The Third Annual Givat Haviva Conference
Developing a Joint Vision for a Shared Society in Israel
May 28, 2015 9:00 – 17:00
Givat Haviva Campus, Israel
Short Summary
President of Israel Ruby Rivlin delivered the keynote address to 400 participants in the Third Annual Givat Haviva Shared Society Conference. Speakers at the conference included Minister of Gender and Minority Equality Gila Gamliel; Knesset members Zehava Galon, Ayman Oudeh, Ahmad Tibi, Roi Folkman, and Tamar Zandenberg; the German ambassador to Israel; representatives of the Bank of 
Israel and academia; heads of organizations from civil society; representatives of foundations active in the field; municipal and regional heads; and many more. Various panels in the conference dealt with the topics of education, employment, municipal cooperation, and building sustainable democracy. Among the many participants was Knesset member Eitan Broshi, Secretary General of the Kibbutz Movement, who praised the conference forestablishing itself as the primary venue for discussion of topics relevant to building a Shared Society.
Introducing the closing session with President Rivlin, Mohammad Darawshe, director of Planning, Equality & Shared Society in Givat Haviva asserted, “We must arrive at a civil consensus that will turn us into a normal country that recognizes all sectors of the population. And then we need a leadership brave enough to start implementing this joint vision and creating success stories." In his address, President Rivlin declared that "raising awareness of relations between Jews and Arabs in all areas in Israel's mainstream is a mission of highest importance, and doing less is criminal negligence." Givat Haviva's CEO Yaniv Sagee thanked the president and his wife for honoring the conference with their presence and for his impressive efforts as president to improve relations in Israeli society and his campaign against racism and exclusion. In his concluding words, Sagee urged the conference attendees, "Let us continue working together to cultivate the hard soil of this country, until new flowers bloom that could not grow here in the previous century. The time has come!"
Conference Results Booklet (Hebrew, Arabic & English)
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