Bush Visit May Boost Olmert

WASHINGTON — For the more than 50 American Jewish leaders invited to join President Bush's special delegation to Israel's 60th anniversary celebrations this week, the hottest ticket is for Mr. Bush's speech Thursday at the Knesset.

Although the people on the list, which includes everyone from author Elie Wiesel to the national director of the Anti-Defamation League, Abraham Foxman, are guaranteed face time with Israel's president at a conference tomorrow and with America's president at a reception Thursday evening, a place in the audience for Mr. Bush's Knesset speech is not guaranteed.

"I'm still trying to get my ticket," the vice president for public policy for United Jewish Communities, William Daroff, said in an interview.

Mr. Bush will arrive in Israel tomorrow for a conference sponsored by Israel's president, Shimon Peres. He is scheduled to speak at 8 p.m. on a panel with Mr. Peres and Prime Minister Olmert titled, "Sixty Years of Friendship: Israel and the U.S.A."

The description of the event from a brochure of the conference describes the many differences between America and the Jewish state in language, geography, and size, but ends with these words: "Yet despite these palpable differences, when Israelis and Americans look at one another, they see something of themselves on the other side."

The conference also features panels on everything from robotic technology to the clash between Jews and Muslims. One panel is titled, "The Jewish People: In Need of a Good Publicist." It will feature presentations from Mr. Foxman and from a pollster for President Clinton, Stanley Greenberg.

Mr. Bush's visit may give a prestige boost to Mr. Olmert, who is being investigated on corruption charges involving a Long Island businessman. In an interview yesterday with Israeli television, Mr. Bush described Mr. Olmert as "a frank man, an honest man, an open man, a guy easy to talk to and somebody who understands the vision necessary for Israelis' security."

Mr. Bush also said his vision for the current Israeli-Palestinian negotiations, which appear to have stalled in recent weeks, remains. Last week the White House announced that there were no plans during this trip for a three-way meeting between Mr. Bush, Mr. Olmert, and the Palestinian president, Mahmoud Abbas. Such a meeting in November 2007 at Annapolis, Md., kicked off the current round of talks, which Mr. Bush has said he hopes will result in the establishment of a new Palestinian Arab state by the end of his presidency.

Participants in the trip said that the members of the president's delegation to Israel are required to pay for their own travel and accommodations when in Israel. Most of the delegation will be staying at the David Citadel Hotel in Jerusalem, whose room rates begin at around $400 a night.

The delegation that will attend celebrations in honor of the 60th anniversary of Israel:

Dr. Miriam Adelson, Chairwoman, Dr. Miriam & Sheldon G. Adelson Clinic for Drug Abuse Treatment and Research

Mr. Sheldon Adelson, Chairman of the Board, Las Vegas Sands Corporation

Mr. Moshe Aflalo, CEO of Aflalo Equities

Mr. Neil Auerbach, Managing Partner, Hudson Clean Energy Partners

Mr. Kenneth Bialkin, Partner, Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLC

Mr. Elliott Broidy, Chairman and CEO of Broidy Capital Management

Mr. Matthew Brooks, Executive Director, Republican Jewish Coalition

Mr. Alan Casden, Chairman and CEO of Casden Properties LLC

Mr. Stanley Chesley, President of the National Jewish Fund

Mr. William Daroff, Vice President for Public Policy and Director of the Washington Office United Jewish Communities

Mr. Nathan Diament, Director, Union of Orthodox Jewish Congregations

Rabbi David Ellenson, Ph.D., President of Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion

Mr. Michael David Epstein, President of Sensormatic Security Corporation

Mr. Donald Etra, Attorney, Law Offices of Donald Etra

Ms. Nancy Falchuk, National President, Hadassah

Ms. Selma Fisch, Founder, Fisch Properties

Mr. David Flaum, Chairman, Republican Jewish Coalition

Ms. Marilyn Fox, Chairman of the Fox Family Foundation and Former President of the St. Louis Jewish Community Center

The Honorable Sam Fox, U.S. Ambassador to the Kingdom of Belgium

Mr. Abraham Foxman, National Director, Anti-Defamation League

Mr. Howard Friedman, President, AIPAC

Mr. Tony Gelbart, Chairman and Co-Founder of Nefesh B'Nefesh

Mr. Sander Gerber, Chairman and CEO, Hudson Bay Capital Management LP

Mr. Marc Goldman, Farmland Dairies

The Honorable Phil Gordon, Mayor of the City of Phoenix, Arizona

Mr. Richard Gordon, President, American Jewish Congress

Dr. Jeffrey Gunter, President, Beverly Capital Management LLC

Mr. David Hager, President, Hager Pacific

Ms. Cheryl Halpern, Member, CPB Board of Directors

Mr. Uri Harkham, CEO, Jonathan Martin Fashion Group

Rabbi Marvin Hier, Founder and Dean, Simon Wiesenthal Center and Museum of Tolerance

