SCHEDULE – Britain and Israel: Shared strategic challenges

Setting the scene

Daniel Taub, Israel Ambassador to the UK

The view from London and Jerusalem

Intro: Ambassador Ronald Lauder, President, World Jewish Congress

Expert Panel 1: Iran – Eight days and counting…

Coming just one week before the deadline for reaching a comprehensive agreement on Iran’s nuclear programme, this panel will address how the US and its allies, including Britain and Israel, should shape its policy towards Iran going forward. The panellists will be asked to speak about, in particular, the implications of the outcome of the nuclear talks for policy towards Iran, and the threats and opportunities presented by the potential agreement. They will also be asked whether the diplomacy over the nuclear issue helps or hinders efforts to counter Iran’s regional policies, including their support for extremist groups opposed to the peace process and committed to Israel’s destruction, such as Hamas, Islamic Jihad, and Hezbollah.

 Sir Richard Dalton (Chatham House)

Emily Landau (INSS)

 Meir Javendanfar (Iran-Israel Observer)

Shashank Joshi (RUSI)

 Sima Shine (Israel’s Ministry of Strategic Affairs)

Chair: Richard Pater (BICOM)

Isaac Herzog In conversation with Jonathan Freedland

Not in God’s Name – Lord Sacks

Expert Panel 2: Responding to radicalisation. Can the genie be put back into the bottle?

Radical Islamist ideologies of increasing violence and ferocity are attracting adherents among Islamic populations in both Europe and the Middle East, including among Muslims in Britain, Israel and the Palestinian territories. Panellists will be asked how best this phenomenon is to be confronted. To what extent do policy makers need to focus on confronting the ideology of the Jihadists, what are the most effective military and security strategies, and to what extent do political and social circumstances and grievances play a role, both in Europe and the Middle East?

Eran Etzion (Forum for Strategic Dialogue.)

Charles Farr (Home Office)

Itamar Marcus (Palestinian Media Watch)

 Peter Neumann (ICSR)

 Haras Rafiq (Quilliam Foundation)

Chair: Natalie Nougayrede,The Guardian / Former editor of Le Monde 

Sandwich lunch/networking time

In conversation with Yair Lapid

Expert Panel 3: Responses to the growth of antisemitism: Does increasing anti-semtism threaten the future of European Jewry?

The last 12 months have seen rising concern over anti-Semitism in the UK, and Europe more widely, including murderous attacks on Jews carried out by radicalised Muslims in France, Belgium and Denmark. Some have questioned the very future of Jewish in Europe. This wider phenomenon of rising anti-Semitic attacks is a development that is clearly impacted by events in the Middle East, with antisemitic incidences rising during intense periods of conflict involving Israel and the Palestinians, and many Jews feeling that anti-Israel or anti-Zionist rhetoric has become the acceptable face of a ‘new anti-Semitism’. The panellists will be asked to give their views as to the deeper causes of this phenomenon and how should it be confronted. What role does the British government and other European government have, and what role can or should Israel play in tackling this challenge far beyond its own borders?

Sarah Benioff (DCLG)

Robert Ejnes (CRIF)

Mark Gardner (CST)

Gillian Merron (Board of Deputies)

Maajid Nawaz (Quilliam Foundation)

Chair: Robert Singer (CEO World Jewish Congress) 

*Panel held jointly with World Jewish Congress

The view from New York: Is the UN helping or hindering the pursuit of peace in the Middle East?

UN Ambassador Ron Prosor in Conversation with Dr. Einat Wilf

Rob Halfon MP – Vice Chairman, Conservative Party

Expert Panel 4: Can we deliver stability?  Responses to the collapse of Arab states and the rise of ISIL

The Arab world is experiencing a period of dynamic change and instability, with the future very difficult to predict. The Arab state system has partially collapsed, and every state in the region, and with interests in the region, if profoundly affected. The increase in ethnic tensions, especially along the Sunni-Shia divide is one consequence, the creation of a new and exceptionally violent pseudo-state entity in the form of ISIL is another. Panellists will be asked about the priorities for states including Britain and Israel – who share an interest in regional stability and rolling back extremists – and how Israel can work better with other pro-Western forces to advance a common agenda.

Shlomo Avineri 

Dan Chugg (Foreign Office)

 Oded Eran (INSS)

Jane Kinninmont (Chatham House)

Alan Mendoza (Henry Jackson Society)

Chair: Moav Vardi, Diplomatic Correspondence, Isr Ch.10

Martin Indyk Video Link interview with Lyse Doucet (BBC)

Expert Panel 5: Have rejectionists slammed the door on the two state solution?

The Kerry initiative marked the third occasion when substantial efforts to establish an agreement on final status have ended in failure. Yet the two state solution still appears to be the only arrangement which has any chance of reconciling the national goals and aspirations of Israelis and Palestinians. It still retains the support of most of the international community, and majorities of Israelis and Palestinians. How should Israel, the Palestinians, and third parties including Britain and the EU, act to stop the recent deteriorations in relations between Israel and the PA and improve the chances of achieving a two-state outcome? What threats or opportunities are presented by the Palestinian strategy to internationalise the conflict, the formation of a new Israeli government, the fallout from last summer’s Gaza conflict, the attitude of the Obama administration, and wider regional developments?

Brig Gen.Yossi Kuperwasser

Omer Bar Lev MK

Prof Jonathan Rynhold (Argov Center)

Gabrielle Rifkind 

Nadhim Zahawi MP

Chair: Toby Greene (BICOM)