A St. Louis delegation is taking part in the Israeli President Shimon Peres Conference in Jerusalem, a major international conference with 13 heads of state, including President George W. Bush, planning to attend.

Retired St. Louis attorney Charles Burson, Jewish Federation of St. Louis Executive Vice President Barry Rosenberg, Ambassador Sam and Marilyn Fox and Michael Novack will be among the 3,500 world Jewish and non-Jewish leaders at the conference, titled “Facing Tomorrow 2008,” held May 13-15 by the Jewish People’s Policy Planning Institute, a policy research think-tank located in Jerusalem.

Burson, a board member of JPPPI, said the conference will be a high-level meeting of a variety of eminent politicians, researchers, strategists, and organizational directors to discuss the future of the global community, the Jewish people and the State of Israel.

The Conference will offer a range of keynote speakers, panels and discussions, along with celebrations of Israel’s 60th anniversary.

“It’s an extraordinary collection of both Jewish and non-Jewish intellectual firepower coming to look at the forces that are shaping our future,” Rosenberg said.

“When Shimon Peres was elected as president, it was his vision to convene an international forum around the future of the Jewish people, and this conference is the outcome of that,” he said.

“Our goal is to understand those forces and begin to develop policies and strategies that will enable the Jewish people to thrive into the future,” Rosenberg said.

Burson said he and Rosenberg are also serving on pre-conference workgroups, discussing proposals and recommending discussion items. “There will be two days of very intensive working groups,” Burson said. “In our panel, we will be discussing the follow up and implications of the Annapolis process.”

Rosenberg said he will work for one day on discussions of the Annapolis peace process, and another day discussing Jewish identity for young American Jews.

For Burson and Rosenberg, their connection with JPPPI began a year ago, when they were on a Federation mission to Israel and met with representatives of the organization.

“We spent an evening with this group and I became very engaged and excited about what they were doing,” Burson said.

“I was impressed with their candor, the scope and the thoroughness with which they were doing this strategic analysis.”

Now, Burson is a board member, and the Federation, which Burson has also been active in, has also established connections with JPPPI.

“In January of this year, they spoke to our Board of Directors and we have developed a very close working relationship with them,” Rosenberg said.