According to a survey released by the MINISTRY OF INDUSTRY, TRADE AND LABOR, 650,000 Israelis take part in some regular volunteer work–15.7% of Israel’s Jewish and Arab adults. According to the survey, 18% of Israel’s Jews engage in volunteer work, while half that proportional percentage–just 9.1%–of the country’s Arabs do.

Of Israel's volunteers, about half work with organizations such as Magen David Adom emergency medical services and the Yad Sarah medical equipment lending organization. The other half volunteer on a private basis or for smaller groups.

Volunteers contributed an average of eleven hours a month. Among Jewish volunteers, the study demonstrated volunteerism increased with level of religious observance and was highest among the Hareidi-Religious sector.

BUSINESS IS BLOOMING FOR ISRAELI FLOWERS (2/24)
In aggregate, Israel's flower, plant and propagation-material export brings upward of $200 million into the economy annually. The country is third only to the Netherlands and Kenya in supplying the European Union with its flowers. Each year 1.5 billion stems are exported, double from only 10 years ago - while the number of growers engaging in export has dropped by 75 percent. The system, along with the growers, has simply become more efficient.

"Flower export works nicely with the special characteristics of Israeli export and agriculture," says Zvi Alon, director general of the Ministry of Agriculture's Foreign Trade Center, himself from a farming family. "[Even] the small family farm model, a small area yielding a lot of produce; with superintensive farming and using technology, [about five acres] can be adequate."

Israel's total agricultural yield, including agriculture-related technology and other nonedible products, is about 2 percent of the gross national product - or $3.5 billion - of which 30 percent are exports, mostly of fresh produce.

Israel dispatched a similar team to Nairobi in 1998 after the terrorist bombing of the U.S. embassy.

POPE WORRIED BY GLOBAL UPSURGE IN ANTI-SEMITISM (1/17)
Pope Benedict XVI, meeting with Rome's chief rabbi on January 16, expressed pain and worry over fresh outbreaks of anti- Semitism, and called on Jews and Christians to wage a united battle against hate.

Waves of anti-Semitic violence and vandalism have hit Europe in the past few years. Last week, worshippers in a Moscow synagogue were attacked by a man with a knife.

According to THE ASSOCIATED PRESS, Benedict did not mention specific occurrences of anti-Semitism in his speech welcoming Rabbi Riccardo Di Segni to an audience at the Vatican. The rabbi led a delegation from Rome's Jewish community, one of the oldest in the world.

Benedict said Jews and Christians have the responsibility to cooperate to promote justice, love and freedom.

"In the light of this common mission, we cannot not denounce and combat with decisiveness the hate and incomprehension, the injustices and the violence that continue to sow worry in the soul of men and women of good will," Benedict said.

"In this context, how can one not be pained and worried about the fresh outbreaks of anti-Semitism that are occurring?" the pope said.

Di Segni said Benedict was welcome to pay a call on Rome's main synagogue, noting the approaching 20th anniversary of Pope John Paul II's groundbreaking visit there. The visit by the late, Polish-born pope to the synagogue helped repair centuries of poor Vatican-Jewish relations and underlined his determination to use his papacy to improve ties.

Benedict became the second pope in history to visit a Jewish house of worship when he went to the synagogue in Cologne, Germany, last summer during his first trip abroad since being elected pontiff in April.

SUICIDE BOMB FILM WINS PRESTIGIOUS GOLDEN GLOBE (1/17)
"Paradise Now" a controversial portrayal of two suicide bombers crossing into Israel was awarded this year's best foreign language film at the Golden Globes awards in Los Angeles on Monday. Palestinian filmmaker Hany Abu-Assad seemed surprised to win the prestigious accolade, but said in his acceptance speech that he saw the award as "recognition that the Palestinians deserve their liberty and equality unconditionally." Abu-Assad insisted that he had not taken sides in the film but had tried to explain why two seemingly simple garage mechanics would be willing to kill themselves and others, according to HA'ARETZ.  Israeli critics have argued that the film presents a partisan Palestinian narrative and glorifies the murder of innocent civilians. Winning the Globe also gives "Paradise Now" a major boost in the run-up to the Oscars in March, greatly increasing its chances of making the five film shortlist later this month.

POLICE REPORT 5% DECREASE IN CRIME (1/16/06)
According to THE JERUSALEM POST, Israeli crime decreased by 5% in 2005, police reported on January 16. Nonetheless, the police's annual report also registered a sharp increase in arms stockpiles in the six major crime organizations.

In an interview with Army Radio on Monday, Inspector-General Moshe Karadi said that dealing with violent crime is at the top of law enforcement priorities. "Organized crime activities are becoming more and more similar to those of terrorist organizations … Their activity is ramping up, which undoubtedly shakes the public's feeling of security. Organized crime must be dealt with in the same way as terror."

Other data released today by the police shows that violence among youth has further increased in the past year. In 2005, the number of youth caught in possession of knives went up 60%. "We have declared war on the stabbing phenomenon," Karadi said. "But the treatment of (violent) youth has to be multi-institutional. (This) includes the police as well as the home and the educational system."

The Department of Traffic reported a 14% decrease in car accidents on Israeli roads. Likewise, there was a 10% decrease in the number of fatal accidents. 397 people were killed in car accidents in 2005 as opposed to 471 in 2004. Inspector-General Karadi added that in 2006, the police plan to fight governmental corruption and the penetration of organized crime into government offices.

Co-sponsored by some 90 other states, the resolution rejects Holocaust denial and encourages countries to develop educational programs about the horrors of genocide. It also condemns religious intolerance, incitement, harassment, or violence based on ethnic origin or religious belief.

Assembly President Jan Eliasson said the memory of the Holocaust must be "a unifying historic warning around which we must rally; not only to recall the grievous crimes committed in human history, but also to reaffirm our unfaltering resolve to prevent the recurrence of such crimes."

Israeli Ambassador Dan Gillerman said the Holocaust "brought us face to face with the full extent of man's capacity for inhumanity to his fellow man," and that it served as a "critical impetus" for the development of human rights, the drafting of landmark international conventions on genocide, and the founding of the UN itself.

"Israel is a superpower in the technology and computer fields and I believe that this stems from both Jewish tradition and the Jewish history of a small people whose only resource for many generations was human capital and brainpower.   The absence of other physical resources both as the Jewish People was in the Diaspora and during its return to its homeland has caused the accelerated development of human capital as an alternative."

The two men jointly announced a new national plan to reduce the digital gap in Israel, under the aegis of Prime Minister Sharon.  The plan is the initiative of Microsoft and will be jointly undertaken by public sector companies and the private sector.

"One of the big marketing firms has ordered 10,000 units," Dahan told MA’ARIV. "There is also interest abroad, and the bulk of the product is intended to be sold in the United States and Europe."

The Prison Service plans to mass produce the pads and give all prisoners involved in the enterprise a share of the profits, Ma’ariv reported.

ANTIBIOTICS AND FIRST AID
EQUIPMENT SENT TO AID FLOOD VICTIMS IN INDIA (8/8)
The SPOKESMAN FOR ISRAEL’S FOREIGN MINISTRY has announced that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ministry of Health, IDF Chief Medical Officer, Latet ("To Give") Organization, Teva Pharmaceuticals, and Rafa Laboratories have combined forces to offer assistance to the flood victims in Maharashtra, India, and are sending antibiotics and first aid equipment to the stricken region.

