This afternoon, the new Tel Aviv Central Bus Station and a number of other sites were evacuated following a warning of an attempted terrorist attack and the possibility that a number of explosive devices had been planted. The escalation comes after Arafat actually rejected Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's call for a cease-fire, and despite the fact that the IDF has been ordered to hold fire unilaterally.

The Israeli decision to call a cease fire was taken after consultations with the American administration. So far, only Israel has responded to President Bush's call to Sharon and Arafat to hold fire.

Escalation in the Territories has been evident since Tuesday, and on Wednesday Asher Iluz, a Modiin resident was killed in a shooting attack from a Palestinian ambush near Ariel. George Saportas was shot in the back and seriously wounded during a shooting attack on Gilo. For the first time, Palestinians also opened fire on the Malha neighborhood, situated within Jerusalem's green line.

The injured join those hurt in a terrorist attack on the Netanya shopping mall which killed five last Friday. The dead are: Miriam Wachsman, Tirzah Polonski, David Yarkoni, and new olim Yulia Tartiakova and Vladislav Sorokin who will be buried on Sunday, after the Jewish Agency has brought their families from the FSU to Israel to take part in the funerals. Captain Yair Nebenzahl was killed and his mother was seriously injured in a shooting attack in the Territories. Israel responded firmly to the attacks and employed F-16 fighter planes for the first time.

However, even after the declaration of the cease fire on Tuesday, the Palestinians continue to intensify their activity and obstructed all efforts to bring calm to the area. Arafat has refused to meet with US Secretary of State Colin Powell and is demanding an invitation to meet with President Bush in the White House. Foreign Minister Shimon Peres as well as other defense officials announced yesterday that in recent days Arafat ordered an escalation of the struggle and security officials have received information of the intention to perpetrate further terrorist attacks.

In response to the situation, the country is on high alert. This afternoon IDF helicopters brought down over Michmoret a civilian light aircraft that penetrated from Lebanon and was flying low over the coastline. When the pilot did not respond to Air Force calls to identify and land, a missile was shot at his plane. The pilot was killed and security officials are conducting an inquiry in an effort to determine if this was an attempted terror attack or a civilian pilot who strayed from his route.

Chief of Staff General Mofaz disclosed yesterday that since the declaration of the cease fire two days ago, the Palestinians have carried out 35 new attacks, including a shooting in the Ariel area, at Gilo and Malha : "Since the violence erupted in September, Palestinians initiated 5,000 attacks against Israeli civilians and IDF soldiers." Major General Mofaz was speaking at a meeting of the World Zionist Organization in Raanana.

The Chief of Staff further warned that if the attacks continue, the IDF will be forced to retaliate in full force in order to guarantee the safety of the country's citizens. At the same time, he stressed that IDF initiated activity will be carried out according to ethical norms accepted in Israel.

Jewish Agency Chairman Sallai Meridor, who also spoke at the meeting said: "The attacks on Israel at a time following the concessions that the Israeli government agreed to, prove that the protection of our very existence requires Zionist education and unfortunately often forces us to fight for it."

Meridor stressed the need to ensure the Jewish majority in the State of Israel so that we can maintain Jewish democracy. He attacked those in Israel who instead of identifying with the State sympathize with the enemy. "This is a vocal minority which instead of strengthening the awareness for the justice of our way, has turned history against us. The real response is that of Zionist youth which in the final outcome will guarantee that Zionism wins".

Jewish Agency Treasurer, Chaim Chesler, who also participated in the Zionist Organization meeting, praised the army which serves as a melting pot for Israeli society and manages to turn soldiers from Russian, Ethiopian and American origin into one people.

Mort Zuckerman

Ronald Lauder

The publisher of U.S. News and World Report, and of New York Daily News, Mort Zuckerman, will succeed philanthropist and businessman Ronald Lauder at the head of the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations.

Chairman of the nominating committee, Melvin Salberg, a past chairman of the Conference presented the nomination on behalf of the committee and praised Mort Zuckerman for his deep involvement in Jewish issues and for the recognition that he earned in the US and in the world. Salberg thanked Ronald Lauder for his contribution as leader of the Conference of Presidents during his two year term and for his involvement in other Jewish activity as well.

Mort Zuckerman has been involved in the Conference of Presidents for almost a decade. He is connected to activity in Israel, serving as President of the Board of Trustees of the Jaffe Center for Strategic Studies at Tel Aviv University and as trustee at the Peres Peace Center. Mort Zuckerman was active - among others - in the creation of the Center for Intelligence Services in Israel and a member of the Friends of the IDF in the US. Zuckerman also acted in the US within the framework of numerous volunteer organizations, including Chairman of the Board of the Soviet Jewish Zionist Forum, a Trustee of the Washington Institute for Near East Policy and the Andrei Sakharov Papers at Brandeis University, to name just a few.

