President's Conference unable to draw big names

The deterioration in Israel's international standing over the past year is reflected in the guest list for the 2009 President's Conference, which opened last night in Jerusalem.

Last winter's war in Gaza and the change in leadership in Israel and the United States appear to have contributed to Israel's difficulty in securing top-notch international statesmen - a problem even President Shimon Peres' star power can't solve.

Thirteen incumbent world leaders, headed by U.S. President George W. Bush, attended last year's presidential conference, as did dozens of former high-ranking dignitaries, including Henry Kissinger, Mikhail Gorbachev and Joschka Fischer. The panels addressing economic issues also boasted some big names, including Google co-founder Sergey Brin and media mogul Ruport Murdoch.

This year, however, the Facing Tomorrow conference will have to make do with names that glitter just a bit less, like Macedonian President Gjorge Ivanov and Polish Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski. Other participants include Susan Rice, U.S. ambassador to the United Nations; Josh Silverman, global president of Skype; and Jimmy Wales, founder of Wikipedia.

Organizers said Peres wanted this year's summit to have more of an emphasis on economic issues than political issues.