DALLAS – The Global Conference for Israel draws people from all over the world to Dallas.
Organizers of this year’s conference say it is a celebration of the strength and resilience of the Israeli people as they continue to rebuild and return home after the October 7 terrorist attacks.
About 2,500 American Zionists and their supporters gathered at the Hilton Anatole in Dallas on Friday for the annual conference.
Among those present was a woman who lives in Israel. Shoshana Mitzman remembers being in a coffee shop last week when warning sirens started blaring.
“There were about 50 of us all in this tiny, tiny shelter. When we closed the door, we heard, ‘Boom! Boom!'” she recalls. “And then we kept hearing them, and it was an iron turret that intercepted them right above us.”
This year’s conference comes at a tense time, as Israel is still at war with Hamas.
The October 7, 2023 attacks killed an estimated 1,200 Israelis and took another 250 hostage. Many are still missing.
In response, Israeli forces infiltrated the Gaza Strip, decimating much of the region.
SMU political science professor Matthew Wilson believes part of the purpose of this year’s conference is to counterbalance efforts to mobilize support for Palestinians on college campuses across the country, including UT Dallas .
“The vast majority of Jewish Americans believe in the legitimacy of the State of Israel,” he said. “Now they vary in their assessment of the specific policies of the Israeli government, especially regarding the conduct of the war in Gaza or Israeli actions in Lebanon, etc.”
The message of Palestinian solidarity resonates beyond the conference, with a group of protesters arrested on Thursday after staging a sit-in in the streets.
“I think the organizers of this conference want to push back on this to some extent and build support among young people for the Israeli position,” Wilson said.
Yet there are more and more people who criticize the Israeli Prime Minister’s tactics in this ongoing war.
“You have both Jews who have an interest in this and non-Jews who have an interest in this,” says Kenneth Gray of the University of New Haven. “And so you have quite a few voices speaking out against Israel.”
There were some protesters outside the venue again on Friday, but they remained on the sidewalk. No arrests have been made.