Following a visit by a fact-finding mission of MK's to Argentina organized by the Jewish Agency, and in light of the severe economic crisis which has affected the Jewish community there, a special session of the Knesset Aliyah and Klita Committee convened this morning to focus efforts on bringing Argentine Jews on aliyah. Participating in the meeting were Jewish Agency Chairman Sallai Meridor and members of the delegation who visited Argentina: MK Zvi Handel who chairs the Knesset Aliyah & Klita Committee, MK Zevulun Orlev - chairman of the Knesset Education Committee, former MK Eli Goldschmidt and Deputy Director General of the Ministry of Absorption Hanoch Zimmer.

Jewish Agency Chairman Sallai Meridor called on the Israeli government to prepare an emergency plan for bringing Argentine Jews on aliyah, focussing on the rescue of Jewish-Zionist education and improving aliyah conditions for Jews from Argentina : "The Jewish Agency and the Israeli government are making considerable efforts in the area of aliyah and absorption of Argentine Jews, but we now require not just increased efforts but a "quantum leap" which will be reflected in an emergency situation for bringing Argentine Jews on aliyah and much greater involvement on the part of the government. In the year 2000, one thousand olim arrived in Israel from Argentina. Over the next three years we must bring another 10,000 olim from Argentina. We must summon all the positive energy embedded in Israeli society, particularly in local municipalities, among olim organizations, among employers and all the organizations involved in aliyah absorption in order to make this assignment successful. The program for absorbing olim from Argentina must be improved and the possibilities for Jewish students from there to study in Israel must be significantly expanded. At the same time, the Jewish education network in Argentina must be strengthened by providing support for Jewish schools and sending teachers from Israel", said Meridor.

"At this moment the Jewish Agency and Ministry of Absorption are preparing a joint program to be submitted for government approval by the end of next month. At the same time, we are about to prepare a joint program with the Ministry of Education", said Meridor. Next week, Jewish Agency Chairman will meet Minister of Education Limor Livnat in order to discuss combining efforts to rescue Jewish Zionist education in Argentina.

Other participants in the meeting were senior representatives of the Ministry of Education and Jewish Agency leaders, representatives of the Latin America Olim Society, leaders of municipalities who have absorbed families from Argentina and others who reported on recent activities undertaken in the area of aliyah and absorption of Jews from Argentina.

In order to understand how Palestinians actually relate to negotiations, it is worth following formal publications in the P.A. newspapers even before the Intifada. One of the signals giving advanced warning of confrontation appeared in the Palestinian weekly "Palestine AlYaum", issued by the political leadership answering to Arafat. Journal no. 30, dated August 5th, quotes in the headline a Palestinian source backed by pictures of the armed struggle initiated by the Palestinian Authority in May 2000, stating: "Confrontation is necessary in order to move the negotiations forward". The main body of the article also states: "A Palestinian official revealed to the Palestinian AlYaum newspaper that the Camp David summit .... failed due to Israelis insisting on their stands on all issues ...... the Palestinian source was of the opinion that it would be easy to renew negotiations which may lead to some results in view of current Israeli positions and therefore, some form of violence is therefore necessary in an effort to change the existing equations".

• The Jewish community in Ethiopia numbers 76,000 people.

• 16,975 olim arrived from Ethiopia during the 1980's; 12,606 between 1983-1985 .

• 39,636 olim arrived from Ethiopia during the 1990's; 27,783 between 1990-192, and 5,400 between 1998-1999.

• More than 42,000 olim came to Israel from Ethiopia over the last decade, mainly through short and long-term Jewish Agency assistance programs.

• 18 absorption facilities and hotels operating on behalf of the Jewish Agency house 6,200 people today, most of them arrived in Israel between 1999-2001.

• The Ethiopian community is mostly concentrated in 15 locations; those include Ashdod, Ashkelon, Beer Sheva, Hadera, Netanya, Rehovot, Kiryat Malachi, Lod, Ramle, and Kiryat Gat.

The Jewish Agency's Education Department recently opened a new course, to prepare a cadre of senior education specialists for missions in Jewish communities the world over, based on the concept that an emissary (Shaliah) is, first and foremost, an educator. The first course that started in April and will last four months, runs for one full day of study every week.