The Deputy Director General for Asia and the Pacific at the Foreign Ministry, Mr. Amos Nadai, commented on the response of Israeli companies:
"The sincere response of non-profit organizations and private companies in Israel demonstrates the affinity that Israelis feel towards the citizens of India. The generous contributions coordinated by the Foreign Ministry will be of great assistance to the flood victims in western India, and will contribute also to the already warm relations between our two countries."

The total aid package, estimated at NIS220 thousand, includes tablets against nausea and vomiting, pain medication for children and adults, first aid kits, penicillin, and antibiotics. The aid is in answer to the appeal by the Maharashtra Government, following the floods that struck the region, claiming more than a thousand lives and leaving thousands more homeless.

All of the medicines and equipment were flown by El-Al on August 8, directly to Bombay, capital of Maharashtra, and arrived at their destination that evening.

Consul General of Israel in New York Aryeh Mekel met with NBA Commissioner David Stern who gave the initiative the green light. In a bid to promote the project, a meeting was held last week between a senior NBA vice president and Fran Oppenheim, a representative for The Conference of Presidents of Major Jewish Organizations that is sponsoring the trip.

Consul for Media and Public Affairs at the Israeli Consulate in New York Ido Aharoni said the possibility of incorporating the visit with the Peres Center for Peace's sports project was also being weighed.

ARAB ISRAELI WINS MACCABIAH GOLD (7/11)
An Israeli Arab teenage girl from the town of Sakhnin became one of the first medallists in this year's Maccabiah Games with a victory in the women's 200-meter breastroke in the Wingate Institute pool, YNET reported. Halaj Shahada, proud father of Asala, 17, said there would be celebrations in Sakhnin following her gold medal win. "The Maccabiah belongs not only to all the Jews, but also to all the Israelis, and I am a proud Israeli," Asala said.

The Maccabiah, often called the "Jewish Olympics," are open to Jewish athletes from around the world, and to all Israeli citizens - regardless of their religion. Asala Shahada's gold medal is another accomplishment in a chain of Arab sporting successes in Israel.

Today about 5.28 million Jews live in the United States, while 5.235 million live in Israel. Israel is the only country in the world expected to see significant growth in the size of its Jewish population, while all other communities in the world are expected to shrink or remain stable.

The Jerusalem-based institute predicts that there will be 6.25 million Jews in Israel in 2020, compared to 5.25 million today. In North America the number of Jews is expected to remain stable, at about 5.5 million. The number of Jews in Europe is expected to drop from 1.25 million to 1 million.

WORLD ATHLETES ARRIVE IN ISRAEL FOR MACCADIAH GAMES (7/5)
Over 7,000 sports men and women from 55 countries will participate in the 17th Maccabiah Games, which will take place July 11-21, ISRAEL21C reported. The events - a.k.a. ‘the Jewish Olympics’ - take place every four years and features the best Jewish athletes from all over the world. The opening ceremonies will take place at Ramat Gan's National Stadium.

The Maccabiah Games have been a quadrennial event since 1957, and the games are now ranked among the five largest sports gatherings in the world.

One of this year's top draws will be Olympic backstroke champion Lenny Krayzelburg. The triple-gold medallist from the 2000 Sydney Olympics has been named the honorary captain of the American team. The American delegation arrived in Israel just before July 4, and Lindsey Durlacher, 29, who won the U.S. national championship in Greco-Roman wrestling two weeks ago, had the honor to carry the flag off of the plane.

Leading the Israeli delegation will be Olympian pole vaulter Alex Averbukh and judoka Arik Ze'evi.

ISRAELI OFFICIALS SAY
ANGLICAN DECISION ON DIVESTMENT IS "ONE-SIDED" (6/27)
In response to the above story, the ECUMENICAL NEWS INTERNATIONAL service reports that Israeli officials have condemned as "one-sided" a decision by an international Anglican body supporting divestment from companies believed to help Israel maintain its occupation of the West Bank and Gaza Strip. The Anglican Consultative Council voted unanimously for the resolution which calls on all its 38 national and regional churches to ensure that they do not invest in companies that support Israel's occupation of the Palestinian territories and Jewish settlement activity there.

ISRAEL TO PARTICIPATE IN NATO SUBMARINE DRILL (6/20)
Israel will take part for the first time in a naval NATO exercise due to begin on Friday in the Gulf of Taranto in Italy, HA'ARETZ reported. Frogmen, scuba divers and Israeli navy doctors will participate in a four-week submarine escape and rescue exercise together with forces from 10 NATO nations, including Russia and Ukraine.

"The NATO exercise Sorbet Royal 2005 is the largest and most challenging live submarine escape and rescue exercise ever conducted," according to NATO reports. "It will test international submarine escape and rescue personnel, equipment and procedures to cope with the most extreme submarine rescue missions and will involve ships, aircraft and submarines from 10 nations."

The Israeli contingent observing the drill, which is leaving for Italy this morning, will be headed by Brigadier General Noam Feig, head of naval operations, and submarine commander Colonel Yoni Vart. The Israeli team participating in the drill is headed by Lieutenant Colonel Oded Gur-Lavi.

ISRAELI PILOT SAVED
PASSENGER IN NEW YORK HELICOPTER CRASH (6/16)
An Israeli man who saved a British woman from drowning after the tourist helicopter he was piloting crashed in New York City's East River was praised by Israel and by NYC Mayor Michael Bloomberg today, YNET reported. Yossi Ben-Bassat, 51, who served as a helicopter pilot in the IDF for 23 years, said the sightseeing chopper he had flown over Manhattan on Tuesday plunged into the water after he lost control of it, most likely because of strong winds. One of the six passengers, British tourist, Karen Butler fell into the water and was later found to have sustained a serious head injury. Ben-Bassat dived into the water and found the women within seconds. Pulling Butler by the hair, he pulled her out of the river. The New York Coast Guard then rescued the passengers and helped evacuate them to a hospital.

Mayor Bloomberg later told reporters that Ben-Bassat was to be commended. "The pilot encountered a malfunction in the aircraft, and helped save the passengers," he said. "When the tourists return to their countries they'll have stories to tell."

ISRAEL’S UN AMBASSADOR GILLERMAN
BECOMES VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UN GENERAL ASSEMBLY (6/15)
Israeli ambassador to the United Nations, Dan Gillerman, was unanimously elected Monday as the new vice president of the UN General Assembly, THE JERUSALEM POST reported. This is the second time that an Israeli envoy has been elected to a position of this rank. The post was previously held by legendary Israeli diplomat Abba Eban, who assumed the role in the early 1950s.

Gillerman was the candidate of the Western nations, a bloc containing some 30 states, including members of the European Union, Canada, Australia and the United States.

"This is an important and historical moment for the State of Israel, both in essence and in timing," said Gillerman of his election Monday.

The vice president is responsible for running General Assembly discussions in the president's absence, and he is a member of the committee that decides on the assembly's daily agenda.

SYRIAN ATHLETES REJECT CERTIFICATES CARRYING ISRAELI FLAG (6/14)
The SYRIAN NEWS AGENCY reported that Syrian athletes participating in the international kick-boxing competition that was held Monday in Mersin, Turkey, refused to accept the Turkish certificates of participation because they showed the Israeli flag.

In a statement to the press Tuesday, the head of the Syrian team said "the team refused those certificates since they carry the Israeli flag." The Syrian team was later given new certificates that carried only the Syrian and the Turkish flags.

