Today, President Shimon Peres of Israel joins the Pope, US President Barak Obama and other world leaders, as he launches his own YouTube channel.
In honor of the launch Peres is holding a press conference with YouTube founder and CEO Chad Harley, who is making a special trip to Israel for the event.
The launch will include the premier screening of the president’s first Internet message on YouTube, in which he will invite the citizens of the world to participate in his mission.
Peres will ask them to join a conversation on three key issues: How to advance peace in the Middle East; how to further reconciliation between different faiths; and how to harness new technologies for the good of mankind. Most importantly, he will encourage them to share their dreams with him.
The channel will feature selections from his speeches and activities and his blessings on special occasions to people of all faiths. It will further offer a platform for virtual press conferences – events in which Internet users will be able to ask the president questions.
Peres firmly believes that to realize his vision he must reach out to the millions surfing the web. The new channel is his latest effort to increase his transparency and accessibility to the public.