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ISRAEL FLAGS HALF MAST Jewish Agency Extends Assistance To Families And Remembers Victims Six of the victims of the airplane crash that shook Israel last week, among them Adi Kamri z"l, and Batya daughter of Aliza Kamri, Jewish Agency education emissary in Novosibirsk, were brought to rest in Israel. Another funeral will take place tomorrow. Eight other bodies that were pulled out of the Black Sea, will be buried in Russia. In the tragedy of the Sibirian airline aircraft that was hit by a missile as it traveled from Tel Aviv to Novosibirsk, 78 crew and passengers were killed. Fifty-one of the passengers were Israelis and another 15 were tourists who visited Israel. Only 15 bodies were pulled out of the water. The Ministerial Committee on Symbols and Ceremonies in conjunction with the Jewish Agency, declared a day of national mourning; flags were at half mast, and in a special memorial ceremony in the Knesset, Prime Minister Ariel Sharon praised the contribution of the new immigrants from the FSU in building and strengthening the State of Israel. In a memorial ceremony conducted in the courtyard of the national institutions' complex housing the Jewish Agency, the World Zionist Organization, the Jewish National Fund and the UIA/Keren Hayessod in Jerusalem, Jewish Agency Chairman Salai Meridor called upon the citizens of Israel to be one big supportive family for the families that lost their loved ones. Treasurer Haim Chesler, who headed the support delegation to Sochi - the town closest to the place of the crash, praised the crews who worked relentlessly since the tragic crash in helping and supporting the families of those who died. As soon as the news about the tragedy reached Israel, the Jewish Agency established an emergency room that received the calls of worried families and offered the necessary assistance to enable the victims' relatives to travel to Sochi in order to identify the bodies. Besides Adi Kamri z"l, Ludmilla Ushkokova z"l was also killed. She was a senior staff at the Jewish Agency in Novosibirsk who accompanied a group of Jewish students that came to Israel on a Na'ale program. Yesterday, the families returned to Israel. Foreign Affairs and Deputy Prime Minister Shimon Peres, Jewish Agency Chairman Salai Meridor and Deputy Minister of Absorption Yuli Edelstein, received them at the airport. The Ministerial Committee on Diaspora Affairs convened this morning and decided to take the initiative to assure that material assistance will be given to families that do not eligible for assistance since the tragedy took occurred abroad due to a Ukrainian missile fired in error on a foreign aircraft. The Jewish Agency was asked to participate in the inter-Ministerial Committee set for this purpose.
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