
The year 2009 presented numerous major crises and difficult dilemmas that demand action: the economic crisis, ecological deterioration, instability in the Middle East, Iran’s continuous efforts to acquire nuclear weapons and the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction. The impacts of these issues are far-reaching at the levels of national security, community life and the individual. The discussions investigated the parameters of the various crises, assessed the threats and opportunities that may surface, and considered the policies and decisions that should be implemented to address these grave challenges. The speakers and organizers focused on ways we can make today’s crises an opportunity - a gateway for positive change on our journey towards tomorrow.

Selected Topics of discussion

 * 1) 	Looking Towards Tomorrow- Turning Crisis into Opportunity
 * 2) 	Islam: Between Moderation and Extremism
 * 3) 	Tomorrow's Cities: How can we build sustainable and functioning cities?
 * 4) 	Coping with the Iranian challenge
 * 5) 	The Jewish World and the Global Economic Crisis
 * 6) 	Jewish Peoplehood – A Unity of Opposites
 * 7) 	Is "Jewish Continuity" just a Slogan?
 * 8) 	Israel 2020 – The Visions of our Leaders
 * 9) 	Will We Ever See Peace in Our Region?
 * 10) 	Israel as a Global Hub

Selected speakers from 2009

 * 1) 	Tony Blair
 * 2) 	Susan Rice
 * 3) 	Jimmy Wales
 * 4) 	Ray Kurzweil
 * 5) 	Benjamin Netanyahu
 * 6) 	Bernard Henri Levy
 * 7) 	Josh Silverman
 * 8) 	Axel A. Weber
 * 9) 	James D. Wolfensohn
 * 10) 	Stanley Fischer

The Israeli Presidential Conference 2008 Facing Tomorrow
The 2008 Presidential Conference is multifaceted and thus represented the myriad challenges facing Israel, the Jewish people and the world in general on the exciting path towards the future. The conference was structured in a manner that allowed participants to take their own course of exploration and interaction with the fields which most appeal to them.

Selected Topics of discussion

 * 1) 	The future of the world economy
 * 2) 	Is the geopolitical arena nearing a tipping point?
 * 3) 	Clash of civilizations o clashes within civilizations
 * 4) 	Is Jewish civilization thriving or declining?
 * 5) 	Jewish education in the 21st Century: Is it important?
 * 6) 	How can the Jewish people strengthen its friendship with the Chinese giant?
 * 7) 	The challenge of Jewish-Arab coexistence in Israel
 * 8) 	Blue, white and green: Is a green Israel possible?
 * 9) 	Foreign Policy: Strategic dilemmas and moral considerations

Selected speakers from 2008

 * 1) 	Mikhail Gorbachev
 * 2) 	George W. Bush
 * 3) 	Sergey Brin
 * 4) 	Rupert Keith Murdoch
 * 5) 	Henry Kissinger
 * 6) 	Eli Wiesel
 * 7) 	Tony Blair
 * 8) 	Ehud Olmert
 * 9) 	Susan Decker
 * 10) 	Lech Kaczynski
 * 11) 	Dominique Strauss-Kahn
 * 12) 	Vaclav Havel