ISRAELI EXPORTS TO IRAQ TO REACH ALMOST $1 MILLION (6/2)
By the end of this year, Israel should have exported about $1 million-worth of goods to Iraq, THE JERUSALEM POST reported. According to statistics published Wednesday by the Israel Export Institute, there is an overall increase of 8.3 percent in Israeli exports to Arab states (totaling $42 million) in the first quarter of 2005, compared with last year's figures for the same period.

However, exports to most Arab countries are still much lower in comparison with pre-Palestinian violence levels. In 1998, Israel exported $108 million worth of clothes, chemicals and plastic materials, mechanical equipment, food and agricultural products to Arab countries from the United Arab Emirates to as far as Morocco. About a quarter of those exports - $26 million - went to Jordan.

In the first quarter of 2005, Israel trucked $29 million of goods to Jordan. That amount accounts for a large portion of the total $42 million worth of goods bound for Arab countries in that period.

ISRAEL JOINS NATO PARLIAMENTARY ASSEMBLY (5/31)
The JERUSALEM POST has reported that Israel was voted in a member of the NATO Parliamentary Assembly on Tuesday, after previously only enjoying monitor status. The decision was made during the spring session of the organization being held this week in Ljubjana, Slovenia.

The NATO Parliamentary Assembly is the inter-parliamentary organization of legislators from 14 member countries of the North Atlantic Alliance, and is a forum for international parliamentary dialogue.

The life expectancy rate of Israeli men is among the highest of all developed countries and stands just one year behind Japan’s, which holds the highest life expectancy rate in the world. However, the life expectancy rate for Israeli women remains four years lower than Japan’s and places Israel 18^th in the world in that category.

Also, the life expectancy rate among Jews is higher than that of the Arab population: Jewish males live an average of three years longer than Arab males, while Jewish women live four years longer than Arab women, on average.

On the local front, statistics show that Bat Yam, Givatayim, Ramaat Gan and Haifa hold the highest percentage of elderly people in the country; all in all, some 670,000 elderly people lived in Israel in 2003, representing 9.9 percent of the population.

Statistics show that 77 percent of the country’s elders have expressed general satisfaction with their lives. Elderly folks visit the doctor about 15 times a year on average, compared with only seven visits made by the general population, the data shows.

ON INDEPENDENCE DAY EVE, ISRAEL’S POPULATION IS 6.9 MILLION (5/10)
On the eve of Israel's 57th Independence Day, the Central Bureau of Statistics estimated that the country's total population stood at 6.9 million people, YNET reported. About 5,260,000 Jews currently live in Israel, representing 76 percent of the total population, while 1,350,000 Arabs make for some 20 percent of the population. The rest of Israel's population, approximately 290,000 individuals, is mostly composed of new immigrants not recognized as Jewish by the Interior Ministry.

Israel's population today is 8.5 times larger than it was at the time of the state's establishment when it included 806,000 people.

Since last year, 149,000 babies were born in the country and about 26,000 new immigrants have arrived. About 9,500 newcomers came from Russia and former Soviet states, while 4,400 arrived from Ethiopia.

Several Israeli films have won prizes at Tribeca, such as the documentary Arna's Children in 2004 and the feature Yossi & Jagger in 2003.

ISRAEL HOPES NEW POPE WILL FIGHT ANTISEMITISM (4/20)
Israel has expressed the hope that Pope Benedict XVI - the former Cardinal, Joseph Ratzinger, elected Tuesday as the 265th pontiff - will be committed to fighting antisemitism, HA'ARETZ reported.

Minister of Foreign Affairs Silvan Shalom welcomed the election of Ratzinger as the new leader of the world's Roman Catholics. A Foreign Ministry statement read: "The foreign minister expresses his hope that this pope, considering his historical experience, will be especially committed to an uncompromising fight against antisemitism."

Ratzinger, born in Bavaria, Germany, on April 16th, 1927, was a boy when Nazi leader Adolf Hitler came to power. His predecessor, Pope John Paul II, was widely hailed in Israel for his millennium pilgrimage to the Holy Land, and the establishment of diplomatic ties between the Vatican and Israel in 1994.

PM SHARON: JOHN PAUL II WAS A FRIEND OF THE JEWISH PEOPLE (4/4)
Pope John Paul II was "a man of peace, a friend of the Jewish people," Prime Minister Ariel Sharon said at the opening of the weekly cabinet meeting Sunday, as he offered the country's condolences on the pope's death to the Catholic community both in Israel and abroad, HA'ARETZ reported. "The world lost yesterday one the most important leaders of our times, whose contribution to bringing people together, uniting nations, and to understanding and tolerance will accompany us for many years," Sharon said.

President Moshe Katsav offered a similar tribute, saying: "The pope bravely put an end to historic injustice by officially rejecting prejudices and accusations against Jews."

Over the course of his papacy, John Paul II revolutionized the Vatican's relationship with both Israel and the Jewish people.

This is the second year Sotheby's has included Israeli artwork in its international art auction. Meanwhile, Israeli art is slowly breaking new grounds in New York, with several pieces currently being presented in a contemporary exhibit at the Chelsea Art Museum and the Armory Show near the Hudson River.

PRESIDENT KATSAV CUTS RIBBON AT NEW HOLOCAUST MUSEUM (3/15)
President Moshe Katsav cut the ribbon at the new Holocaust museum at Yad Vashem today and former chief rabbi Israel Meir Lau affixed a mezuzah to its doorpost just a few hours before the museum's state inauguration ceremony, HA'ARETZ reported. Leaders and dignitaries from some 40 countries are in Israel for the event. "This is a moment of commemoration for the six million murdered by Nazi Germany," German Foreign Minister Joschka Fischer said in Jerusalem. "Of course Germany is my country so it's also a historical and moral responsibility to never forget what happened and the responsibility of my country for the Shoah," he added, using the Hebrew word for Holocaust.

New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, representing the United States, told reporters, "Freedom is something we constantly have to fight for and if we ever compromise our standards, we see just how far it goes."

To give a human dimension to Holocaust statistics, some 90 personal stories are woven into the museum's displays, which also feature some 280 works of art.

FM SHALOM INAUGURATES BEN-GURION PARK IN MEXICO (3/14)
Minister of Foreign Affairs Silvan Shalom praised relations between Mexico and Israel on Sunday while inaugurating a park in Central Mexico named after Israel's founding father, David Ben-Gurion, HA'ARETZ reported. Shalom attended the opening of the David Ben-Gurion Park in Pachuca, the capital of Hidalgo state, 60 miles north of Mexico City. Hidalgo’s government, as well as the Jewish community in Mexico, financed the park.

In comparison, Germans spend 20 percent less time than Israelis at their work place; the French 16 percent less; Norwegians, some 30 percent less.

However, the TAU researchers also showed that productivity in Israel is far lower than that in other countries surveyed. Productivity - measured as output per hour of labor - in Germany is 26 percent higher than in Israel. In the United States, it is 20 percent higher.

SIGNATURE AUTHENTICATION MADE EASY (2/27)
Wondernet, a small Israeli company, has developed Penflow -- a unique, secure and cost-effective method for authenticating hand-written signatures.   Convenient to use, it has substantially reduced fraud and forgeries in the institutions and industries where it is used.

As ISRAEL 21c has pointed out, banks are primary users of this system. With it, an entire banking chain, rather than one branch, has access to a customer's legitimate signature.  The customer signs on a signature tablet and the bank's central computer will verify that signature immediately.

Government agencies, military industries, and communications companies also find the signature verification system of considerable value.

DELIVERANCE FROM DRY MOUTH ON THE WAY (2/27)
Chronic dry mouth -- called xerostomia -- is a problem for many people; they suffer increased tooth decay, difficulty in eating, disturbed sleep and more.  Autoimmune diseases and a variety of medications can cause it.

