Professionals converge on Eilat to discuss violence in Israeli society

By RUTH EGLASH
More than 1000 cabinet ministers, Knesset members, mayors, heads of city councils, social workers, police experts, university professors and other professionals will gather Wednesday and Thursday in Eilat, for the fourth annual conference examining causes and prevention of violence in Israeli society. The conference will also highlight the progress of the City of Non-Violence project, which was piloted in Eilat four years ago and has since spread to 12 other Israeli cities. The International Fellowship of Christians and Jews, one of the program's sponsors, announced Tuesday that it was committing an additional $2 million to take the initiative into 2009. Among those set to speak at the conference are Ministers of Internal Security Avi Dichter, Welfare and Social Services Isaac Herzog, Immigrant Absorption Yaakov Edri, as well as retired Supreme Court judge Meir Shemgar, who will act as honorary chairman of this year's conference.