Integrative summaries of the 5 working groups comprizing the JPPI's 2010 conference discussions

At the beginning of 2011, as we watch unfolding events in the Arab world, the Jewish people is confronting a series of critical challenges that require deep thinking and a strategic approach. JPPI’s 2010 conference, under the leadership of Amb. Stuart Eizenstat and Leonid Nevzlin, gathered prominent academics together with the first line of leaders and professionals to discuss in five different working groups:

• A Permanent Agreement: the Jewish Dimension- Prepared by Ambassador Avi Gil;
• Delegitimization: Attitudes toward Israel and the Jewish People- Prepared by Brig. General (Res.) Michael Herzog;
• Peoplehood: Rethinking Israel-Diaspora Relations- Prepared by Dr. Yehudah Mirsky;
• Back to the Future:European Jewry- Prepared by Dr. Dov Maimon; and
• Conversion:Between Crisis and Dialogue- Prepared by Mr. Shmuel Rosner.

The background papers prepared to stimulate group discussions can be found in JPPI’s publication, Toward 2030: Strategies for the Jewish Future, which can be accessed on our website: http://www.jppi.org.il/.

Here are the summaries, insights and recommendations generated by the working groups during their deliberations.

Global Jewish people challenges are today high on the Israeli agenda and we were pleased to have as plenary session keynote speakers representatives of the highest level of Israeli leadership: President Shimon Peres, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Defense Minister Ehud Barak, leader of the opposition, Tzipi Livni, and JAFI’s chairman, Natan Sharansky.

Last week, we made the first in a series of presentations of the main ideas raised during conference discussions, and the resulting action-oriented policy recommendations, to Israeli Cabinet Secretary, Tzvi Hauser, and to the board of AIPAC, led by Lee Rosenberg and Howard Kohr.

These summaries will be presented to the steering committee of the upcoming Israel President’s Conference, scheduled for June 2011, for integration into that conference’s Jewish people content planning.