Jerusalem, May 27, 2008 – Israel's Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni and former United States Senator and Chairman of the Sharm el-Sheikh International Fact Finding Committee George Mitchell will be among an international panel of speakers at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem on Sunday to discuss 'The Quest for Peace in the Middle East'.

The panel, which will also include first President of the European Parliament and former French Minister Simone Veil, Chairman of the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee MK Tzachi Hanegbi, and a representative from the Palestinian Authority, is part of a conference marking the 40th anniversary since the founding of the Harry S. Truman Research Institute for the Advancement of Peace.

Other aspects of the conference will include an exhibition on the events behind President Truman's decision to recognize the State of Israel, shown through letters, diary entries and oral recollections, and an academic conference at the Truman Institute on Harry S. Truman, the State of Israel, and the Quest for Peace in the Middle East.

The conference launches the 71st meeting of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem Board of Governors, and marks ninety years since the laying of the university's cornerstone.

Sessions at the academic conference will include presentations on the United States Army, displaced persons and the American Palestine policy; Truman's view of Judaism, Jews and Zionists; Why President Truman supported the establishment of the State of Israel; and how international developments influenced Israel's War of Independence strategy.

Speakers include former United States Ambassador to Israel William A. Brown, Director of the Truman Presidential Library and Museum Dr. Michael Devine, and academics from the United States and Israel.

The academic conference will run from 9.30 a.m. until 5.30 p.m. on Thursday, June 29, at the Truman Institute's Handler Auditorium.

The panel discussion with Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni will take place at 10 a.m., Sunday, June 1, at the Ezequiel Liwerant-Fomento Mexico Hall at Mount Scopus campus.

Registration for both events is required.

For further information, contact:

Rebecca Zeffert, Dept. of Media Relations, the Hebrew University, tel: 02-588-1641, cell: 054 882 0661

or Orit Sulitzeanu, Hebrew University spokesperson, tel: 02-5882910, cell: 054 882 0016. 

Internet site: http://media.huji.ac.il

Rebecca Zeffert

Foreign Press Liaison

Dept. of Media Relations

Hebrew University of Jerusalem

Tel: +972 (0)2-588 1641

Cell: +972 (0)54 882 0661

E-mail: rebeccaz@savion.huji.ac.il

www.huji.ac.il

http://media.huji.ac.il