Last week Leadel.NET attended the 10th Annual Herzliya Conference - The Balance of Israel's National Security.  The conference brought together leading political and security figures from Israel and the Diaspora, and included 24 panels with speakers across the board discussing pressing issues facing Israel and Judaism today.

Held at the Interdisciplinary Center (IDC) Herzliya, Sammy Ofer School of Communications, the Herzliya Conference had the ability to make history at New Media Efforts.   By utilizing and bombarding the social media networks such as YouTube, Twitter and Facebook.  Leadel worked in close relations with David Saranga's New Media Team who did an incredible job at covering the event -- have a look!

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Behind the scenes of Herzliya Conference 2010 New Media Coverage:


Topics ranged from Israel's Economic Challenges, to Breaking the Global Oil Addiction: Israel's Role, to Managing the Risk of Break-Out a Poly-Nuclear Middle East. Speakers and panelists included (but were certainly not limited to) the following dignitaries:

  • Israeli Prime Minister (PM), Benjamin Netanyahu
  • Israeli President, Shimon Peres
  • Palestinian PM Dr. Salam Fayyad
  • James Woolsey, former Director of the CIA - spoke on energy panels, and be sure to check out his interview with the IDC Radio team with David Saranga.
  • Ehud Barak, Minister of Defense on Peace and Security; excerpts below are from Jewlicious.com (because I'm a fan of numbers and Dahlia's summary)...
The Middle East, Barak explained, is a “tough neighborhood,” where there is “no benevolence for the weak,” nor “mercy for those who can’t defend themselves.” National security, therefore, is a number one priority for Israel. Regarding Israel’s neighbors, Israel must be able to deal with them from a point of “strength, self security, and sobriety.” A two-state solution is necessary to ensure a Jewish, Zionist, democratic state. Barak explicated that 12.5 million people live between the Jordan River and the Mediterranean Sea. 7.1 million of those live in Israel, but the remaining 5.4 million live in the so-called “Palestinian territories.” A one-state solution will result in either a non-Jewish state, or else a non-democratic Israel. There is no other option; there must be two states for Israel to survive.


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To add a bit of "peoplehood" spice, not to mention, show some diversity that was psuedo-present at the conference, here are some excerpts from an early morning panel about Jewish Identity and Heritage with Rabbi Aryeh Deri, Yuli Tamir and Elazar Stern.

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Last but certainly not least of our video excerpts (all thanks to David Saranga's Media Team), here's an excerpt with Martin Kace on Strategic Communication for Israel - Branding a Nation.  My personal favorite line: "Israel's brand lies in its difficulties and challenges".

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Meanwhile, don't forget Leadel was covering their own interview sessions during breaks while the panels were going on.  A few present that sat in the Leadel-hot-seat included:

  • Tal Brody, Former Basketball star of Maccabi Tel Aviv

  • >Joel Mowbray, Journalist and Syndicated Columnist

For more food-for-thought videos and information on the Herzliya Conference be sure to browse the Conference YouTube Page.