According to ISRAEL21c, now a treatment has been developed that stimulates the salivary glands.  A device called the GenNarino has been developed at Israel's Assuta Medical Centers in Tel Aviv as part of a project known as Saliwell.   The device, which can be set comfortably into the mouth, applies gentle electronic stimulation to the nerves that lead to the salivary glands.

Trials in three hospitals show that it indeed does work and that users are well satisfied with results.  In fact, the nerve stimulation sometimes also reduces dry eyes, which accompany dry mouth in certain syndromes.

Palatucci served as a commissioner for foreigners in the northern Italian town of Fiume - now part of Croatia - and worked to prevent implementation of Mussolini's racial laws. He foiled German plans to deport Jews in 1939 by issuing them permits to remain in Italy, and providing them with food, shelter and money.

Koehler, speaking in Hebrew, said he was "grateful" and "deeply moved" to have been invited to address the Knesset in Jerusalem. He then continued his speech in German, detailing the ties between the countries.

"Germany will always stand by Israel and its people," he said in a gentle voice that shook when he spoke about the victims of the Holocaust. He said Germany would ensure that Israel can "live within internationally recognized borders, free of fear and terror."

Knesset Speaker Reuven Rivlin said the occasion was "not easy" for many members of Knesset. He termed the relations between the countries as "complicated, warm, and close." The German president noted that there could never be "normality" in ties between the two countries.

The visit by Koehler comes only a week after the 60th anniversary commemoration of the liberation of the Auschwitz concentration camp, where Kohler took part in the ceremonies.

CHANOCH NISSANI
BECOMES FIRST ISRAELI FORMULA ONE DRIVER (2/2)
The motor-racing Formula One team Minardi has appointed an Israeli as their official test driver for the 2005 season, Israel Radio, KOL YISRAEL, reported. Forty-one-year-old Chanoch Nissani, is the first Israeli to be hired by a team running in the international and ultra-competitive F1 championship. Based in Budapest, Nissani only started his driving career in 2002, competing in Hungarian domestic championships and winning the domestic F2000 titles in 2003 and 2004 before branching out into the F3000 international series.

The Israeli has had four tests with F1 teams - two with Jordan and two with Minardi - before landing the Minardi post.

"This is a genuinely historic moment and we are immensely proud to be signing the first ever Israeli test driver in Formula One and we look forward to enhancing it as a sport in Israel," Minardi's Australian owner Paul Stoddart said.

Nissani said he realized his signing was only the first small foray for Israel into F1. "From the Israeli viewpoint I hope this will be a breakthrough for the young generation who I'm sure will go much further than me in the sport," he said.

ISRAEL EMBARKS ON LONG TERM TSUNAMI AID CAMPAIGN (1/31)
President Moshe Katsav has called on all Israeli citizens to join in the campaign for long-term humanitarian aid for the victims of the tsunami disaster, THE JERUSALEM POST reported. At a ceremony at Beit Hanassi on Sunday, Katsav urged all Israelis to contribute to the Israel National Emergency Coalition's nationwide fundraising drive, which is to be launched on Tuesday.

"We are obligated to fulfill this humanitarian mission and in doing so, demonstrate that we are indeed a light unto the nations," Katsav said. "We, the children of the Jewish people who have witnessed so many hardships in our own history, do not have the right to deny assistance when we see the recurring scenes of tragedy that are the outcome of the tsunami disaster," Katsav stressed. He expressed pride in the fact that so many Israeli institutions, organizations and individuals had instantly undertaken to help on the first day of the calamity, which has claimed close to 300,000 lives.

Katsav stressed that, "At this place, the Nazis carried out their non-stop industry of genocide. The industry of killing the Jewish people in Europe. And then the Jewish people rose from the ashes and returned home [in Israel]."

"We are a proud and determined people, looking forward in hope and faith. Our strong ties with nations whose leaders stand here today, provide some sort of comfort and security," Katsav concluded.

WIESEL ADDRESSES UN SPECIAL SESSION (1/25)
Sixty years after the liberation of Auschwitz, an historic special session commemorating the victims of the Holocaust took place at the UN General Assembly in New York Monday, HA'ARETZ reported. Holocaust survivor Eli Wiesel, a Nobel Peace Laureate, was the keynote speaker at the event - a rare appearance by a non-statesman or diplomat at the podium of the body that was created on the ashes of World War II. "If the world had listened, we may have prevented Darfur, Cambodia, Bosnia and naturally Rwanda," Wiesel said. "We know that for the dead it is too late. For them, abandoned by God and betrayed by humanity, victory did come much too late. But it is not too late for today's children, ours and yours. It is for their sake alone that we bear witness." He ended his poignant speech with a dramatic moment, a silent stare out at the diplomats and TV cameras watching, and then asked, "But will the world ever learn?"

Wiesel's speech was one of the highlights of the special session that was initiated by Israel, promoted by the United States and energetically undertaken by Secretary General Kofi Annan as an important event meant to remember "the Jews and others" who were murdered at Auschwitz and throughout Europe during the Nazi reign of terror.

The special all-day session was to be attended by the representatives of 30 senior UN members and leading intellectuals. Minister of Foreign Affairs Silvan Shalom represented Israel, while U.S. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld was there on behalf of the United States.

Among the speakers were U.S. Congressman Tom Lantos and Nobel Peace Prize winner Eli Wiesel, both Holocaust survivors.

The climax of the session was a cantor chanting the Hebrew mourning prayer "El Malei Rachamim" - the first time a Jewish prayer was uttered in the General Assembly. The cantor also sang Israel's national anthem, "Hatikvah."

In an extraordinary step, Annan called a special press conference together with General Assembly President Jean Ping from Gabon and Israel's UN ambassador, Dan Gillerman. The press conference was viewed as a special effort on Annan's part to stress the importance of the General Assembly session and the reason for holding it, "since the United Nations was founded as the world was learning the full horror of the camps."

On Monday evening a special two-part exhibit entitled "Auschwitz - the Depth of the Abyss," sponsored by the Foreign Ministry and curated by Yad Vashem, the Holocaust Martyrs and Heroes Remembrance Authority in Jerusalem, opened in the visitors' lobby of the UN headquarters. The first part of the exhibit, presents photos from the Auschwitz Album taken by SS personnel and representing the only surviving visual evidence of the process of the mass murders at the death camp. The other part of the exhibit is a series drawings by Ukrainian artist Zinovii Tolkatchev, who painted scenes from the Majdanek extermination camp in the fall of 1944 as the official artist of the Russian Army.

The curriculum offers a comprehensive overview of the current conflict in Israel, background information to understand Palestinian propaganda and media bias, and the means to explain Israel's policy.

The plane landed in Colombo, Sri Lanka, on Monday, January 10, where equipment for emergency food kitchens donated by the National Council for Voluntarism, Koah Latet, and the United Kibbutz Movement. The kitchens will provide hot meals for some 5,000 people a day. In addition, these organizations and Magen David Adom contributed medical equipment to set up a clinic.

From Colombo the plane continued to Indonesia, where 75 tons of equipment for the victims of the tsunami disaster were unloaded. The cargo included 16 tons of baby food donated by Remedia and Materna, 30 tons of rice, flour, water, sugar and grains donated by the National Council for Voluntarism, Koah Latet, as well as the Sugat and Osem Israeli food manufacturers, five tons of plastic sheeting donated by Hovav Plastica and Haogenplast, and 20 tons of medicines produced by Teva Pharmaceuticals, donated through the Latet organization. In addition, Israeli manufacturer Netafim donated a water purification system valued at $20,000. An additional system was funded through donations from the Ted Arison Family Foundation and the Shira Hadasha congregation in Jerusalem.

