Peres' second Presidential Conference kicks off with gala event
President, Netanyahu and Blair to speak at opening of Jerusalem meet to discuss key issues facing world.
By Haaretz Service Tags: Jerusalem Peres conference Tony Blair Israel newsPresident Shimon Peres opened the second Israeli Presidential Conference on Tuesday with a gala event in Jerusalem, featuring addresses by Israeli and foreign statesmen as well as performances by local musicians.
The conference, titled "Facing Tomorrow," will focus on what actions should be taken to ensure a better future for Israel, the Jewish People, and the rest of the world. Participants will also consider how to turn the financial crisis into an opportunity.
Peres, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and the Middle East envoy for the Quartet, Tony Blair, was to speak at the opening ceremony.
A statement issued by the president's office noted that the conference was being held amid a number of significant problems facing the world. It listed them as the ongoing economic crisis, continuing ecological deterioration, political instability in the Middle East and Iran's push to acquire nuclear weapons.
"These issues influence not only Israeli security, but also global security; not only the individual but also the community," the statement said.
Leading economic, political, intellectual, and technological experts from Israel and the world will address these issues in this year's conference, Peres' office said. These include futurist Raymond Kurzweil; Baron David Mayer de Rothschild; French philosopher and economist Jacques Battaglai; French Philosopher Bernard-Henri Levy; Josh Silverman, Global President of Skype; Wikipedia Founder Jimmy Wales; and Indian Guru Sri Sri Ravi Shankar.
The statesman participating this year include U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations, Susan Rice; the President of Macedonia, Gjorge Ivanov; Polish Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski; former Spanish Prime Minister José María Alfredo Aznar López; Chinese Minister of Information Wong Chan; former Ukrainian President Leonid Kuchma; Canadian Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs, Leonard J. Edwards; and French Foreign Trade Minister Anne-Marie Idrac.
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Quartet peace envoy Tony Blair. |
| Photo by: (Reuters) |
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You're the Man Peres!
Middle East envoy for the Quartet, Tony Blair, where have you been? Mitchel been going back and forth to the middleeast trying to get the peace process started. Have you seen him? or you just have it as a title (knight) (lord)(envoy)
"The conference, titled "Facing Tomorrow," will focus on what actions should be taken to ensure a better future for Israel, the Jewish People, and the rest of the world".Is not like a joke the priorities:Israel,Jewish people ...and the rest of the world.A normal man would think that the prosperity of the world is enough but probably this is the order in which should be get prosperity.
I wonder how Bernard-Heri Levy agreed to participate... Even the His Excency Highest and Eternal President of Kyrgizia declined to attend... Only has-beens and low-level juniors...