The Caesarea Forum was actually conceived in Arad, but the inspiration for it came from the American city of Hope, Arkansas. In 1992, after Avraham (Baiga) Shochat was appointed Minister of Finance, the idea of a national economic conference was raised during a gathering at his home in Arad. The model for the proposed event was a conference held by Bill Clinton during the US Presidential election campaign. Clinton invited to Arkansas about 200 economists to Arkansas who aided him in drawing up the economic plan that he later implemented once he took office as President. The first five of the Israeli conferences, held in 1993-1997, were held in Caesarea – hence the name.
Over the years of its existence, the Caesarea Forum has been highly successful in “targeting” issues that have gone on to become high priority topics on the public agenda: negative income tax, unequal income distribution, educational reforms, the cost of disengagement and the economic consequences of not disengaging, foreign workers, the need for capital market reform, etc. The Conference has also been the occasion of several dramatic events, the most memorable of which was Dan Meridor’s announcement of resignation as Minister of Finance under the Netanyahu administration in 1997.
In 1998-2000 the Conference “wandered” around the country – from Zichron Yaakov to Ashkelon and to Nazareth, where it focused on problems of the Arab sector and on that sector’s potential for economic advancement. In 2001 the Conference “settled” in Caesarea for another two years, until 2003, when a strategic decision was made to help strengthen Jerusalem’s economic status and image by making Israel’s capital city the Conference’s home.
The 2008 summer session will be held in Eilat.