WESTERN WALL IS MOST VISITED TOURIST SITE IN ISRAEL (1/12)
A survey conducted by the Geocartographic Institute on behalf of the Tourism Ministry revealed today that the Western Wall is still the most visited site by foreign tourists in Israel, HA'ARETZ reported. The findings are based on tourist visits during the first half of 2004. According to the survey, 53 percent of all tourists visited the Western Wall in the first half of 2004. The second most visited site was the Jewish Quarter in the Old City of Jerusalem. Old Jaffa came third, followed by the Mount of Olives in Jerusalem, the Church of the Holy Sepulcher in Jerusalem's Christian Quarter, the Via Dolorosa, the Tower of David, Massada, and Caesarea.

The poll also reveals that 75 percent of tourists visited Israel independently, while 13 percent came on organized tours. Eighty percent of tourists said their trip to Israel was very good, or excellent. On a scale of 1 to 5, the average score for overall satisfaction from a trip to Israel stood at 4.2. Ninety-five percent of tourists said they would encourage their friends to visit Israel, and 73 percent said they had no security concerns during their visit there.

IsraAID SETS UP RELIEF CAMP IN SRI LANKA (1/11)
A group of Israelis from IsraAID, a coordinating body of Jewish organizations worldwide and non-governmental organizations based in Israel, arrived in Sri Lanka late Monday night to set up a relief camp, as part of the Israel Campaign For Southeast Asia Disaster, THE JERUSALEM POST reported. Members of IsraAID's 15-person team are identifiable by their t-shirts sporting the words "Israel Relief Force." The shirts have attracted a good deal of positive attention from local Sri Lankans, who have rushed to volunteer their services, according to Gal Lousky, an IsraAID coordinator.

The group's plan involves three main components: a field kitchen manned by local cooks, a field infirmary, and an area for orphaned and lost children to receive the care and attention they need. Lousky said the group's concept was unique in that no other organization in Sri Lanka was involved in covering every single aspect of the relief effort. IsraAID is collecting donations, sending people, and cooking food all by itself. She said that the efforts would focus mainly on the children's welfare, and getting 5,000 people fed per day.

The funding for the campaign is being provided by Israelis, and European and American Jewish communities.

TOURISTS RANK ISRAEL 4.2 OUT 0F 5 (1/9)
Israel’s MINISTRY OF TOURISM SPOKESPERSON has announced that, according to a Ministry of Tourism-sponsored survey, foreign visitors were satisfied with their stay in Israel. Eighty per cent describe their stay in the country as "very good" or "excellent".

Tourism Minister Gideon Ezra says the survey proves that Israel is an attractive destination for travelers and that tourism is the fastest growing sector of the economy.

Interestingly, 80 per cent of visitors from Britain described their visit as "excellent" or "very good" according to a new survey conducted by the firm Geocartographia during the first half of 2004. This followed a recent survey by the UK Daily Telegraph that showed Britons have a largely negative opinion of Israel. Statistics were compiled from a sample of 1769 British visitors.

Thirty-six per cent of British respondents stated their visit was "excellent", 44 per cent said it was "very good", 17 per cent described their experience as "good" and three per cent called it "reasonable" or "poor". In 2004, 140,000 tourists arrived from the United Kingdom, a 44 per cent rise over 2003.

In total, 14,000 tourists from around the world participated in the survey. Eight per cent of all tourists also described their visit to Israel as either "excellent" or "very good" and on average, assigned their satisfaction a value of 4.2 out of 5.

The survey reveals that 73 per cent of all tourists were not concerned about traveling to Israel and 95 per cent of them would encourage their friends to also visit the country.

ISRAELIS SEND TONS OF FOOD TO DISASTER ZONE (1/5)
The JERUSALEM POST reports that Israelis have come out in full force for a four-day, nationwide campaign at supermarkets to collect food to be sent to the tsunami disaster zone in south Asia.

The mobilization, which began on Monday [January 3], was organized by Magen David Adom (MDA) with backing by MDA's American support organization ARMDI (American Red Magen David for Israel). At the end of the first day, MDA reported that the Israeli public in both Jewish and Arab sectors donated 2.5 tons of flour, 4 tons of rice, 920 liters [about 972 quarts] of oil, 2.5 tons of sugar, 1.5 tons of plain pasta, 39,000 liters [about 41, 211 quarts] of mineral water, 900 kilograms [about 1,984 pounds] of dried beans, and 700 kilograms [about 1,543 pounds] of jams and conserves.

"We had initially chosen just two days for the food drive, but the response has been so incredible that we've decided to extend it for another two days and ship the goods on Friday [January 7] from Ashdod port", said Israeli Magen David Adom's international director, Yoni Yagodovsky.

Working closely with the International Red Cross and the Red Crescent, more than 4,000 MDA workers and volunteers stood outside the supermarkets and shopping malls collecting the food.

Aaron Goldberg, the associate director of the Hillel Jewish campus organization's Israel department, said many American universities made it hard for Jewish students who wanted to study here. He said universities were concerned about providing insurance coverage for students living in Israel, but that pressure from Jewish student groups had helped several universities revise such policies.

PROPOSED ISRAELI LAW
WOULD PREVENT MODELS FROM BEING UNDERWEIGHT (1/2/05)
Adi Barkan, Israeli fashion photographer and owner of the Barkan Modeling Agency in Tel Aviv, has joined forces with Member of Knesset Inbal Gavrieli to keep young women healthy.  Recognizing that a trend towards underweight models - who foster the notion in adolescent girls that skinny is beautiful - is linked to bulimia and anorexia, have introduced a bill to the Knesset.  It would require that models undergo health examinations, and have their BMI (body mass index) checked before entering the modeling profession. It seems to be the first bill of its kind in the world.

ISRAEL SENDS AID TO THAILAND, SRI LANKA (12/28)
As the world is preparing what United Nation's officials titled "the most expensive aid relief mission" for 10 Southeast Asia countries, Israel is sending several delegations to Sri Lanka and Thailand, THE JERUSALEM POST reported. India, unlike Thailand and Sri Lanka, has not requested any Israeli assistance.

Minister of Foreign Affairs Silvan Shalom said an immediate decision to send $100,000 worth of food and medical supplies had been made. Israel will ship10 tons of relief aid to Sri Lanka. The Health Ministry dispatched an Israeli medical mission to Thailand on Monday. Headed by associate director-general Boaz Lev, it includes five physicians and four nurses from Ichilov, Ha'emek, Beilinson and Kaplan hospitals. Israel dispatched a 15-person medical team, including nine army doctors, to Phuket, Thailand, Monday night to assist rescue operations.

HUNDREDS OF ISRAELIS MISSING
IN SOUTHWEST ASIA FOLLOWING EARTHQUAKE DISASTER (12/27)
With a the death toll from Sunday's earthquake in Southeast Asia reaching an estimated 23,000, Foreign Ministry officials said today that while 450 Israelis in the region had so far been contacted, hundreds were still missing, THE JERUSALEM POST reported. Between 7 and 14 Israelis are known to have been injured in the aftermath of the natural disaster. The missing list includes 160 Israelis on the Andaman Islands in the Bay of Bengal; 270 in southern Thailand; 60 in Sri Lanka and around 50 people in southern India.

