Jewish leaders and senior Israeli government officials gathered on Wednesday morning, 3 Kislev 5774 for the launch of an unprecedented strategic planning summit organized by the Prime Minister’s Office and the Ministry of Jerusalem and Diaspora Affairs, in partnership with The Jewish Agency for Israel. The summit will seek to formulate a joint plan to enhance the Jewish identity of young Jews around the world and strengthen ties between the Jewish world and Israel. The event opened with remarks from the directors-general of the Prime Minister’s Office, the Ministry of Jerusalem and Diaspora Affairs, and The Jewish Agency.
Harel Locker, Director-General of the Prime Minister’s Office, said: “This strategic dialogue is a new and exciting step in the discourse between the State of Israel and the Jewish world. We intend to have an open discourse that will combine various ideas and conceptions In order to respond to mutual challenges. We must adopt a new outlook, a new perspective and reach a common plan. Prime Minister Netanyahu has instructed that long term guidelines be formulated in order to connect young Jews to the State of Israel and the government of Israel and myself are very committed to it.”
Dvir Kahana, Director-General of the Ministry of Jerusalem and Diaspora Affairs, said: “We want to create a strategic plan for the upcoming twenty-five years that will include a common vision and, more importantly, the implementation of dozens of new projects for the Jewish people. It is no longer just a question of what the Diaspora can do for Israel, but—just as important—what we in Israel can do for the Diaspora.”
Alan Hoffmann, Director-General of The Jewish Agency for Israel, said: “We are in the middle of an historic moment. We have an unprecedented commitment by the Government of Israel toward the Jewish people. No less important is the desire to make decisions based on this commitment in consultation. Our hope and belief is that out of this process will come new directions and new pilots.”
For the first time ever, the Government of Israel and the Jewish world are holding a strategic dialogue aimed at formulating a joint plan to strengthen the younger generation’s Jewish identity and deepen the connection between world Jewry and Israel. Approximately a year ago, Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu formed a taskforce headed by the Director General of the Prime Minister’s Office, Harel Locker, in partnership with The Jewish Agency for Israel, in order to develop a joint plan between the Government of Israel and world Jewry. Upon the formation of the new government, the Ministry of Jerusalem and Diaspora Affairs joined the process. This week, the Prime Minister’s Office and the Ministry of Jerusalem and Diaspora Affairs, in partnership with The Jewish Agency, are convening a first-of-its-kind strategic planning summit to be attended by government representatives and by senior professionals and lay leaders from throughout the Jewish world.
The summit will feature a strategic dialogue between the government and world Jewry to formulate a joint policy aimed at strengthening the Jewish identity of the younger generation and deepening the connection between world Jewry and Israel. The joint plan between the Government of Israel and world Jewry is expected to be presented to the government for approval in 2014. Prime Minister Netanyahu, Minister of Diaspora Affairs Naftali Bennett, and Chairman of the Executive of The Jewish Agency Natan Sharansky will address the gathering.
120 participants are taking part in the summit. They represent a vast spectrum of Jewish communal professionals and organizations around the world and in Israel, including representatives of Jewish communities, organizations, and foundations, academics, intellectuals, entrepreneurs, both men and women, young people and veteran leaders from around the world. In an unprecedented move, the dialogue will include representatives of all government ministries dealing with connections with the Jewish world: the Prime Minister’s Office, the Ministry of Jerusalem and Diaspora Affairs, the Ministry of Immigration and Absorption, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Ministry of Strategic Affairs, the Ministry of Education, and the Ministry of Culture and Sport. The work will take place in small, diverse groups and will focus on the joint challenges facing Israel and the Jewish world and on the formulation of joint solutions thereto.
The planning summit marks the culmination of comprehensive staff work begun approximately a year ago by a strategic planning taskforce led by the Prime Minister’s Office and The Jewish Agency. The findings were presented to the Prime Minister and the Minister of Diaspora Affairs in June and The Jewish Agency was subsequently asked to convene an unprecedented coalition of senior professionals from throughout the Jewish world and Israel in order to advance the joint initiative.
It should be noted that the Government of Israel invests some 450 million NIS in programs aimed at strengthening ties with the Jewish people each year. The majority of that funding goes to Taglit-Birthright Israel and Masa Israel Journey, a cooperative venture between the government and The Jewish Agency.
State officials feel this initiative reflects the sense of mutual responsibility between the State of Israel and world Jewry to ensure the future of the Jewish people and maintain Israel’s enduring strength as the heart of the Jewish nation. It is being developed in light of indications that young Jews’ connections to their Jewish identity and to Israel are weakening.
(YWN – Israel Desk, Jerusalem)
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One Response
NOTICE – they have no end of vague platitudes – “new outlook,” “new perspective,” “new directions,” “new pilots”…
Blah Blah Blah! The reason they list nothing in particular, is because they HAVE nothing to offer. In the 90s, when Reform and Conservative woke up to the ugly reality of their impending death -spiral, we endured no end of long-winded speeches on “continuity” while decrying the Torah community’s “triumphalism.” All they got from it was a new word for the dictionary, and a Pew survey which shows that 4/5’s of non-Orthodox Jews are marrying out.
When it comes down to a choice, the pretty nachris always trumps the trips and conferences.
I remember singing a song from my childhood: “Eretz Yisroel, bli Torah, ki’guf bli neshamah!” Without Torah, the land is just dirt. Plenty of potential, but none of it realized.
So rescue whom you can, be a Partner in Torah, a Torah Mate – and rejoice every day, that thru the chemlas Hashem upon you, that you have been rescued from the maelstrom.