Course participants discuss ideological and philosophical dilemmas and issues concerning the Jewish world; its ties with the State of Israel and the Zionist idea. The course is divided into three sections: the "Collective Memory" dealing with different aspects of the past, the present and the future of the Jewish people; a section on Judaism; and a section dealing with the practical aspects of the Zionist idea.

Course lecturers are senior academicians, and cultural and intellectual figures. Along with the academic studies, the course integrates visits to education centers, and meetings with personalities in the areas of education, industry, the economy, etc.

In order to create a seminar with an atmosphere of mutual enrichment, only 15 educators participate in the course. All of the 15 participants, who were selected from among 300 applicants, hold academic degrees and have experience in Jewish-Zionist education.

The course is led by Dr. Naomi Natanson of the Jewish Agency's Education Department, and the contents and nature of the course are determined by a steering committee comprising Mr. Benny Rechter, Dr. Ami Buganim, Marianna Kronfeld and Rotem Ayalon.

Haim Chesker and Robert Goldberg at festive celebration with immigrants from Ethiopia

"No one who has the right to immigrate to Israel will remain in Ethiopia because of a shortage of places to absorb them in Israel," said Jewish Agency Treasurer, Chaim Chesler, at a festive reception at Ben Gurion Airport, for 60 new immigrants from Ethiopia.

Although several tens of immigrants arrive from Ethiopia every week, this time, a festive reception took place to mark the ten year anniversary since "Operation Shlomo" and twenty years since "Operation Moshe" designed to bring the Ethiopian Jewish Communities to Israel. Chesler thanked Jewish activists around the world and former US president, George Bush senior, for their contribution to the operations that brought the Ethiopian Jewish community to Israel over the past 20 years.

Chairman of the Jewish Agency's Assets and Liabilities Committee and the new president of the UJC-ONAD committee, Robert Goldberg, which determines the overseas allocations of the US Jewish federations, addressed the gathering. "Upon your arrival from Ethiopia to Israel, we welcome you and will do everything in our power to integrate you into Israeli society," added Chesler. "Once you are integrated, you will have the obligation to do your utmost to work and help the country, so that you also be able to welcome more newcomers in the years to come."

Chesler noted that virtually every Ethiopian immigrant who arrived in Israel since aliya began in the 1970s, was helped in some way, both in their immigration and in their absorption, by the Jewish Agency. He praised the staff of the Jewish Agency who, he said, "Work day and night to help the new arrivals integrate successfully into Israeli society."

He also mentioned that many of the members of the community are experiencing difficulties in absorbing fully, and explained that this was the reason that the Jewish Agency had initiated a national project to ensure the full integration of the community in Israel.

The Ethiopian community numbers some 76,000 people. The project, due to last ten years, and supported mainly by the Israeli government and world Jewry through the Jewish Agency, aims to ensure that the level of success in education and employment of the Ethiopian community will be the same as that of the veteran Israeli public.

Six thousand Moscow Jews gathered in the city's Hermitage Park this week to mark Jerusalem Day and Israel's Independence Day in an event organized by the Jewish Agency in cooperation with Israel's embassy in Russia.

The celebration included an aliya fair and a central gathering. The guest of honor addressing the audience, Israel's foreign minister, Shimon Peres, said: "Israel has the second largest Russian-speaking Jewish community in the world."

Jewish Agency Treasurer, Chaim Chesler, also addressed the gathering sending greetings to the estimated one million Jews of the FSU "from the homeland."
"We want to see you in Israel," said Chesler.

Jewish Agency Chairman Sallai Meridor paid a visit to Britain last week and met with community leaders, British politicians and Jewish Agency representatives. During his visit the Jewish Agency Chairman emphasized the importance of aliyah from the west and strengthening Israel's Jewish democracy.

Meridor who was the guest of the JIA, addressed a forum of Britain's major philanthropists. He described the work of the Jewish Agency and the important role of the philanthropists in strengthening ties between Israel and the Diaspora in general and the northern border area and the Jewish community in Britain in particular. Britain's Jewish community invests substantially in the front-line areas.

The Jewish Agency Chairman was also the guest of the Jewish Chronicle, the oldest Jewish newspaper in the world. He appeared before 500 students at the "Emmanuel" high school, presenting them with a review of Israel and world Jewry, and met with the class due to leave for a study tour of Israel shortly.

Sallai was accompanied by head of the Jewish Agency's European office, Mr. Dubi Bergman.

