/// THE INSTITUTE FOR POLICY AND STRATEGY (IPS) AND THE HERZLIYA CONFERENCE

The Herzliya Conference takes place yearly at Reichman University, and is Israel’s foremost global policy gathering, drawing together the most senior Israeli and international participants from government, business, and academia to address pressing national, regional, and global issues. This year, the 20th Annual Herzliya Conference will take place from 22-23 May 2023.

According to Maj. Gen. (res.) Amos Gilead, Executive Director of the Institute for Policy and Strategy (IPS) at Reichman University and Chairman of the Institute’s Annual Herzliya Conference Series, the conference will be held this year after being paused for the past few years due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Maj. Gen. (res.) Gilead explained that the state of Israel is now facing combined multidimensional threats emanating from the interactions between internal processes that endanger the national resilience, and its ability to address growing external challenges.

It is up against the risk of its internal cohesion and economic resilience being seriously damaged, as well as the possibility of a sharp and rapid deterioration in its relations with the Palestinian Authority, and the aggravating threat posed by Iran. At this point, Israel still enjoys diverse strategic assets, among them the special relationship with the United States and the cooperation with the Arab countries. However, the steps that the newly formed Israeli government is taking that are in contrast to the basic views of the U.S. administration - particularly on issues related to the shared liberal and democratic values and relations with the Palestinians - might put at risk strategic relations with the U.S. It also might harm the achievements that have been made in recent years with the Arab world.

In light of this, the conference this year is entitled “Vision and Strategy in an Era of Uncertainty”. Discussions during the conference will focus on analyzing and mapping out processes and threats in the internal, regional, and global arenas in this era of uncertainty, while outlining the strategy required to address them.

Among the issues to be discussed: the Iranian nuclear threat; Israel as a Jewish democratic state; the strategic relations between Israel and the U.S.; the Palestinian arena; implications of the war in Ukraine; Israeli-European relations; how to deal with antisemitism; economic resilience in an era of internal and global uncertainty; and more.