In a meeting last week in New York, one of a series of meetings on planning the future of the Jewish people, former U.S. secretary of state Henry Kissinger took part.

Kissinger had accepted an invitation from the Jewish People Policy Planning Institute to be one of a group of leaders tasked with setting strategic goals for improving the situation of the Jewish people. Last week's discussion centered on the Iranian threat to Israel.

Participants agreed that one serious problem generated by the Iranian leadership's comments and Tehran's ability to ignore international pressure and continue its nuclear program is the resurrection of a debate within the Arab world about Israel's very existence.

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In the early 1990s, it seemed that the Arabs had made peace with Israel's existence, even if they had not all decided to embark on a peace process. But now, the idea of a Middle East without Israel seems to have been rekindled. One participant in the meeting said that Kissinger considers this very dangerous.

The participants also agreed that the broadest possible international coalition must be formed to curb Iran's plans. Among other things, they discussed the idea that Sunni regimes, also concerned by Iran, might become allies on this matter. One participant called the prevailing atmosphere "very serious, even gloomy."

The meeting was attended by leaders of several major U.S. Jewish organizations, including David Harris of the American Jewish Committee, AIPAC's Howard Kohr, Malcolm Hoenlein of the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations, Abe Foxman of the Anti-Defamation League and Morley Levine from Hadassah.

It was also attended Dennis Ross, the former Clinton administration special envoy to the Middle East; former Canadian justice minister Irwin Cotler; Brandeis University President Jehuda Reinharz; Israeli Cabinet Secretary Israel Maimon, representing the Israeli government; Yitzhak Molcho, who was formerly Benjamin Netanyahu's political advisor.

The Jewish People Policy Planning Institute was represented by Dr. Yehezkel Dror, Institute Director General Avinoam Bar-Yosef and former Israeli Foreign Ministry director general Avi Gil.

The meeting was defined as a preparatory session on urgent geopolitical issues and their impact on the fate of the Jewish people. It was essentially a continuation of a previous series of meetings held over the summer at Wye Plantation in Maryland, in which the heads of all the major Jewish organizations participated for the first time.

The Jewish People Policy Planning Institute, founded by the Jewish Agency, plans to hold a conference of Jewish leaders in Israel in May, including participants in this week's event. The Jewish People Policy Conference will focus on three main issues: Jewish communities, Jewish identity and the strategic problems threatening the Jewish people.