Yohanan Plesner, President, Israel Democracy Institute

The 2026 Budget in the Shadow of the Security Burden and National Priorities for the Future

Prof. Karnit Flug

Budgeting national infrastructure as a growth engine

Ori Dvir, Visiting Researcher, Israel Democracy Institute

Opening Discussants

Prof. Avi Simhon, Chair, National Economic Council in the Prime MInister’s Office; Hebrew University of Jerusalem

Maharan Frozenfar, Budgets Commissioner, Ministry of Finance

Shay Aharonovich, Director, Israel Tax Authority

Dr. Adi Brender, Director, Research Department, Bank of Israel

Brig. Gen. (Res.) Dr. Gil Pinchas, former Financial Adviser to the IDF Chief of Staff and Head of the Ministry of Defense Budget Department

Prof. Nachman Ash, Chair, Reuth Association; Chair, Israel National Institute for Health Policy Research; Senior Faculty Member, Ariel University

Open Discussion

Dr. Shmuel Abramzon, Chief Economist, Ministry of Finance

11:55 | How can Israel ensure that high-tech continues to lead in a global economy?

Discussion moderated by Dror Bin, CEO, Israel Innovation Authority

Opening Discussants

Dr. Zeev Farbman, Co-Founder and CEO, LTX.io and Lightricks

Boaz Dinte, Managing Partner, Qumra Capital

Nili Serr Reuven, former Senior Vice President, Corporate Finance, CyberArk

Renana Ashkenazi, Managing Partner, Grove Ventures

Alon Ben-Zur, CEO, Bynet Data Communications; Chair, Israeli High-Tech Association, Manufacturers Association of Israel

Prof. Manuel Trajtenberg (Emeritus), Tel Aviv University; Senior Advisor, Mandel Foundation-Israel

12:50 | The Economy's New Growth Engines

Security Industries and Defense-Tech

Dr. Zach Glickman, Executive Vice President, Operations Division, Rafael Advanced Defense Systems

Lital Leshem, Co-Founder and Managing Partner, Protego Ventures

Artificial Intelligence

Erez Askal, Head, National Artificial Intelligence Directorate, Prime Minister's Office

Evyatar Peretz, Deputy Accountant General and Director, Data, Innovation and Digital Division, Ministry of Finance

Adina Eckstein, COO, Lemonade

Dr. Tehilla Shwartz Altshuler, Senior Fellow and Head, Democracy in the Information Age Program, Israel Democracy

Open Discussion

Address by

Prof. Amir Yaron, Governor of the Bank of Israel

One-on-one:

Yohanan Plesner with MK Avigdor Liberman, Yisrael Beitenu

AI Adoption Survey Among Workers

Gilad Be'ery, Head, Economic Reform Program, Israel Democracy Institute; Dr. Ella Shachar, Senior Researcher, Macroeconomics and Policy Division, Bank of Israel

Adoption of Artificial Intelligence in Business

Prof. Yaron Felus, National Statistician and Director General, Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS)

Speakers

Dubi Amitai, Chair, Israeli Presidency of Business Organizations; Chair, Israel Farmers Federation

Avraham (Novo) Novogrocki, President, Manufacturers Association of Israel

Yoram Naveh, CEO, Clal Insurance

Hassan Towafra, Strategic Adviser to the Arab Society in Israel Program, Israel Democracy Institute; former Director, Authority for Economic Development of the Arab Sector

Rita Golstein-Galperin, Head, Civil Service Reform Program, Israel Democracy Institute

Tamar Levy Boneh, Deputy Commissioner for Budgets for Macroeconomic Affairs, Ministry of Finance

Open Discussion

One-on-one:

Yohanan Plesner with MK Mansour Abbas, United Arab List

Former Prime Minister Naftali Bennett, Together Party

Opening Remarks

Shlomit Ravitsky Tur-Paz, Director, Joan and Irwin Jacobs Center for Shared Society, and Head of the Center's Religion and State Program, Israel Democracy Institute

The Economy as a Driver of Change in Haredi Autonomy

Dr. Gilad Malach, Research Fellow, Ultra-Orthodox in Israel Program, Israel Democracy Institute; Gilad Cohen Kovacs, Researcher, Ultra-Orthodox in Israel Program, Israel Democracy Institute

Speakers

Reem Aminoach, former Economic Adviser to the Ministry of Defense; INSS

Shaul Meridor, former Commissioner for Budgets, Ministry of Finance; Yashar!

