The second annual JNS International Policy Summit kicked off on Sunday at Jerusalem’s Waldorf Astoria with an opening plenary featuring policymakers and experts discussing “A New Era: Israel, the United States and the World.”
The conference’s opening day will begin with remarks from JNS CEO and Jerusalem Bureau Chief Alex Traiman, followed by addresses from South African Chief Rabbi Warren Goldstein; Jerusalem Mayor Moshe Lion; U.S. Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee; World Jewish Congress Israel President Sylvan Adams; and Brooke Goldstein, founder and executive director of the Lawfare Project.
Also speaking are Jerusalem Center for Security and Foreign Affairs President Dan Diker; JNS senior contributor Melanie Phillips; Friends of Zion Heritage Center founder Mike Evans; and Victoria Coates, vice president of the Kathryn and Shelby Cullom Davis Institute for National Security and Foreign Policy at the Heritage Foundation.
Best-selling author and nationally syndicated radio and television host Mark Levin is scheduled to deliver the closing address.
JNS Editor-in-Chief Jonathan Tobin will lead the discussion on the future of U.S.-Israel relations with Amiad Cohen, founder and CEO of the Herut Center for Israeli Liberty, Religious Zionism Party lawmaker Ohad Tal and David Wurmser, a senior research fellow at the Jerusalem Center for Security and Foreign Affairs.
A second panel, moderated by JNS host Doron Spielman and focused on “Israel on the Battlefield,” will feature retired British Army Col. Richard Kemp and Jonathan Conricus, a senior fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies.
The third panel, titled “Iran, Iran, Iran” and moderated by international law and international relations expert Yifa Segal, will include Brig. Gen. (res.) Yossi Kuperwasser, head of the Jerusalem Institute for Strategy and Security, and Israeli journalist Emily Schrader.
The final panel, “Faith-Based Diplomacy,” will be moderated by Israel Allies Foundation President Josh Reinstein and will feature Pastor Mario Bramnick, a prominent pro-Israel advocate in the Latino community; Pastor Larry Huch of New Beginnings Church; and Troy Miller, president and CEO of the National Religious Broadcasters.
The three-day conference will include addresses and panels on U.S.-Israel relations, the war with Iran, Israel’s military, diplomatic and legal battles, the wave of global antisemitism in the wake of the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas-led attack as well as relations with the Christian world.
The 2026 JNS International Policy Summit, which was preceded by a weekend VIP gathering and tours around Judea, comes one year after the inaugural JNS Summit held in Jerusalem.
“Israel continues to manage hostilities with Hamas, Hezbollah and Iran. Diplomatic relations and the future of the U.S.-Israel relationship are constantly being tested. Antisemitism is rising dramatically. And yet Israel’s economy is strong, and the Jewish state is emerging as a regional superpower,” said JNS CEO Alex Traiman.
“This second JNS International Policy Summit gathers over 200 security experts, politicians, diplomats, legal scholars, policy experts, journalists and influencers to discuss the most important issues facing Israel and the Jewish people. It is among the largest gatherings in Israel this year, and the most important. This summit positions JNS at the center of the pro-Israel ecosystem, and as a key platform for establishing policy, in addition to its critical role in setting Israel’s narrative in mainstream media.”
