World Jewish Congress

Jewish parliamentarians from around the world meet in Jerusalem

ICJP elects Congressman Gary Ackerman as head

JERUSALEM, JANUARY 10, 2006 – The International Council of Jewish Parliamentarians (ICJP) has unanimously selected Congressman Gary L. Ackerman as its first president. Ackerman, a member of the US House of Representatives from New York, will now chair the body's executive and preside over the ICJP's next meeting, which will take place in 2007 in Washington. Ackerman, along with a group of 12 vice-presidents from around the world, was elected at an ICJP assembly in Jerusalem, which ended on Tuesday. Lord Janner of Braunstone, a Member of the British House of Lords, convened the Jerusalem conference and will continue to serve as one of the members of the ICJP executive. The ICJP is a newly established global forum of Jewish parliamentarians and legislators which convened officially for the first time this week in Jerusalem. Drawing nearly 70 representatives from 30 nations, the ICJP was created to provide a platform for leaders to cooperate on issues of concern in the Jewish world and the international community, including the spread and growth of anti-Semitism, the need to improve inter-faith relations, and the application of the Jewish tradition of Tikkun Olam to global problems. On Tuesday, the parliamentarians also met with Israel's acting prime minister Ehud Olmert, discussing the political situation in Israel following the illness of prime minister Ariel Sharon.

Jewish parliamentarians visit Sharon's hospital

JERUSALEM, JANUARY 9, 2006 – Dozens of Jewish lawmakers have paid a visit to Jerusalem's Hadassah Hospital to offer their best wishes for Israeli prime minister Ariel Sharon. Rabbi Israel Singer, chairman of the World Jewish Congress who was with the lawmakers at the hospital, recited a prayer for Sharon's health. He told the world's media gathered outside the hospital: "At this great medical institution, prayer can also play a role in healing." US congressman Henry Waxman, one of about 50 lawmakers currently in Jerusalem for the meeting of the International Council of Jewish Parliamentarians, a new group formed to combat anti-Semitism and improve interfaith relations, said: "We are here in solidarity. We are here in hope. (…) Prime minister Sharon has laid the groundwork by separating Israel from the Palestinians people and by putting the burden on the Palestinian people. But I don't think the peace process will stop, because the people of Israel and the Palestinian people want peace."

Peres and Netanyahu address ICJP assembly

JERUSALEM, JANUARY 8, 2006 – In an address to the International Council of Jewish Parliamentarians (ICJP) in Jerusalem on Sunday, Israel's deputy prime minister Shimon Peres said that the far-right and the far-left in Israel had become minorities, with most of the country united behind the vision of peace and security set out by prime minister Ariel Sharon. "Today, there is a wide basis for peace with the full support of a new strong party of people who got tired of old definitions," Peres said according to the "Jerusalem Post". He also lent his support to Ehud Olmert to succeed Sharon as prime minister, saying: "Ehud Olmert was nominated by Ariel Sharon to become acting prime minister when the need for it arises. I supported it then and I support it now." Likud leader Benjamin Netanyahu told the same conference that in his view, the Palestinian society was "dysfunctional and in collapse. It has been overtaken by the forces of terror and radicalism." The gathering of the ICJP, which will last until Tuesday, is sponsored by the World Jewish Congress, includes ministers and parliamentarians from 28 countries. Proceedings can be watched live via live stream on this website.

Jewish parliamentarians from around the world to meet in Jerusalem

JERUSALEM, 04 JANUARY, 2005 – The International Council of Jewish Parliamentarians (ICJP), a global network of Jewish Cabinet Ministers and Members of Parliament (MPs) created to exchange ideas and cooperate on causes of Jewish and global concerns, will convene a unique conference at the David Citadel Hotel in Jerusalem on January 07-10, 2006.

Israel’s Knesset, the World Jewish Congress, the Israeli Ministries of Foreign Affairs and Tourism, and the Israel Forum are supporting the project.

The conference will focus on three main topics:

Inter-faith activities for change;
‘Tikkun Olam’: Jewish contributions to the global community
Electronic forms of anti-Semitism.

Leading legislators from over 20 countries are expected to attend, from Argentina, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, Costa Rica, Czech Republic, France, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Dominican Republic, Romania, Serbia and Montenegro, South Africa, Tunisia, Ukraine, the United States, the United Kingdom and Uruguay. Among the individual participants will be US Senator Lautenberg and six Representatives; Lord Janner and Lady Miller of the British House of Lords; MR Zoran Shami, President of the Assembly of Tunisia; MP Avda Bramov of Azerbaijan; and 60 others.

