November 29, 2002
24 Kislev, 5763
Jerusalem  

Invitation To Press Conference On Jewish Demographic Emergency

Deputy Prime Minister Sharansky, Jewish Agency Chairman Sallai Meridor Ambassador Dennis Ross and Prof. Sergio DellaPergola will speak.

You are invited to attend a press conference on the "Emergency in the Demography of the Jewish People," will take place on Monday, 2 December, at a luncheon in Jerusalem’s Inbal Hotel at 12:30. The press conference is being held in the context of an International Emergency Conference on Jewish Demography, which the Jewish Agency has convened from Saturday night (30 November) to Tuesday (3 December).

The Agency’s three-day conference, held under the aegis of the Jewish Agency’s newly established Jewish People Policy Planning Institute, will analyze data and policy implications. Hebrew University Professor Sergio DellaPergola, who heads the Jewish Agency’s Jewish demography initiative, is the academic director of the conference.

Jewish Agency Chairman Sallai Meridor, Deputy Prime Minister Natan Sharansky who head the public council for the demographic initiative, will participate in the press conference as representatives of the decision making echelon.

Prof. DellaPergola will present the results of research conducted throughout the Jewish world in the context of the initiative. Ambassador Denis Ross, chairman of the Jewish People Policy Planning Institute will discuss policy implications emanating from the research.

30 leading international authorities in the field of demography, among them Prof. Sidney Goldstein from the USA and Prof. Barry A. Kosmin of the UK are among the participants in the international conference. Likewise Prof Yehezkel Dror, President of the Jewish Agency’s Jewish People Policy Planning Institute, Prof Irwin Cottler of Canada and Mr. Avinoam Bar Yosef, Drector-General of the Institute are participating on behalf of the Institute.

The demographic data and research, which will be presented at the Jerusalem Conference, paint a bleak picture throughout the Jewish world. Their policy planning implications on the international level will be analyzed at the conference.

The conference will also present new research on anti-Semitism.

For additional information contact Yehuda Weinraub 053-927017 or Orna Tamar 054-807300 and Batsheva Ganot 052-784503

Or contact the Office of the Spokesman:
Yehuda Weinraub
Liaison to Foreign Press and Media
Jewish Agency for Israel
Mobile:972-53-927017
Fax: 972-2-6204013