Dear Friends

It is with great pleasure that I welcome you – who gave us the honor of joining me, the Israel Bar and the entire legal community of Israel – to this special occasion of our Annual Conference This Conference enables us an exceptional observation of our warm relations with Bar Associations and other jurists' organizations from all around the world

We, both Israeli and foreign jurists, have been gathering here annually for the past nine years to review and discuss the Israeli constitutional and administrative reality, as well as to gain an insight as to the state of things in other countries

Here, for the first time since the establishment of the Israel Bar Association, 48 years ago, we are conducting here in Eilat, a joint conference of the Israel Bar and the IBA. I would like to thank all those who have contributed to the establishment of this international conference: to the president of the IBA, Fernando Pelaez-Pier, to the IBA staff and especially to our dear friend, David W. Rivkin. On our end, I would like to thank especially to Eitan Epstein and to Rachel Levitan, to the entire organizing committee, to the staff of the Israel Bar headed by the general manager, Linda Shafir, to the staff of the Institute of Continuing Legal Studies headed by the general manager, Miri Hadad-Sapir, to the chairpersons, Orna Lin and Yossi Mendelson and special thanks to the international relations director, Dikla Elkabets. To all of our IBA friends – get used to this. This is just a first conference out of many to follow. We will be delighted to see you here in Israel with us many more times

I would like to inform you that as I have already said before to our friend, Fernando Pombo, the Israel Bar will offer the IBA to adopt its Pro-Bono format as an international project which will be encouraged and gathered by the IBA. Legal aid to weak populations and less accessible to law are internationally important needs and sometimes even more in advanced countries than others. We intent to approach the IBA this year with this matter, in a detailed and official manner
I would like to congratulate again, the Israeli Justice Minister, Prof. Yaakov Neeman, who has honored us with his presence also tonight, as well as assure him that within the legal field we maintain great, warm and developed relations with other state and international bar associations throughout the world

The Israel Bar Association aspires to fulfill its mandate of defending human rights and promoting the rule of law, to the best of its ability, and while doing so, we never cease to learn and expand our comparative comprehension from foreign legal systems, and more particularly, from Bar Associations and jurists organization from around the world
It is for that reason, that we are delighted to see the Conference becoming more and more international every year, and we thank you very much for honoring us with your presence, as well as for allowing us to have this important process of exchanging thoughts and knowledge
I wish you the most pleasant stay here in sunny Eilat

Thank you

Lawyer Yuri Guy Ron