"We believe that the heritage of Polish Jewry, which is extremely rich, belongs to the entire Jewish people", said Jewish Agency Treasurer Chaim Chesler at a convention which took place at "Yad Vashem" and discussed the return of European Jewry to its countries of origin after the Holocaust. Chesler was chairing a panel discussing Polish Jewry and was referring to the state of Jewish property in Poland today.

Jewish Agency Treasurer spoke of the efforts of the WJRO, which is working jointly with the Polish Jewish community in order to restore as much Jewish property as possible taken by Nazis and nationalized by the Communist regime after World War II. under a Polish law enacted in 1997, requests for property are supposed to be filed by May 2002.

"The money realized from the restoration of Jewish property in Poland and its sale should be used to strengthen the Jewish community in Poland and to promote projects in the areas of welfare and education for the entire Jewish people," said Chesler. "This will be a fitting commemoration in memory of the three million Polish Jews who were exterminated in the Holocaust".

As an example of educational projects, Chesler presented the Jewish Agency's new program, supported by the Claims Commission, enabling 700 deprived Israeli youngsters to participate in study tours of Poland. Within the context of the project, some of the participants will also visit Kiev in order to take a close look at a community in renewal after the Holocaust and 70 years of suppression by the Communist regime.

Despite the tense atmosphere, Jerusalem Day celebrations took place this week in a festive climate. Thousands of youngsters participated in a "March of Flags" to mark the day. Thousands of students from Bnei Akiva high schools organized a solidarity celebration at the Gilo junction, dancing there for more than an hour. During the celebrations there were several brawls between Jews and Arabs and the police had to separate between them. Prime Minister, Ariel Sharon, addressed the families who have lost their dear ones in the battle for Jerusalem and the hundreds of attending former soldiers, saying: "We will attain peace keeping Jerusalem the capital of the Jewish people, with the Temple Mount in its center, a unified, undivided city".

And another celebration this week: One of the greatest attractions in the world was inaugurated in Haifa this week - the Bahai Gardens, termed "the eighth wonder of the world". Tourists and members of the faith have waited years for this moment. Ten years of work and a quarter of a million dollars have been invested in the gardens, and the result: 19 enormous colorful gardens on the slopes of Mt. Carmel, surrounded by marble fountains and waterways, and dozens of pools and marble sculptures with special designs with the golden-domed temple at their center.

This week the Brookdale Institute (the JDC research institute) published a report which discusses the absorption of Ethiopian olim from two perspectives. On the one hand the report praises the Ethiopian community for its deep Zionism which has contributed to the community's high motivation in coping with the difficulties of absorption. The report also points out the generally positive attitude of Israeli society towards the Ethiopian community, the extensive enlistment of Diaspora Jewry on their behalf and the growth of a young leadership among the olim themselves. On the other hand, the report points to serious problems in the absorption process of the community: a low starting point regarding education and employment, a large proportion of single-parent families, a very different cultural and family structure from that of Israeli society, and the traumas of aliyah, particularly in the early years, when 4,000 members of the community perished en route to Israel. Figures published by the Ministry of Absorption this week show that 46% of Ethiopian olim over the age of 44 are unemployed, and the proportion of 12th graders who attained full matriculation (bagrut) in 1999 was just 32%. This is an improvement compared with 1994, when only 7% of 12th grade Ethiopian olim attained matriculation.

And more figures about olim in general: a quarter of the criminal files opened against youth in the year 2000 - were for olim, despite the fact that they account for just 10% of the young population. Furthermore - 27% of drug-related offenses among youth are attributed to olim, and there was an 8% increase in the number of cases opened against olim in the year 2000, compared with the previous year.

Terminally ill patients will be able to sign a declaration obliging their doctors to refrain from artificially prolonging their life by connecting them to life-supporting machines. This was decided this week by the Knesset's Legislative Committee, which approved a first reading of a bill called "The right to die with dignity".

This week revised figures were published regarding the number of deaths from last year's outbreak of Nile fever: 29 people died, out of 417 who contracted the disease. Minister of the Environment Zachi Hanegbi said at the Knesset Internal Affairs Committee that the 29 people who died "did so for no reason, because the authorities did not prepare themselves in time to deal with the situation".

The State Prosecutor this week decided that there was no case for opening an investigation against MK Ahmed Tibi (Taal), for his comments against Chief of Staff Shaul Mofaz, in which he called Mofaz a fascist. The reason for the decision - the immunity which the law grants MK's.

And finally - the Bedouin town of Rahat will soon be the first town in Israel to have a hippodrome for camel racing. The price of a camel which wins such competitions is estimated to be $20,000. The hippodrome will be more than a kilometer in diameter and it will have a gallery with more than 1000 seats.