Foreign Ministry officials and doctors flew to Southeast Asia today to search for missing Israeli tourists and provide assistance to countries struck by the massive earthquake and tidal waves. Israeli army doctors are to offer medical assistance in Thailand and Sri Lanka, and army teams will look for missing Israelis in southern India. Foreign Ministry Director-General Ron Prosor said that Israel would dispatch $100,000 worth of medicine and food to Thailand and India. In addition, a Foreign Ministry delegation including three top doctors from the Hadassah Hospital in Jerusalem and an officer from the Home Front Command departed for the area to provide emergency assistance.

Ciechanover, 57, Hershko, 67 - the first Israelis to win the prestigious chemistry prize - along with Irwin Rose, 78, were honored by the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences for their work in the 1980s that discovered one of the cell's most important cyclical processes, regulated protein degradation. The three scientists will share the prize of $1.25 million.

Ciechanover, Hershko and Rose found that proteins that could cause disease are "labeled" for destruction with a molecule called ubiquitin that dispatches them to the body's "waste disposal" units, called proteasomes. The marked proteins are then chopped to pieces. When such degradation fails to work correctly, the result can be diseases like cervical cancer and cystic fibrosis. Lars Thelander of the Nobel Committee for Chemistry said the trio's work was highly relevant for cancer research.

Ciechanover said it had already "led to development of numerous drugs for degenerative diseases and malignancies that big pharmaceutical companies are busy working on."

ISRAEL MAY BE PART OF WIDER EUROPE (12/10)
The European Union said Thursday Israel was among seven nations that would be part of its new European Neighborhood policy, THE JERUSALEM POST reported. Israel has pointed out it had not formally agreed to the EU's "action plan" for membership as yet. The program offers free access to goods, services, people and capital to countries neighboring the European Union in exchange for economic and political reform on a country-by-country basis.

Israel has been negotiating its terms of entrance for months, with the talks stuck for weeks on one section dealing with weapons of mass destruction. A Foreign Minister spokesman said that Israel would have to decide on whether to accept the plan before Minister of Foreign Silvan Shalom attends the Israel-EU Association Council meeting next Monday where the plan will be brought for approval.

UN RECOGNIZES ANTI-SEMITISM (11/23)
The Third Committee of the United Nations General Assembly has passed a resolution that calls for "Elimination of all forms of religious intolerance," such as Islamophobia, anti-Semitism and Christianophobia, MA'ARIV reported. Last year, Israel was compelled to abstain from voting in favor of a similar resolution that failed to refer to anti-Semitism, despite the alarming rise in incidents of anti-Semitism around the globe. This year's resolution was adopted with specific mention of anti-Semitism, despite the efforts of the OIC (Organization of the Islamic Conference) to remove or amend references to anti-Semitism in the text.

NATO INVITES ISRAEL FOR JOINT EXERCISES (11/17)
Israel has received an unprecedented invitation from the North Atlantic Treaty Organization to take part in a series of multinational military exercises and anti-terror maneuvers, THE JERUSALEM POST reported. As part of NATO's efforts to rejuvenate the decade-old Mediterranean Dialogue program, members from Israel, Morocco, Tunisia, Algeria, Egypt, Mauritania and Jordan have been attending a two-day NATO meeting in Brussels since Tuesday. It is the first time the aforementioned countries take part in a NATO project. NATO is hoping to receive assistance with its counter-terror patrols monitoring shipping in the Mediterranean Sea.

Meanwhile, while on an official visit to Poland, Minister of Defense Shaul Mofaz invited today Poland's Minister of Interior Ryszard Klisz to send a delegation to Israel to study the steps and technologies used by the Israel Defense Forces to secure Israel's borders, including the security fence separating the West Bank from Israel. Mofaz's offer came during a meeting with Klisz who stressed the importance of securing his country's eastern border and setting up border control checkpoints and 30 control centers, which he described as necessary steps Poland must take in light of its recent acceptance as a member of the European Union. Earlier today, Mofaz signed a memorandum with Jerzy Hausner the Polish Minister of Finance, to enhance industrial ties between the two countries. At an official ceremony in Warsaw on Tuesday, Mofaz handed over to his Polish counterpart the first of 2765 Israeli-made Spike LR antitank rockets Poland has purchased for its army over a 10-year period.

ISRAEL HAS HIGHEST BIRTH RATE IN WEST (11/17)
A report on the status of women in Israel in 2004 presented recently by the Israel Women's Network to the Knesset Committee for the Advancement of the Status of Women indicates that Israeli women have the highest average number of children in the Western world, THE JERUSALEM POST reported. The Israeli average is 2.89 compared to 2.5 in Turkey and 2 in the United States. Of mothers in Israel, some 97,000 are single parents, and 64 percent of them are Jewish. Single mothers head 10 percent of families in Israel compared to 17 percent in other Western countries.

Women represent 50.7 percent of Israel's population, meaning that for every 100 men there are 103 women, whereas in the world at large there are 99 women for every 100 men.

In the comparative study conducted by BDI, the company compared the Israeli monetary loss to the Palestinian Authority's over the same period. It showed that the economic damage to the PA came to approximately US $4.5 billion.

BDI explained that relative to the per capita gross domestic product, damage to the Palestinians was three times that of the average Israeli. The statistics revealed that the Palestinian GDP per capita dropped by some 30 percent.

However, when taking into account the respective economies' potential growth over the four-year period, it was the Israelis who took the harder knock with the current per capita GDP of US $16,700 ­ 11 percent lower than the previously forecast level of US $18,500. The loss of potential growth incurred by the Palestinians was US $1,200.

Besides the monetary loss, BDI said the Palestinian violence has had a further marked effect on Israeli business. The business-risk rating is 33 percent higher in October 2004 than it was before the outbreak of terror in 2000, when the country's rating was in line with the global average.

NEW ULTRA-MODERN AIRPORT TERMINAL INAUGURATED (10/29)
Prime Minister Ariel Sharon inaugurated Ben-Gurion Airport's newest international terminal, Terminal 3, on Thursday, THE JERUSALEM POST reported. "Even as this country still battles its enemies, we are striving for modernity and a better future," Sharon said, addressing hundreds of guests and dignitaries gathered to mark the completion of the country's most sophisticated infrastructure project. Conceived in 1994 under Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin, Terminal 3, better known as Ben-Gurion 2000, was supposed to harness the economic boom of the mid-'90s and the region's peaceful avenue. Due to a series of delays and obstacles, Ben-Gurion 2000 quickly became synonymous with the slow and often-costly progress of modern infrastructure.

Full operation will begin Tuesday afternoon when an El Al flight departs the facility for New York. An hour later, a Swiss Airlines flight will be the first foreign carrier to arrive at the terminal. At a cost of $1 billion, Terminal 3 is for all purposes a new airport. The old terminal will cease to function and all non-domestic activities will be relocated to the new terminal's concourses.

Encompassing 270,000 square meters, Terminal 3 offers 133 check-in counters, three concourses, 22 moving sidewalks, all in one of the world's most advanced airport facilities.

ISRAEL REMEMBERS YITZHAK RABIN (10/27)
Israel marked today nine years since the assassination of Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin, THE JERUSALEM POST reported. Though Rabin was assassinated on November 5th, 1995, today's commemorations take place on the Hebrew date of the assassination. The country's flags were lowered to half-mast at all public institutions. The formal ceremony was held at Rabin's grave on Mt. Herzl at 3 p.m. with President Moshe Katsav and Prime Minister Ariel Sharon in attendance. Following the ceremony, the Knesset held a special discussion at 5 p.m.

