Conference Circuit

THERE ARE scores of not-for-profit organizations in Israel, but not all of them are regulated, nor can they boast transparency.

By GREER FAY CASHMAN
Sunday, November 18 OPPOSITION LEADER and former Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu will address the annual Coaching Conference of the Israel Management Center that will be held at Kfar Hamaccabiah from 9 a.m. Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni will deliver the keynote address on the 30th anniversary of the beginning of the Israel-Egypt peace process. The event, commencing at 7 p.m. at the Begin Heritage Center, 6 Nahon Street, Jerusalem, will include an exhibition under the title "No more war" Other speakers at the event will include Egyptian Ambassador Mohamed Assem Ibrahim, and Menachem Begin Heritage Foundation founder and President Harry Hurwitz. MC will be Herzl Makov, the Head of the Begin Center. "GAME THEORY: Matchmaking and betrayal, stock market, football and smart radio," a lecture in Hebrew by Prof. Sergio Hart from the Center for the Study of Rationality, will be held at 5 p.m. at the Wise Auditorium, Edmond J. Safra Campus at Givat Ram. The lecture is one of the "Why?" series of lectures and musical programs sponsored by the Hebrew University Authority for Community and Youth. No admission charge. For further details, call: (02)-6586256. Monday, November 19 THE Lester and Sally Entin Faculty of Humanities,The Cohn Institute for the History and Philosophy of Science and Ideas and The Goldreich Family Institute for Yiddish Language, Literature, and Culture at Tel Aviv University will host a symposium to mark the publication of a special issue of Science in Context on Science and Scholarship in Yiddish. In addition to remarks by representatives of TAU and the sponsoring institutes, speakers will include Rachel Rojanski, University of Haifa, whose topic is: "The Transformation of Yiddish into a Field of visnshaft;" Alexandre Métraux, University of Mannheim who will present "A Short History of Science in Yiddish;" Mark Steiner, Hebrew University Jerusalem who has titled his address in Yiddish - "Spinoza klept zikh zum materializm vi arbes tsum vant," Reuven Agushewitz- "The first and last Yiddish philosopher." The event which begins at 4.15 p.m. in Room 496 in the Gilman Buildingon the TAU campus and will include a general discussion after all the presentations have been made. All the lectures will be in English. Tuesday, November 20 THERE ARE scores of not-for-profit organizations in Israel, but not all of them are regulated, nor can they boast transparency. The Fifth Annual Civic Leadership conference at Kfar Hamaccabiah in the presence of Welfare and Social Services Minister Isaac Herzog, chairman of the State Controlling Committee and chairman of the lobby for the advancement of civic society Zevulun Orlev, and the director general of the Prime Minister's Office Ra'anan Dinur will discuss transparency, regulation and public confidence in not-for-profit organizations. For registration and full details call 03-6094199 or 03-5121748 THE 26Th Conference of the Israel Hotels Association will take place at the Crowne Plaza Hotel and Binyanei HaUma Jerusalem with the participation of senior representatives of the Tourism, Finance, Industry, Trade and Labor, Interior and Immigrant Absorption Ministries. Laurent Roumani of Maisoaon de la France will be the keynote speaker, projecting future trends in global tourism. The conference begins at 8 a.m. and runs throughout the day. Wednesday, November 21 DEFENSE MINISTER Ehud Barak, who is also a former IDF chief of General Staff, and current Chief of General Staff Lt.-Gen. Gabi Ashkenazi will be the keynote speakers at a BESA conference which asks the question: Is the IDF prepared for tomorrow's challenges. The conference is in memory of Maj. Gen. Avraham Rotem, the former Begin-Sadat Center for Strategic Studies associate. The conference will be held in the Mintz Auditorium, Bar Ilan University. Addresses will be in Hebrew but simultaneous translation into English will be available. The event begins at 2 p.m. A TWO-day conference in Hebrew entitled "On Hebrew and Jewish languages" will be held at the Dan Wassong Auditorium; Rabin Building, Hebrew University Mount Scopus campus, under the auspices of the Department of Hebrew Language and the Mandel Institute for Jewish Studies. It will be held in honor of Prof. Moshe Bar-Asher on his retirement and the publication of a new jubilee book in his honor, "Gates of Language: Researchers in Hebrew, Aramaic and Jewish Languages submitted to Moshe Bar-Asher." For further details, call: (02)-588 3558 INTEL WILL host a conference on new technologies for program developers and engineers at the David Intercontinental Hotel, Tel Aviv with the participation of senior Intel representatives from abroad. SHAKESPEARE DAY at Bar Ilan University will