PRESIDENT BILL CLINTON AND SENATOR HILLARY RODHAM CLINTON TRAVEL TO JERUSALEM FOR U.S.-ISRAEL DIA…

Saban Forum aims to deepen relations between the two democracies While in Israel, President and Senator Clinton will Attend the Official Memorial for Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin Washington, D.C.; Tel Aviv, Israel, (November 6, 2005) – The Saban Forum 2005, an institutionalized, annual United States-Israel dialogue convened by American-Israeli entrepreneur Haim Saban, will be held for the first time in Israel on November 11th – 13th, 2005. Organized by the Saban Center for Middle East Policy at the Brookings Institution and the Jaffee Center for Strategic Studies of Tel Aviv University, the Saban Forum will bring a high-level American delegation of officials and opinion leaders together with their Israeli counterparts, in Jerusalem, to discuss “Dealing with 21st Century Challenges.” The American delegation will also attend the official memorial for Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin z”l and the opening of the Rabin Center in Tel Aviv. The brainchild of American-Israeli entrepreneur, Haim Saban, the Saban Forum is the sole high-level dialogue between Americans and Israelis. The Saban Forum was established in the belief that a free-flowing, candid discussion in a private setting between Israelis and Americans with different perspectives can benefit both sides and strengthen the understanding between them. Americans and Israelis, because of their common democratic values, can learn greatly from each other’s experiences. As well as President Clinton and Senator Clinton, the bipartisan U.S. delegation includes Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer; Congressman Tom Lantos (D-California); Congressman Christopher Shays (R-Connecticut); former National Security Advisor, Sandy Berger; former Deputy Secretary of State and the current President of the Brookings Institution, Strobe Talbott; former Special Middle East Coordinator, Dennis Ross; three former U.S. Ambassadors to Israel, (Samuel Lewis, Edward Djerejian and Martin Indyk); New York Times columnists Thomas Friedman and David Brooks; and Washington Post columnist David Ignatius. Israeli officials participating in the invitation-only event include President Moshe Katsav; Prime Minister Ariel Sharon; Vice Prime Minister Shimon Peres; Vice Prime Minister, Ehud Olmert; and Minister Tzipi Livni. Other leading figures from Israel who will participate in the dialogue are Ehud Barak; Avi Dicter; Itamar Rabinovich; Zvi Shtauber; Dalia Rabin-Pelossof; and Eli Hurvitz. The Saban Forum is coordinated by the Director of the Saban Center at Brookings, Martin Indyk, and Hirsh Goodman, senior fellow at the Jaffee Center. ### About the Saban Center for Middle East Policy The Saban Center for Middle East Policy was established in 2002 at the Brookings Institution and has quickly become one of the most dynamic centers for research and analysis of U.S. policy in the Middle East. Founded with the help of the prominent Los Angeles philanthropist and entrepreneur, Haim Saban, the center fosters research and discussion on some of the most crucial problems facing the United States in the Middle East today. The Saban Center draws on a diverse staff with expertise in such issues as regime chance and nation building in Iraq, the Israeli-Palestinian peace process, and U.S. policy towards the Islamic world.