Dalia Rabin-Pelosoff, Rabin's daughter, called out to Prime Minister Ariel Sharon: "Today we are with you and are concerned for your welfare." Referring to the Knesset decision on Tuesday to approve the Gaza Strip disengagement plan, Rabin-Pelosoff noted that, "again we hear the bitter sounds of incitement and threats and curses. The rabbis have not changed their ways, and again Pulsa Dnura curses are in the air. The horror is still lurking out there with the handwriting in blood written on the wall."

Sharon recalled his memories from the night of the assassination and paid respect to Rabin's devotion and unwavering loyalty to the State of Israel. "We walked a long path together, Yitzhak and I, dedicated and loyal to the protection of the State of Israel," Sharon said. "The darkness of that night has not left us and will never expire since the most unbelievable and unimaginable has happened."

Yishai Shorek, head of the Israel-Jordan chambers of commerce, said, "There is no doubt the economic ties between the countries are very beneficial to both. These are stable ties that are constantly being developed."

One of the most notable achievements of the peace accord is the development of the industrial park where several dozen Israeli and Jordanian companies cooperate and export to the United States without tariffs. These companies are said to be a great boost to the Jordanian economy.

The major obstacle to bilateral ties remains the Palestinian question. Many Jordanians fear that Palestinians might be tempted to cross the border to settle in Jordan.

A mass demonstration by those opposed to normalization took place in Amman today, reflecting the extent of the opposition to a rapprochement with Israel.

Igor Leib of Moscow underwent tests and assessment at Hadassah's trauma and surgical departments after being flown to Israel. Leib and his mother, Zoya Budman, were five meters from the terrorist when the bomb exploded.

Hadassah Medical Organization deputy director-general Prof. Shmuel Shapira said Hadassah was happy to respond positively to the request by the Moscow Jewish community to help the family, and it was willing to treat other victims of Chechen terror from the attack on the school in Beslan.

MADONNA FEELS SAFE AND WELCOME IN ISRAEL (9/20)
Madonna, who is on a five-day visit in Israel, called today for world peace while speaking at a conference on Kabbalah in Tel Aviv, HA'ARETZ reported. Madonna told fellow conference-goers that she had been hesitant to come to Israel at first, but that "I realize now that it is no more dangerous to be here than it is to be in New York, and I would like to emphasize the fact that I feel very safe and very welcome."

Madonna arrived in Israel on Wednesday to take part in the 2,000-person conference coinciding with Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish new year. Madonna said the people she met during her trip "have one thing in common - we want to create peace in the world." "We want to put an end to chaos and suffering," she said, "but most of all we want to put an end to hatred with no reason."

Madonna, who recently adopted the Hebrew name Esther and wears a trademark Kabbalah red string on her wrist, has said she is serious about her belief in Jewish mysticism and is irritated by accusations her faith is nothing more than a celebrity fad.

Early Sunday, Madonna and her husband, Guy Ritchie, went to the Kiryat Shaul cemetery outside Tel Aviv to visit the grave of the kabbalist sage Rabbi Yehuda Ashlag.

ISRAELI FILMS WIN AT MONTREAL, VENICE FESTIVALS (9/14)
Three Israeli films won prizes at two recent international film festivals, the Montreal World Film Festival and the Venice International Film Festival, THE JERUSALEM POST reported. Eran Riklis's 'The Syrian Bride' took the top honor at Montreal, the Grand Prix of the Americas. It also won the Fipresci Prize (a critics' award), the Ecumenical Prize, and the Air Canada People's Choice Award, an award chosen by audience ballot.

The brother-sister directing team Shlomi and Ronit Elkabetz took home two prizes from Venice for their film 'To Take a Wife', in which Ronit plays the lead. The pair received the Gan Award of the Public for a film from the International Critics' Week, and the Isvema Award for a film also from the International Critics' Week.

Also in Venice, Amos Gitai's 'Promised Land' won the Emblem of Peace Award. Montreal and Venice are two of the most prestigious and influential film festivals in the world.

POPULATION OF ISRAEL IS 6.8 MILLION (9/14)
On the eve of Rosh Hashana 5765, Central Bureau of Statistics figures indicate there are 6.8 million people living in Israel, MA'ARIV reported. The population is divided between 5.5 million Jews, 81% of the total, and 1.3 million Arabs. Israel also hosts at least 190,000 foreign workers.

According to CBS data, the population's growth rate has dropped and stands at 1.6 percent only, in comparison with 1.8 percent recorded in 5763. During the past year, Israel's population increased by 110,000 people.

The reason for the decline is the lower rate of immigration. Only 22,000 olim chose Israel as their new home in the past year, in comparison with 27,000 during 5763. About half arrived from the CIS, 15 percent from Ethiopia and 9 percent from France.

ISRAEL BEATS CYPRUS 2-1
IN 2006 WORLD CUP QUALIFYING MATCH (9/9)
Israel celebrated its first competitive soccer game at home in nearly three years Wednesday with a 2-1 win over Cyprus in their 2006 World Cup qualifying match, HA'ARETZ reported. European soccer governing body UEFA had barred Israel from hosting international games citing security concerns, but lifted the ban earlier this year.

Playing in front of 20,000 fans at the Ramat Gan national stadium, the Cypriots took the lead with a 58th minute strike by Michael Konstantinou. But they conceded an equalizer five minutes later when Israeli forward Yossi Benayoun made an impressive individual run through the defense before putting the ball in the net. Midfielder Walid Badir scored the victory goal in the 71st minute. Israel's victory comes after a 0-0 draw Saturday against the Group 4 favorites, France.

BESLAN SIEGE VICTIMS TO BE FLOWN TO ISRAEL FOR TREATMENT (9/8)
Child survivors of last week's terror attack on a Russian school are to be airlifted to Israel for treatment at facilities specializing in such care, THE JERUSALEM POST reported. The children and their mothers will be flown to Israel by the Michael Cherney Fund, which was created after the Dolphinarium suicide bomb attack in Tel Aviv, which killed 20 teenagers and wounded over 100 in 2001. The Fund also helped the victims of a May 2002 bombing in south Russia, where 10 children were killed and many more wounded.

Terrorists seized the Beslan school on September 1st, a day after a suicide bombing in Moscow killed 10 people and just over a week after two Russian passenger planes exploded killing all 90 people aboard - two attacks authorities suspect were linked to the war in Chechnya.

The official death toll of the three-day siege, which ended in deadly explosions and gunfire, stood at 335 - 156 of whom children - plus 30 attackers.

EXODUS OF ARABS (9/7)
According to Israel’s news service ARUTZ SHEVA, the Weekly Telegraph in London reports on a "growing exodus" of young, middle-class Arabs in the Palestinian Authority, leaving their homes and moving abroad "to escape from the clutches of the terrorist group Hamas."

In a related item, some 45,000 Arabs from "the territories" - Judea and Samaria - have moved to within pre-1967 Israeli borders in the past four years. This is the conclusion of a study carried out by an Israeli Arab student who is "close" to the situation.

The Telegraph reports that parents in cities such as Hebron, a center of Hamas recruitment for recent "martyrdom" operations, are increasingly fearful of losing their children to the terrorists. For instance, the Al-Jama neighborhood - described in the paper as featuring "large spacious houses, smart cars, and vineyards spread out over undulating hills...a pocket of relative prosperity" - has seen no fewer than 11 of its young men die while carrying out suicide bombings and other attacks against Israelis. Among them were the two who murdered 16 Israelis last week in Beersheva.

