Jerusalem was the host this week of the First Annual Jerusalem Summit (October 12-14), which drew together leading thinkers and statesmen from Israel, the United States and Europe. Under the banner "Building Peace on Truth", the Summit was called "to establish an international think-tank; an alliance of prominent intellectuals, public and spiritual leaders, who will search for solutions to the crucial global problems based on the rock of everlasting moral values, rather than on the shifting sands of political, economic or military interests," according to the organizers’ purpose statement.

As for Israel, the Summit’s promotional material states, it is "the moral alternative to Totalitarianism of the East and Moral Relativism of the West." Accordingly, the Summit’s purpose statement says, "the immediate goal... is to establish an international alliance of Israel's friends with a center in Jerusalem that will generate innovative public and information campaigns to benefit Israel." Other topics covered included "Anti-Semitism: Key to Immorality", "Light Unto the Nations: A Jewish Perspective", "The Moslem World", "Peace Against Truth: When Peace Movements Reinforce Evil", and more.



The Jerusalem Summit attracted such key speakers as ministers Ehud Olmert, Binyamin Netanyahu, Binyamin Elon, Uzi Landau, Effie Eitam and Avigdor Lieberman, along with Professor Daniel Pipes, the former US Deputy Secretary of Defense Richard Perle, former US representative to the United Nations Alan Keyes, Rabbi Shlomo Riskin, Dr. Avi Becker, Sec.-Gen. of the World Jewish Congress, Dr. Hillel Fradkin, President of the Ethics & Public Policy Center, syndicated columnist Cal Thomas, and others. Jerusalem Summit organizers included Israel’s Ministry of Tourism, the Jerusalem Municipality, The Michael Cherney Foundation and the National Unity Coalition for Israel.