Israel's President Hosts Hundreds of Israeli leaders at Center for Social Policy Studies' Annual Forum

This summer, Moshe Katzav, President of Israel, hosted more than 200 leaders from the political, non-profit, and academic arenas to hear the Center for Social Policy Studies in Israel (CSPS) analysis of the social impact of the Israeli government’s new economic plan.

CSPS experts relayed their findings to a panel of government officials in order to help inform future policy-making. Among the presenters were Professor Zvi Zussman (Center economics expert and past deputy of the Bank of Israel), Professor Shmuel Penchas (Center health team expert and former director of Hadassah Hospitals, Jerusalem), Dr. Elad Peled, (Center education expert and professor emeritus Ben-Gurion University), Mr. Arnon Gafny (Center economics team leader and former Governor of the Bank of Israel), and Professor Yaakov Kop (Center director).

On the dais to respond were Ehud Olmert (Likud) Acting Prime Minister, Zevulun Orlev (National Religious Party) Minister of Social Affairs, and Yair Peretz (Shas) MK and head of the Social Welfare Lobby of the Knesset.

The President used the forum to announce his intention to publicly lead a campaign to bring a greater sensitivity to the impact of the government's recent harsh economic measures upon the weakest segments of Israel's population.

Center director, Professor Yaakov Kop, thanked distinguished guests—including past-President Ephraim Katzir—for attending and the President for hosting the Forum. He emphasized the role of the JDC and its continued support, which have enabled the Center to remain independent of the Government and thus able to produce an objective analysis without any conflict of interest.

Israel’s public and cable electronic media, including the Jerusalem Post, Ha’aretz, and Israel Radio, covered the gathering extensively.

Meeting with Meir Sheetrit, Minister in the Treasury Department

Several days after the Forum, Meir Sheetrit, Minister in the Finance Ministry, spent an afternoon reviewing and discussing eight presentations by CSPS senior staff on aspects of the economy and impacts on social policy. He was enthused by the Forum, noting that it came at exactly the right time since this year the government was putting together its 2004 State Budget proposal in September. A follow-up session with the participation of the senior staff of the Finance Ministry took place at the end of August, so that the CSPS data and analyses could be taken into consideration in the formulation of the budget.