'End monopoly on Judaism'

The three-day conference of Diaspora and Israeli leaders and academics ended Thursday with a list of policy recommendations.

"Delegates of the Jewish people, from Israel and abroad, academics, operational leaders, philanthropists, all gathered here. They came without group interests, and with a feeling of obligation to a Jewish future. They came to decide a new policy for the future of the Jewish people, and they succeeded in their goal," Avinoam said.

'Encourage Jewish population growth'

The conference had been divided into a number of working groups. One such group, called to discuss Jewish communities, expressed opposition to the "state monopoly of religion in Israel," adding it was a "major impediment to the alignment of Jews in Israel and the Diaspora moving forward; a challenge to aliyah; and even a major impediment to the Jewish identification of a very significant number of Israelis."

The group also expressed "concern at the rise of Diaspora Jewish anti-Zionist activism."

In another recommendation, the working group said that "the Israeli government needs to urgently invest resources in enhancing its Hasbara (PR) effort, in order to effectively disseminate the Israeli narrative, provide 'ammunition' to Israel's defenders, and bolster identification with Israel among Jewish communities."

Another working group, focusing on Jewish identity, said that action should be taken to "encourage Jewish population growth," by "strengthening and making more accessible the giyur (conversion to Judaism) system and procedures."

The group also called for "new frameworks of dialogue given the many different modes of Jewish identification that exist and compete in the contemporary Jewish scene."

"The main thrust is that we perceived a sense of extreme urgency to the issues and the challenges facing Jewish peoplehood and existence," the working committee said in its paper.