(IsraelNN.com) Preparations are underway for the Fifth Annual Jerusalem Conference, to be held next month, February 19-20. Critical issues determining Israel’s future as a viable, modern, democratic Jewish State will be discussed.

The Jerusalem Conference provides a broad public forum for diverse viewpoints to discuss issues of national importance. Topics include Israel's international relations, security, economics, social welfare, Jewish education, Aliyah, and more.

Among the speakers at this year's event will be U.S. Senator Sam Brownback (R., Kansas), Natan Sharansky,  former U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff Vice Chairman Admiral Edmund P. Giambastiani, Jr., former Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu, historian and Islam expert Bernard Lewis, and dozens of other key figures and policy makers in the political, economic, social, security/military, rabbinic and academic spheres of influence in Israel.

The speakers include national leaders, traditionalists and patriots who present the case for Israel’s long-term national interest from various angles.  Jewish and non-Jewish political and religious leaders and opinion molders from around the world will also participate.

This year’s conference will explore the international threats of jihadi terrorism and Islamofacist regimes, providing focus on the existential threats to Israel from Iran, the terrorist armies of Hizbullah and Hamas, and jihadi terrorism.

For the first time, the Conference will feature simultaneous sessions in both Hebrew and English, and all sessions will be translated in real-time to Hebrew, English and French.