President Peres, Sharon Stone meet Arab bloggers
Presidential Conference opens final day with panels on economics, political Islam. Actress Sharon Stone says 'visionary love is a voice for peace,' meets bloggers from Morocco, Egypt
The fifth Israeli Presidential Conference, Facing Tomorrow, convened on Thursday for its final meetings and debates. In the afternoon President Shimon Peres and American actress Sharon Stone co-hosted a panel discussion with dozens of bloggers from Arab countries, including Morocco, Tunisia and Egypt.
The bloggers traveled to Israel especially for the conference.
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Some 360,000 members of the youth peace movement YaLa, for which Stone serves as the arts and culture chairwoman, were invited to submit questions to the panelists via Peres' personal Facebook page. Peres and Stone responded to their questions as well as to those of anchorwoman and mediator Ilana Dayan.
During the discussion, Peres waved aside the criticism leveled against the extravagant celebrations of his 90th birthday earlier this week, and merely said that in a democracy, different voices are always heard.
Peres told the bloggers that most of the Arab countries' residents are youngsters, and as such, it's up to them to make decisions and shape their future.
Addressing an Egyptian blogger, Peres said that youngsters from both countries, Egypt and Israel, can build their future, and expressed his regret the past is not different.
Asked what he would have asked himself were he a member of YaLa, Peres answered that he would not have looked for questions, but for fate, adding that the past cannot be changed, and pain and anger must be set aside in favor of a joint future for Arabs and Israelis.
Peres also referred to the subject of ego, and said he believes the limelight to be unimportant, but only a person's deeds.
Asked whether he agrees with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's policy, Peres said that as Netanyahu voiced his support for the two-state solution, the Left and the Right are finally in agreement.
Stone was asked whether there was a moment she realized she is addicted to being famous, and answered that thanks to her father, she never suffered such a fate, and recalled an incident when stopping at a red light, people climbed her car.
It was a scary moment, she described, but it was also the first time she realized she was famous.
Earlier, Stone spoke at a panel which included American-Israeli Nobel laureate Prof. psychology Daniel Kahneman and Prof. Dan Ariely and actor Sharon Stone.
The actress Stone warned Israel of staying in its "comfort zone" and sustaining the status quo. Addressing the audience she said: "Each and every one of you is a leader, a leader of that thing that is right within you, a leader who goes against the status quo. A leader who will say, beyond anything else: I want love. A love that will come to me, a love that will come to my fellow man, a love that will lift me up, a love that is visionary. That visionary love is a voice for peace. That visionary love is a voice for the future."
Sharon Stone at the conference
Later on Thursday, the one-on-one sessions will reconvene, and journalist Udi Segal will briefly interview a series of guests, including United States President Barack Obama's adviser David Axelrod, architect Daniel Libskind and others.
Around noon a panel titled "Political Islam: Where is it headed?" will be held, hosted by journalist Ehud Yaari, and participated by Defense Ministry official Amos Gilad, Jordanian journalist Salame Nimat and activists from Turkey and Canada.
The conference will close with a final plenum, in which President Shimon Peres and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will participate, and will discuss "The Decisions which will shape Tomorrow." Jewish Agency Chairman Natan Sharanski, former cabinet secretary Israel Mimon will also participate, among others.
The prime minister is scheduled to give a speech at 7 pm.
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