The ICJP was founded in 2002 in order to engage Jewish lawmakers from around the world in an ongoing involvement with the Jewish nation in Israel and the Diaspora by making the Jewish legislative voice heard globally on matters of human rights, anti-Semitism, restitution of Holocaust era assets, relations with the developing world, inter-faith dialogue and ethical issues of international concern.

AGENDA

Saturday, January 7th, 2006

18:00 Registration (will begin following the conclusion of Shabbat)

18:00-20:00 Meeting of the Steering Committee - David Citadel Hotel
Agenda: Preparation for plenary discussion of ICJP business; chairperson: Lord Janner of Braunstone QC; coordinator: Stephen Herbits, Secretary-General of the World Jewish Congress

21:00 David Citadel Hotel (Ballroom) - Gala dinner hosted by Speaker of the Knesset, Mr. Reuven Rivlin; moderator: Mr. Greenspan; entertainment: Shalva Berti

Sunday, January 8th, 2006

7:30-8:45 Breakfast

9:00-9:30 Plenary opening – David Citadel Hotel; introductory remarks: Lord Janner (ICJP chair), Rep. Waxman (USA, Steering Committee), Yuli Edelstein, Deputy Speaker of Knesset (chair of Israeli delegation) Tony Leon MP (South Africa, Steering Committee)

9:30-12:30 Session on "Electronic Anti-Semitism" – David Citadel Hotel; speakers: Cheryl Halperin (CPB, US); Prof. Dina Porat; materials: Papers and DVD by Stephen Roth Institute and the WJC Brussels office

Presentation, plenary discussion, resolutions, the role of Jewish Parliamentarians; coordinator: Dr. Laurence Weinbaum

13:00 Lunch – David Citadel Hotel; guest speaker: Amir Peretz, Leader of Israeli Labor Party (t.b.c.)

14:30-17:00 Session on "Tikkun Olam" – David Citadel Hotel; keynote speaker: Bernadine Healy; other speakers: Haim Divon (director of MASHAV); Will Recant (JDC)

Presentation, Q&A, plenary discussion, resolutions, planning of future projects, the role of Jewish parliamentarians; coordinators: Bobby Brown and Dena Scher

18:00 Meeting with the President of Israel – President's Residence; host and speaker: President Moshe Katsav; subject: "The Jewish world today"

19:30 Dinner – Bible Lands Museum; guest speaker: Chairman of the Likud

Monday, January 9th, 2006

7:00-7:45 Breakfast

11:00-12:00 Meeting with Foreign Minister Silvan Shalom – David Citadel Hotel

12:00 Session on: "Democracy in Action" – David Citadel Hotel

13:00 Lunch – David Citadel Hotel; speaker: head of Mossad; subject: security briefing

14:30-17:30 Session on "Inter-faith Dialogue"; speakers: David Rosen; Lord Mayor of Manchester Afzal Khan (UK); Prince Hassan of Jordan (by video conference)

Presentation, plenary discussion, resolutions, on the Role of Jewish Parliamentarians; coordinators: Ambassador Shmuel Hadas and Pinchas Shapiro

18:00-19:00 Resolutions Committee Meeting OR Meeting with a representative of the Palestinian Authority at the David Citadel Hotel

20:00 Dinner – Mini Israel; introducers: Rabbi Dr. Israel Singer, Chairman of the Governing Board of the World Jewish Congress; Matthew Bronfman (t.b.c.); guest speaker: Avraham Hirschson, Minister of Tourism of Israel

Tuesday, January 10th, 2006

7:30-9:00 Breakfast

8:00-9:00 Steering Committee meeting – David Citadel Hotel; agenda: finalization of resolutions; chairperson: Lord Janner of Braunstone QC

9:30-10:30 Meeting with Vice Prime Minister and Minister of Finance Ehud Olmert; Matthew Bronfman (t.b.c.)

11:00-12:30 Closing session – David Citadel Hotel; agenda: adopting resolutions, ICJP business, discussion of future projects and meetings; chairperson: ICJP Steering Committee member

13:30 Lunch – David Citadel Hotel

14:30 - 17:00 Visit of the New Yad Vashem Museum; guide: Shevach Weiss, former speaker of the Knesset

For more information, please go to www.icjp.net