involve discussions on Shakespeare's characters, symbols, statues and stereotypes. The event, from 9:30 a.m. at the Leo Beck Auditorium, is sponsored by the Lechter Institute for Literary Research and The Lewis Family Fund. Speakers will include Shakespeare experts from American and Israeli universities. VISITORS TO London may be interested in attending an International Security Conference under the title: "Are we heading for a showdown with Iran?" The event is being held at The Queen Elizabeth II Conference Center, Abbey Room, London, from 2 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. Guest of Honor, will be the Rt. Hon. Sir Malcolm Rifkin MP, Former Foreign Secretary. The conference will provide an international perspective on the Iranian issue to give greater understanding and insight into the international complexities in dealing with Iran's nuclear program. The title of the first session is: What Role Can Diplomacy Play in Avoiding Confrontation? The panel of speakers includes Patrick Mercer MP, Former Conservatives spokesman on Homeland Security; Dr. Victor Mizin, who worked on arms control, non-proliferation, and global security issues in the Russian Foreign Ministry; Franck Debié; Chief Executive Director of the Foundation for Political Innovation, a think tank in Paris devoted to formulating French and European policies relation to geo-strategic threats; Michael Gayle, an experienced and leading American diplomat, currently working at the US Embassy in London and part of the "Iran Watch" team for the US Administration. The second session is: What are the regional implications of confronting Iran? This panel of speakers will include Richard Kemp, CBE Former Head of British Military Intelligence and a member of COBRA; Dr. Mehrdad Khonsari, Senior Research Consultant to the London based, Center for Arab and Iranian Studies and former Iranian Diplomat; Dr. Ronen Bergman PhD., one of Israel's leading investigative journalists working for Yediot Ahronot, and an expert on Iran; Zaki Chehab, one of the Arab world's leading journalists. He is political editor of the London-based "Al Hayat" and of the Arabic TV channel LBC. He has covered Middle Eastern conflicts for local and Western media for over 25 years. THE TEL Aviv Cinematheque is the venue for Refresh07, a conference that will answer the following questions: How are business models, channels, and technologies evolving to address and enable the needs of businesses and properties targeting online consumers? What is the impact of emerging business models and new distribution channels on traditional media players, and how do they remain relevant? What are the strategies of online leaders? How is the value of content - and the consumption and monetization of content - altering the economics of the content value chain? How technology changes the way people create and distribute content, what are the effects on mass culture? Keynote speakers include Seth Haberman, Oscar Award and Emmy Award winner for technological achievement and CEO of Visible World, NYC; Dr. Gali Einav, Director of Digital Insights and Innovation Research, NBC Universal and Karsten Weide, Program Director, Digital Entertainment and New Media, IDC. The event begins at 8:30 a.m. Thursday, November 22 "NATIONAL, REGIONAL and urban planning in Israel" a conference in Hebrew will be held at 9 a.m. at the Teddy Kollek Hall, Jerusalem Institute for Israel Studies, 20 Radak St., Jerusalem; in memory of Prof. Arie Shahar, under the auspices of the Institute for Urban and Regional Studies at the Hebrew University and the Floersheimer Institute for Policy Studies. Registration required. To register and for further details, call: (02)588 3367 or( 02) 563 0175, ext. 11 or 13. Tuesday, November 27 THE TEL Aviv Journalists Association, in conjunction with the University of Haifa, is hosting an international Journalists' Conference in Eilat over a three-day period with the participation of hundreds of journalists and people in the communications business from Israel and abroad. The conference, which will deal with issues such as the changing professional status of the journalist and the communicator, will culminate with the traditional November 29 address by the Prime Minister. Among the journalists, op-ed writers and other well-known people who have indicated that they will attend are: Ben Caspit, Ahmed Tibi, Amnon Dankner, Yossi Sarid, Daniel Ben Simon, Ron Ben Ishai, Dahlia Dorner, Carmela Menashe, Shalom Kital, and many other household names. For further details access the TAJA Web site www.itonut.org. Thursday, November 29 A SYMPOSIUM under the auspices of The Yolanda and David Katz Faculty of Arts at Tel Aviv University will focus on "The oldest of Heroes: King Lear." The subject will be tackled from a number of thought-provoking angles. The program begins at 10 a.m in Room 206, Mexico Building, on the TAU campus.