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PERES TO JEWISH AGENCY SHLICHIM IN THE UKRAINE: "DOUBLE THE ALIYAH TO ISRAEL" During Visit to Kiev Foreign Minister Asked Prime Minister To Intervene to Speed-Up Payment Of Reparations to Victims of Airplane Crash
 Foreign Minister Shemon Peres visited Jewish Youth in Ukraine before their departure to visit Israel through the Birthright program "I want you to double the number of olim to Israel" said Foreign Minister Shimon Peres to Jewish Agency shlichim in the Ukraine, with whom he met during an official visit there. During his tour of the Jewish Agency's offices in Kiev, capital of the Ukraine, Peres met 80 Jewish teenagers about to set out for their first visit to Israel via the "Birthright" project. Outgoing head of the JAFI delegation in the Ukraine, Eli Itzhaki, said that the minister was very excited about his meeting with the youngsters, particularly when he heard them sing Israeli songs in Hebrew. Peres also met with potential olim and heard the shlichim talk about their aliyah and Jewish education activities in Kiev. Foreign Minister Peres was on a 2-day visit to the Ukraine to mark a decade since diplomatic relations were established between the two countries. During his visit, Peres met with Ukrainian President Leonid Kuchma, and other government officials. He called on them to advance the negotiations for payment of compensation to the families of the victims of the airplane disaster in the Black Sea, most of whom were olim from the FSU. Ukraine took responsibility for accidentally shooting the aircraft down during military maneuvers in the area of the Black Sea. Peres laid a wreath on the monument at the Babi Yar killing site in memory of 35,000 Jews from Kiev who were murdered by the Nazis on this site in September 1941. He also met with members of the Ukrainian Jewish community and delivered a lecture at the National University of Kiev to staff and students at the Institute of International Relations.
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