High Contrast
Conference Program
Conference Co-Chairs: Prof. Eugene Kandel and Prof. Karnit Flug | Conference Director: Daphna Aviram-Nitzan | President of the IDI: Yohanan Plesner
English Program.pdf
Conference Opening
Registration 09:00-09:30
09:30 | Opening Remarks
Yohanan Plesner
President, Israel Democracy Institute
Bezalel Smotrich
Minister of Finance
09:50 | Greetings
Moshe Leon
Mayor of Jerusalem
Dr. Vered Shalev-Hurvitz
Chair, Dalia and Eli Hurvitz Foundation
10:00 | Prof. Amir Yaron
Governor of the Bank of Israel
10:20 | Keynote Speaker | Martin Wolf
Chief Economics Commentator, Financial Times
Where is the Israeli Economy Headed?
Chair: Yohanan Plesner, President of the Israel Democracy Institute
Forecasts for the Future
Yali Rothenberg
Accountant General, Ministry of Finance
Yogev Gradus
Director, Budget Division, Ministry of Finance
The Economic Ramifications of the Government Plan for Judicial Overhaul
Prof. Itai Ater
Senior Fellow, Israel Democracy Institute; Professor of Economics, Coller School of Management, Tel Aviv University
Prof. Karnit Flug
Vice President for Research and the William Davidson Senior Fellow for Economic Policy, Israel Democracy Institute; and former Governor of the Bank of Israel
Prof. Zvi Eckstein
Dean of the Tiomkin School of Economics and Head of the Aaron Institute for Economic Policy, Reichman University
Shira Greenberg
Chief Economist, Ministry of Finance
11:15AM-11:45AM | Break
The Impact of the Judicial Overhaul Plan on Household Budgets
Daphna Aviram-Nitzan
Director of the Center for Government and Economy, Israel Democracy Institute
Voices from the Field
Noa Jahshan Batshon
CEO, Co Compact
Dr. Michal Tsur Shalev
Cofounder, Cyota; Cofounder and President, Kaltura
Noam Bardin
Founder, post.news, former CEO of Waze
Adv. Anat Naschitz
Founder and CEO, 9xchange
Alon Arvatz
Founder, IntSights
Dr. Ami Appelbaum
Chair, Israel Innovation Authority and Chief Scientist, Ministry of the Economy and Industry
Open Discussion
Prof. Jacob Frenkel
Former Governor of the Bank of Israel; Recipient of the Israel Prize 2002
Summary of the Session
Adv. Shlomi Heisler
Director General, Ministry of Finance
Arnon Bar-David
Chair, Histadrut Labor Federation
Dubi Amitai
Chair, Business Sector Presidium
Dr. Ron Tomer
President, Manufacturers Association of Israel; Chair, Organization of Businesses and Employers in Israel; Industrialist
The Cost of Living in Israel
Chair: Prof. Itai Ater, Senior Fellow, Israel Democracy Institute
Opening | Session Chair
Presentation of Survey Findings on Cost of Living
Daphna Aviram-Nitzan
Director of the Center for Government and Economy, Israel Democracy Institute
Voices from the Field
Shachar Turjeman
Chair of the Board, the Brill Group; Chairman, Federation of Israeli Chambers of Commerce
Uri Kilstein
CEO, Carrefour Israel
Adam Friedler
Founder and CEO, Good Pharm
Linor Deutsch
Founding Partner and CEO, Lobby 99
How Can the Cost of Living Be Cut?
Yoel Baris
Chair, Regulatory Oversight Board, Prime Minister's Office
Eran Yaacov
Director, Israel Tax Authority
Michal Fink
Deputy Director General for Strategy, Ministry of the Economy and Industry
Dr. Adi Brender
Director of the Research Division, Bank of Israel
Prof. Manuel Trajtenberg
Executive Director, Institute for National Security Studies (INSS)
Open Discussion
Session Summary
Prof. Eugene Kandal
CEO, Start Up Nation Policy Institute (SNPI); Hebrew University of Jerusalem
Prof. Karnit Flug
Vice President for Research and William Davidson Senior Fellow for Economic Policy, Israel Democracy Institute; Hebrew University of Jerusalem; and former Governor of the Bank of Israel
04:00PM | MK Avigdor Liberman
Chair, Yisrael Beitenu
4:10-4:30 | Break
Relations Between Central and Local Government
Chair: Yael German, Former Minister of Health, Former Mayor of Herzliya
Opening Remarks
Yohanan Plesner
President of the Israel Democracy Institute
The Relationship Between the Central Government and Local Government
Dr. Ariel Finkelstein
Director of the Local Government Program, the Israel Democracy Institute
Yossi Sheli
Director General, Prime Minister's Office
Dialogue Among Mayors
Mottie Sasson
Holon
Amir Kochavi
Hod Hasharon
Simon Lankri
Acre
Tal Ohana
Yeruham
Oded Revivi
Efrat
Abed al Azziz Nassassrah
Kuseife
Yitzhak Ravitz
Kiryat Ye'arim
Dr. Galit Saul
Emek Hefer
Rotem Yadlin
Gezer
Matan Yagel
Real-Estate and Local Government, Budget Division, Ministry of Finance
Civil Society Initiatives
Idit Bar
CEO, Bloomberg-Sagol Center
Mordechai Cohen
Former Director General of the Ministry of the Interior
Ophir Pines-Paz
Head, Institute for Local Government, Tel Aviv University; Former Minister of the Interior
Open Discussion
Opening | Eli Hurvitz Conference
09:00-09:30 | Gathering
09:30 | MK Benny Gantz
Chair, National Unity Party
The Future of Israeli High Tech
Chair: Prof. Eugene Kandel, Co-Chair, Start Up Nation Policy Institute, (SNPI); the Hebrew University of Jerusalem
Opening Remarks | Session Chair
Alan Feld
Co-Founder, Vintage Fund; Founder, "Power in Diversity Israel"
Voices from the Field
Reem Younis