Mr. Malcolm Hoenlein, Executive Vice Chairman, Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations

Mr. Murray Huberfeld, Chairman, Centurion Credit Management LP

Rebbetizin Esther Jungreis, Founder and President of Hineni

Dr. Henry Kissinger, Chairman of Kissinger Associates, Inc.

Dr. Richard Land, President, Southern Baptist Convention's Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission

Mr. Ronald Lauder, President, World Jewish Congress and Chairman, Jewish National Fund

Mr. Eliot Lauer, Senior Partner, Curtis, Mallet-Prevost, Colt & Mosle

Ms. Linda Law, Founder, Law and Associates

Mr. Michael Lebovitz, Senior Vice President, CBL & Associates Properties, Inc.

The Honorable Jay Lefkowitz, Special Envoy on Human Rights in North Korea

Rabbi David Lincoln, Senior Rabbi, Park Avenue Synagogue, New York City

The Honorable Linda Lingle, Governor of the State of Hawaii

The Honorable Earle Mack, Senior Partner, the Mack Company

Rabbi Isaac Neuman, Rabbi Emeritus of Sinai Temple, Champaign, Illinois

Mr. Michael Oren, Senior Fellow, Shalem Center, Jerusalem; Professor Georgetown University

Mr. Ronald Plotkin, Former COO, Monster.com Directional Marketing

Steve Poizner, Insurance Commissioner, State of California

Mr. Bruce Ramer, Attorney and Partner, Gang, Tyre, Ramer & Brown

Mr. J. Philip Rosen, Attorney, Partner, Weil Gotshal & Manges LLP

Mr. William Safire, Chairman, Dana Foundation

Mr. Lee Samson, President and CEO, SNF Management

Mr. Lenny Sands, Chairman, Alchemy Worldwide

Mr. Richard Schneider, Managing Member, Bunker Capital LLC

Mr. Fred Schwartz, Founder, the Auschwitz Institute for Peace and Reconciliation

The Honorable Melvin Sembler, Chairman of the Board of the Sembler Company

Mr. Dan Senor, Founding Partner, Rosemont Capital

Mr. Joe Shapira, Managing Partner, Java Equities LLC

Ms. Florence Shapiro, Co-Chairwoman of the Education Policy Taskforce for the National Council of State Government

Rabbi Levi Shemtov, Director, Washington Office of American Friends of Lubavitch

Dr. Robert Shillman, Ph.D., Founder, Chairman and CEO of Cognex Corporation

Mr. Richard Sideman, President, American Jewish Committee

Mr. Mark Siegel, President of ReMY Investors & Consultants, Inc.

Rabbi Michael Siegel, Norman Asher Rabbinic Chairman and Senior Rabbi

The Honorable Ned Siegel, U.S. Ambassador to the Commonwealth of the Bahamas

Mr. Ron Silver, President Emeritus, Actors' Equity Association; Board of Directors, U.S. Institute of Peace

The Honorable Martin Silverstein, Private Investor and Senior Counsel, Greenberg Traurig

Mr. Paul Singer, General Partner, Elliott Associates, LP

The Honorable Clifford Sobel, U.S. Ambassador to Brazil

Mr. Jaime Sohacheski, Chairman, Crown Realty and Development Corporation

Mr. Ronald Steinhart, Retired CEO, Commercial Banking, Bank One Corporation

Rabbi Mordechai Suchard, Founder and Director, Gateways Organization

Mr. Stephen Trachtenberg, President Emeritus, University Professor of Public Service, George Washington University

Ms. June Walker, Chairperson, Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations

Mr. Leslie Wexner, Chairman of the Board and CEO, Limited Brands

Mr. Elie Wiesel, University Professor; Andrew W. Mellon Professor in the Humanities; Professor of Philosophy and Religion in the College of Arts and Sciences; President, the Elie Wiesel Foundation for Humanity

Mr. Fred Zeidman, Chairman, U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum

Mr. Mark Zucker, Managing Member, Dorchester Capital

Mr. Mortimer Zuckerman, Chairman and Editor in Chief of U.S. News & World Report; Publisher of New York Daily News; Co-Founder and Chairman of Boston Properties Inc.