The Florida Loves Israel Conference is a statewide Israel advocacy conference run “by students, for students.”

On February 2-5, 2012 Noles for Israel and Hillel At FSU hosted the first FLI Conference.  The goal was to educate students and community members about all aspects of Israel: culture, politics, military life, food, dance, and security. After years of imagining and proposing a state-wide meeting of Israel advocates across the Sunshine State, Noles for Israel took the initiative to create and host the event.

The conference hosted 130 participants. They spanned from high school students, to local community members and to advocates of Israel from across Florida from 7 major universities:

In addition, 18 local, national, and international Israel organizations co-sponsored the conference and lead educational sessions. They are; Noles For Israel, Hillel at FSU, FSU Student Government, StandWithUs, the Jewish Federation of North America, Chabad at FSU, the Israeli Consulate of Florida and Puerto Rico, The David Project, Hasbara Fellowships, The Committee for Accuracy and Reporting in the Middle East, The Zionist Organization of America, The Jewish National Fund, AEPI, and the Israel Action Network, an initiative of the Jewish Federations of North America in partnership with the Jewish Council for Public Affairs.

Additionally, all 130 professional and student participants had the opportunity to network with each other, experience the Florida State campus and the REZ, tour the state capital, and attend a Tel Aviv style party. The conference ended with a Bagel Brunch and organization fair hosted at Hillel at FSU, and sponsored by AEPI.

Some of our exciting headlining speakers included Chaim Shacham, the Consul General to Florida and Puerto Rico from the Israeli Consulate in Miami, Michael Sevi, Assistant General Consul to Governor Scott, Yishai Fleischer, the only English language Israeli radio host, Raanan Gissin, former Senior Advisor to Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, and FSU Vice President of Student Affairs Marry Coburn.

2012 Conference ScheduleOur Registration System

The goals of The Florida Loves Israel Conference was to, one, create a unified, statewide, collegiate pro-Israel message through advocacy efforts. Two, strengthen the level of cooperation between all Israel-related student organizations across Florida. Three, educate students and community members on the importance of the Florida Israel relationship. Four, provide the necessary tools to educate leaders within their respective communities on the importance of Israel activism. Five, create an action plan for the sustainability of the annual Florida Loves Israel Conference in order to have another Florida campus host FLI next year.

As the first day of the conference was coming to a close, The FSView took this message from an interview with The Consul General of Israel to Florida and Puerto Rico. “It’s absolutely amazing that Noles for Israel was able to take the initiative, that they were able to put together all the details that were necessary,” Shacham said. “It’s a step in the right direction for Israel and Florida.”