Owner and Cofounder, Alpha Omega
Yifat Oron
Managing Director, Blackstone Israel
Dr. Yossi Vardi
Hi-Tech Entrepreneur
Adi Soffer Teeni
VP & GM, Meta Israel
Gigi Levy-Weiss
General Partner, NFX
Michael Eisenberg
Managing Partner, Aleph Fund
Tal Barnoach
General Partner, Disruptive Venture Capital
Ziv Kop
Managing Partner, OG Venture Partners
Government Representatives
Dror Bin
CEO, Israel Innovation Authority
Noam Dan
Head of Communications, Tourism, R&D and Higher Education Team, Budget Division, Ministry of Finance
Opening Discussion
11:00 | MK Yair Lapid
Leader of the Opposition
11:10-11:40 | Break
The Link Between Education, Mobility, and High Tech
Chair: Prof. Karnit Flug, Vice President for Research and the William Davidson Senior Fellow for Economic Policy, the Israel Democracy Institute; Hebrew University of Jerusalem; and former Governor of the Bank of Israel
Opening Remarks | Session Chair
High Tech as a Road to Economic Mobility
Prof. Karnit Flug
Prof. Yotam Margalit
Senior Fellow, the Israel Democracy Institute
Voices from the Field
Maya Horowitz
Vice President for Research, Check Point Software Technologies
Eli Hurvitz
Executive Director, Trump Foundation
Amir Sabhat
Senior Research Fellow, Samuel Neaman Institute
Moshe Friedman
Co-Founder, KamaTech
MK Mansour Abbas
Chair, United Arab List
Government Representatives
Mohana Fares
Former Intel Vice President, Chair of Inter-ministerial Team for Boosting Employment in High-Tech, Educational Entrepreneur
Hassan Tawafra
Head of the Arab Sector Economic Development Authority, the Ministry of Social Equality
Noa Shukrun
Chief of Staff, Budget Division, Ministry of Finance
Open Discussion
12:50 | Yoav Kish
Minister of Education
Lunch Break
Development of Sectors that Generate Green Employment
Chair: Daphna Aviram-Nitzan, Director of the Center for Government and Economy, The Israel Democracy Institute
Opening Remarks | Session Chair
Yuval Laster
Senior Vice President for Policy Planning and Strategy, Ministry of Environmental Protection
Jo Tyndall
Director for the Environment Directorate, OECD
Global Trends on the Road to Green Employment
Prof. Nathan Sussman
Senior Fellow, the Israel Democracy Institute
Shay Biran
Partner, Synergy Consulting, Researcher, the Israel Democracy Institute
Idit Silman
Minster of Environmental Protection
Guy Samet
Director General, the Ministry of Environmental Protection
Opening Speakers
Efi Malkin
Commissioner for Wages and Employment Agreements
Sharon Hatzor
Deputy Director General of Policy Planning and Strategy Division, Ministry of Energy and Infrastructure
Hanan Brand
Deputy Director and Head of the Startup Division, Israel Innovation Authority
Voices from the Field
Eli Cohen
CEO, Thermokir, Chair of the Building Materials and Consumer Goods Industries, Manufacturers' Association of Israel
Eitan Parnes
CEO, Association of Green Energy Companies in Israel
Dr. Ran Sharon
CEO, Clariter
Udi Adiri
CEO, Blilious Group
The Future of Vocational Training
Daphna Aviram-Nitzan
Director of the Center for Government and Economy, The Israel Democracy Institute
Einat Singer-Dan
CEO, BR Israel and the Forum for Economic and Social Development
Nitzan Mimrod
Senior Division Head, Vocational Training and Personnel Development, Ministry of Labor
Yigal Gurevitch
SVP, Social Finance Israel
Kfir Battat
Deputy Budget Director for Employment, Ministry of Finance
Yoav Ben-Tzur
Minister of Labor
Break | 4PM-4:20PM
Innovation in the Civil Service
Chair: Adv. Rita Golstein-Galperin, Civil Service Reform Program, Center for Governance and the Economy, The Israel Democracy Institute
Opening Remarks | Session Chair
Lead-off Speakers
Liron Hentz
Deputy Director General for Government and Society, Prime Minister's Office
Omri Dagan
Director of The Israeli National School for Leadership, Governance and Management at Civil Service Commission
Eitan T
Deputy Director General for Planning and Strategy
Evyatar Peretz
Chief Innovation and Technology Officer, Office of the Accountant General, Ministry of Finance
Dr. Assaf Kovo
Chief Economist, Israel Innovation Authority
Voices from the Field
Lieut. Col. Michal Frankel
Head, Innovation Unit, Combat Methods and Innovation Section, IDF General Staff
Itay Agus
Head, Hazira Project for Innovation in Local Government
Adv. Itzik Sabato
Head of Strategy, Innovation and Digital, National Insurance Institute
5:20PM | Conference Summary
Three AI's Enter the Session
About Eli Hurvitz
Eli was born in Jerusalem and grew up in Tel Aviv, where he completed his studies at Hacarmel elementary school and Ironi Alef municipal high school. With the outbreak of the War of Independence in 1948, he joined the Nahal (“Pioneering Fighting Youth”) Brigade together with a group of friends from the Hebrew Scouts youth movement. Following a short agricultural training program, the group founded Kibbutz Tel Katzir in the Jordan Valley, adjacent to the border with Syria. At Tel Katzir, Eli married Dalia, also a member of the group. In October 1953, the couple left the kibbutz and moved to Tel Aviv.
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