The Telegraph reports that dozens of young men are choosing to leave for the United States and France, rather than remain in Hebron and face being "brainwashed" by Hamas.

In other Israeli fuel news, the director general of the Prime Minister's Office, Ilan Cohen, decided on August 5 to advance the construction of a 28-kilometer (17-mile) sea transport system to link the Tethys sea partnership's gas platform to the desalination plant south of Ashkelon, currently in advanced stages of construction. The desalination plant will thus be able to operate by means of natural gas as soon as next year. The use of natural gas is expected to minimize damage to the environment caused by power plants, and will also lead to a reduction in electricity costs.

The Prime Minister's Office reports that in 2002, a natural gas field was discovered off the Ashkelon coast; in 2003, a production platform and natural-gas sea pipeline were built off the Ashkelon coast to transport the gas to Ashdod; and in January 2004, Ashdod's Eshkol gas-fired power plant - which produces approximately 10 percent of Israel's electricity - began operations. The introduction of natural gas for use in Israel has led to savings of approximately US $15 million per annum.

The Israeli electricity sector is expected to complete the transition to natural gas by 2012, when approximately 50 percent of Israel's electricity will be produced by natural gas.

Also today, Roei Yellin qualified for the Men's K1 1,000-meter final, after finishing third in the semifinal. The final will take place next Tuesday.

The non-mainstream end of the festival program also features French trumpeter Erik Truffaz, who mixes modern dance rhythms with drum 'n' bass, hip hop as well as rock 'n' roll, and American trumpeter Russell Gunn, who weaves Cuban, Brazilian and African sentiments with rap and progressive jazz, liberally laced with urban noise.

The festival also provides some homegrown artists a chance to play in front of big audiences, as well as rub shoulders with their better-known counterparts. Musicians such as trombonist Avi Lebovich, guitarist Yottam Silberstein and saxophonist Tevet Sela will be among the Israeli musicians to play during the festival.

In other Olympic news, tennis pair Andy Ram and Yoni Erlich's quest for an Olympic medal came to an end on Wednesday after losing 2-6, 6-2, 6-2 to German pair Nicolas Kiefer and Rainer Schuettler.

ISRAELI TENNIS PAIR REACHES OLYMPIC QUARTERFINALS (8/18)
Israeli men's tennis doubles pair Andy Ram and Yoni Erlich will play in the quarterfinal of the Athens Olympic Games this evening against the German pair Nicholas Kiefer and Rainer Schuettler, HA'ARETZ reported. The Germans upset the No. 2 seeds Todd Woodbridge and Wayne Arthurs of Australia 7-6, 6-3. Ram and Erlich advanced to the quarterfinal defeating Russian pair Igor Andreev and Nikolay Davydenko 6-4, 6-1 on Tuesday.

Also today, Israel's Pavel Gofman will be among the 24 gymnasts competing in the men's all-round gymnastics final. Gofman reached the 12th place in the qualifying rounds, and is hoping for a similar placing in the finals.

IRANIAN REFUSES TO COMPETE AGAINST ISRAELI AT OLYMPICS (8/16)
Iranian judoka and world champion Arash Mir-Esmaeili refused to face Israeli Ehud Vaks at the Olympic Games on Sunday, preferring to give up his hope for a medal over recognizing Israel, HA'ARETZ reported. The decision was in effect made in Tehran soon after Thursday's lottery of the first-round draw. Iranian fans' disappointment was clear, but Iranian President Mohammed Khatami rushed to praise Mir-Esmaeili, who carried his country's flag in Friday's opening ceremonies. "We recognize this hero's sacrifice. He will go down in Iranian history with honor and pride." As compensation, Tehran will award him $115,000 that had been set aside had he returned with a gold medal.

In an attempt to evade punishment to athletes who opt out for political considerations, Mir-Esmaeili weighed on Sunday morning two kilos over the 66-kg weight limit in his class. The International Olympics Committee declined to comment on the incident. Olympic judo officials are investigating the issue but have reached no conclusions so far.

36 ISRAELI ATHLETES WILL COMPETE IN 2004 OLYMPICS (8/13)
A total of 36 Israeli athletes competing in 15 disciplines will be participating in the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens, HA'ARETZ reported. Israel Olympic chairman Ephraim Zinger has said that he expects the delegation to bring home three medals, including a first-ever gold.

Judoka Arik Ze'evi will carry the Israeli flag at the opening ceremony of the 2004 Olympics tonight. Ze'evi, a three-time European champion in the under-100 kilo category, will march at the head of an Israeli delegation that is widely considered the best the country has ever sent to the Games.

Windsurfer Gal Friedman is expected to compete for a gold medal, along with Ze'evi, Greco-Roman wrestler Gocha Tsitsiashvili and pole-vaulter Alex Averbukh. Since it first competed at the Games in Helsinki in 1952, Israel has won a total of four medals.

ISRAELI COMPANIES
PARTICIPATE IN TENDER FOR EUROPEAN SEPARATION FENCE (8/13)
After European representatives launched a campaign against Israel's security fence, and voted against Israel at the UN general assembly, the European Union is now planning a separation fence of its own, GLOBES reported. The EU plans to build a fence to separate its new members - Poland and Hungary - from its new neighbors - Russia, Belarus and Ukraine - to prevent the free movement of immigrants seeking to enter the EU.

Israeli companies that specialize in the construction of warning fences and security systems will participate in tenders to build hundreds of kilometers of fences along the EU's new eastern border. Magal Security Systems is expected to sign a cooperation agreement with a major Western company for building fences as well as command and control systems in Eastern Europe. El-Far Electronics also plans to participate in the tender through a large international partner.

Defense industry sources estimate the potential business at several hundred million dollars. Based on the experience of building Israel's fence, each kilometer of fence costs $1 million to build. Bases, sophisticated transit points, and observation and command and control systems cost $2 million per kilometer.

ISRAEL RANKS 3^RD IN THE WORLD FOR U.S. PATENT FILINGS (8/13)
Israel was ranked third (in terms of ratio of population) in 2003 for the number of U.S. patents filed, behind Japan and Taiwan, GLOBES reported. The number of U.S. patents filed from Israel increased by 69 percent over the previous five years. The top five countries were Japan, with 2.98 U.S. patents per 10,000 people; Taiwan - 2.96; Israel - 2.04; Switzerland - 2.02; and Sweden - 1.92. Germany had 1.5 U.S. patents per 10,000 people; France 0.7; the UK 0.68; and Spain 0.08.

The number of U.S. patents filed from Israel rose by 20 percent in 2003, compared with 2002, despite the recession. 1,265 patents were filed in 2003, compared with 1.042 in 2002, 1,023 in 2001, and 748 in 1999.

The first 20 spots include the European states, North America, Australia and Japan. The last 23 spots are African states. The Arab states are located towards the lower end of the list. Lebanon was ranked 80, Jordan was in the 90th spot, the Palestinian Authority came in at 102, Syria was at 106 and Egypt at 120. Sierra Leone was ranked 177th and last.

ISRAEL WINS COMPUTER CHESS CHAMPIONSHIP (7/14)
The JERUSALEM POST reports that an Israeli team, Amir Ban and Shay Bushunsky, has won first prize in the 12^th World Computer Chess Championship. The tournament was held recently at Bar-Ilan University in cooperation with the International Computer Games Association.

In this tournament, which has been held in many cities across the world for the past 30 years, the best computerized chess programs from various countries compete for the title of World Computer Chess Champion.