Dr. Or Rappel-Kroyzer, Co-founder, The Kroyzer Project; Research Fellow, Applied Research Center for Risks to Democracy, Tel Aviv University

Eli Morgenstern, Founder and CEO, Empire Strategic Economic Consulting Ltd

Dr. Aliza Bloch, former Mayor of Beit Shemesh; President, IASA - The Israel Arts and Science Academy

Roi Assaf, Head, Authority for Socio-Economic Development of the Haredi Community, Prime Minister's Office

Open Discussion

MK Yair Lapid, Leader of the Opposition, Together Party

‎ A Guide to Analyzing and Comparing Reforms to Reduce the Cost of Living

Dr. Assaf Eilat, Visiting Researcher, Israel Democracy Institute; Dr. Sarit Menahem-Carmi, Senior Researcher, Aaron Institute for Economic Policy, Reichman University

Representatives of the Business Sector and Third Sector

Shahar Turgeman, President, Federation of Israeli Chambers of Commerce

Roni Brik, President, Israel Builders Contractors Association

Eitan Yochananof, CEO and owner, Yochananof supermarket chain

Itzik Schneider, CEO, Israeli Dairy Board

Lior Levy, CEO, Biscol; Chair, Food Industries Association

Linor Deutsch, Founder and CEO, Lobby 99

Roi Kahlon, Director, Government Companies Authority

Comments by Steering Committee Members

Joel Baris, Chairman, Israel Regulatory Authority, Prime Minister’s Office

Asael Tzur, Coordinator for Economy and Agriculture, Budgets Department, Ministry of Finance

Moran Moshe Hanzis, Senior Deputy to the Chief Economist, Ministry of Finance

Eyal Shapira, Senior Director, Planning and Policy, Israel Competition Authority

Open Discussion

Survey Findings on the Financial Situation of Populations Impacted by the War

Daphna Aviram-Nitzan

Opening Discussants

Matanyahu Englman, State Comptroller and Ombudsman

Aviad Friedman, Head, Tkuma Directorate

Representatives from the Field

Moshe Davidovich, Head, Mateh Asher Regional Council; Chair, Confrontation Line Forum

Nahid Khazem, Mayor of Shefa-Amr

Rami Beja, Chair, Histadrut Self-Employed Forum

Tomer Mor, CEO, Restaurateurs Stronger Together Association

Aref Bashir, CEO, El-Bustan Salads Ltd. - Bashir Group

Roee Cohen, President, Lahav - Israel Chamber of Independent Organizations and Businesses

Rebecca Caspi, Director General, Israel Office; Senior Vice President, Israel and Overseas, Jewish Federations of North America (JFNA)

Government Representatives

Ephraim (Effie) Malkin, Commissioner of Wages and Labor Agreements, Ministry of Finance

Noa Shukrun, Head of Interior and Local Government Team, Budgets Department, Ministry of Finance

Open Discussion

15:30 | Preparing the Education and Higher Education Systems

Chair: Eli Hurvitz, CEO, Trump Foundation

Mapping the Skills Required in High-Tech

Dr. Assaf Patir, Chief Economist, RISE Israel Institute

Returns to Skills and Higher Education in Israel

Yarden Kedar, Researcher and Coordinator, Future Labor Market Project, Israel Democracy Institute

Opening Discussants

Prof. Ami Moyal, Chair, Planning and Budgeting Committee, Council for Higher Education

Dadi Perlmutter, Chair, Inter-Ministerial Committee for Increasing Human Capital in High-Tech

Prof. Oren Kurland, Faculty of Data and Decision Sciences, Technion

Meirav Zarbiv, Deputy Director General and Director, Innovation and Technology Administration, Ministry of Education

Avi Snir, Founder and CEO, Elevation

Yael Mazuz Harpaz, Vice President and Head of the Policy Division, Israel Innovation Authority

16:30 | Lifelong Learning Policy in the Age of Artificial Intelligence

Moderated by Daphna Aviram-Nitzan

Research Presentation

Gilad Be'ery, Head, Economic Reform Program, Israel Democracy Institute

Speakers

Inbal Mashash, Director General, Israeli Employment Service

Einat Zinger-Dan, Co-Founder and CEO, Business Roundtable Israel; The Israeli Employer’s Taskforce for Development of Human Capital

Adam Blumenberg, Deputy Director for Economy and Policy, Histadrut

Netta Bar-Ziv, Employment Coordinator, Budgets Department, Ministry of Finance

Ifat Citroen, Vice President, Strategy and Policy Planning, Ministry of Labor

Open Discussion