The first Israeli conservatives conference was held today (Thursday) under the leadership of the Tikva Foundation, with the aim of consolidating ideological forces and creating a change in the Israeli agenda.
Some 850 journalists, intellectuals, writers and social activists from Israel and around the world came to the conference to create a central platform for conservative discourse in economics, society, security, literature and culture in Israel.
"The Israeli public is largely conservative," said Amiad Cohen, CEO of the Israel Hope Fund. "Now it is time to move on to the next stage and help Israel turn the page. This conference is the end of a long and planned process of maturation, which included the establishment and support of periodicals and ideological institutions that created a real and felt change in the Israeli discourse."
Cohen emphasized that "the Israeli Conservatives Conference is the opening shot for the next stage: moving from an internal discourse of a group of conceptual entrepreneurs to a discourse that challenges the entire Israeli public."
"The State of Israel, socially, is the most conservative in the Western world with a high birthrate, respect and connection for tradition, and high patriotism across political sectors and affiliations, and now the time has come for the Israeli world of ideas to infect Israeli society and to offer solutions suited to its worldview in the media, culture, in family matters, in the economy, in security and in society."
"In particular, we seek to clarify the unique characteristic of Israeli conservatism," said Cohen, "along with its universal characteristics, conservatism has always had a local component, derived from the particular traditions of every society ... The enrichment of the conservative spiritual world from its relations with Judaism, Zionism and Israeliness Is at the heart of the Israeli Conservatives Conference."