A national conference dedicated to repairing Israeli society and building a shared civic future opened Wednesday at the International Convention Center in Jerusalem, as President Isaac Herzog warned that division had become the country’s most urgent internal threat.
The President’s Conference for a Shared Israeli Future, titled “Time to Talk | Building Together,” was convened as part of Herzog’s broader effort to rebuild trust, strengthen social cohesion, and move Israeli discourse from crisis toward repair ahead of Israel’s 80th anniversary.
“This is not just a conference,” Herzog said in his opening remarks. “A movement has arisen here that says, ‘Enough! We are sick of the hatred, the division, the labeling, the curses, the violence, and the shaming."
Herzog said the initiative was meant to promote “mutual recognition,” “mutual respect,” dialogue, listening, and a desire “to build a shared Israeli tomorrow.”
The conference brought together partners in Herzog’s “Time to Talk: The President’s Initiatives for a Shared Israeli Future,” an effort launched at the beginning of his presidency to encourage dialogue among institutions, civil society groups, social leaders, young change-makers, and community heads from across Israeli society.
Herzog thanked the initiative’s partners, including the Jewish Federations of North America, Combined Jewish Philanthropies of Boston, the Maimonides Fund, and Maala, Business for Social Responsibility.
Herzog warns of rising tensions ahead of elections
He said the President’s Residence had developed a “large network of activities and initiatives,” including “Values in Sport,” which promotes respect through sports; “Voice of the People,” which seeks to strengthen Jewish leadership in Israel and the Diaspora; the President’s Climate Forum; HaMerchav (The Space), a dialogue initiative; and a forum focused on combating boycotts and public shaming.
“This family came to provide a response to the greatest disease of Israeli society and its greatest danger: division,” Herzog said.
Citing a survey published Tuesday in Yedioth Ahronoth by the Agam Institute at Tel Aviv University, Herzog said Israelis identified division as the country’s greatest threat and rated the level of division at 8.9 out of 10.
“There are fuel fumes in the air,” he said, adding that 70% of the public had said it was willing to compromise to preserve unity, while warning of “a small but very dangerous minority” that threatens violence.
“The answer to this danger, when there are fuel fumes in the air, and we are entering elections, is here, in this tremendous movement of ‘Time to Talk,’” Herzog said. “I will go from one end of the country to the other to do everything to lower the flames and enable respectful discourse in Israeli society.”
Herzog also linked Israel’s internal cohesion to its relationship with Diaspora Jewry, saying Jews abroad were facing “a hell of unimaginable antisemitism” and looking to Israel for stability and responsibility.
“They want to hear us, and they want to know they have our backing,” he said.
Jewish leaders stress unity and shared responsibility
The conference included lectures, panels, and dialogue forums on core questions facing Israeli society. A dedicated panel addressed relations between Israel and the Diaspora and included a special conversation with Israeli actress Gal Gadot. The event was moderated by Ofer Hadad, Netali Shem Tov, and Sivan Sisay Yosef, and was scheduled to conclude with a performance by Yuval Raphael, a survivor of the Nova massacre and Israel’s representative at Eurovision 2025.
Rebecca Caspi, senior vice president and director general of the Jewish Federations of North America’s Israel office, told the conference that “words matter, and actions have power,” warning that antisemitic and anti-Israel rhetoric around the world had translated into violence against Jewish communities. She said North American Jewish communities had been forced to divert major resources from community-building programs toward growing security needs.
Caspi said Jewish Federations had worked since October 7 on two fronts: mobilizing public support for Israel and fighting antisemitism, while also providing “historic” support on the ground in Israel of more than $900 million. That support, she said, had included a loan fund for small businesses damaged by the war, assistance for thousands of businesses supporting more than 34,000 people, and the establishment of a national support system for reservists’ families.
“Reconstruction is not only a matter of infrastructure or systems,” Caspi said. “It begins and ends, like every truly important thing, with people.”
Rabbi Marc Baker, president and CEO of Combined Jewish Philanthropies of Greater Boston, described the Israel-Diaspora relationship as a central part of Jewish peoplehood. Speaking on behalf of the Boston Jewish community and Jewish communities across the US, Baker said that bringing Americans and Israelis together creates “a spark of Jewish peoplehood,” rooted in the understanding that Jews are family.
Baker said October 7 had marked “the beginning of an awakening” for Israelis and North American Jews, forcing both communities to recognize their vulnerability and their shared Jewish fate. He invoked Rabbi Joseph B. Soloveitchik’s distinction between a “covenant of fate” and a “covenant of destiny,” saying the Jewish people must invest in both survival and a shared future.
“We are too small to drift away from one another,” Baker said. “At the end of the day, we are all we have.”
Conference focuses on rebuilding Israeli society
Herzog closed his remarks by calling on Israelis to make a shared civic commitment.
“We have paid terrible prices for division in the past,” he said, “and together with the wonderful young generation that is here, we can build a shared Israeli future and tomorrow.”