Rising concern over increasing unemployment and national budget deficits following decrease in production and exports caused by the severity of the clashes between the Palestinian Authority and the IDF. These Ministry of Finance estimates are based on projections expecting a growth reduction of 1.5-2.5%.

Data disclosed in the "Yediot Aharonot" daily newspaper this morning, reveal that new Ministry of Finance projections expect economic growth to drop to 2-3% compared to the originally expected 4.5%. It must be noted that economic growth in 2000, rose to 5.9%.

The Ministry's depressing projection is added to the continuing violence in spite of US attempts to reach an agreement and restore tranquility in the region. This morning, disaster was thwarted when a terrorist bomb to be remotely detonated by a cellular phone in Mea Shearim, was discovered. A passer-by successfully disconnected the cellular phone before the anti-terrorist unit reached the scene, averting disaster.

At the beginning of the week, shooting was renewed on Gilo and the Jerusalem-Modi'in Highway; the main alternative transportation artery to highway 1- leading from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem. A boy returning home with his mother, was injured from shots fired at their vehicle at the entrance to the town of Givon. Shooting incidents and Molotov cocktail throwing were also reported in other areas of Samaria and the Gaza Strip.

The continuation of violence posed serious problems for the US peace task force that continues in its efforts to reach a peace agreement between Israel and the Palestinians prior to George W Bush's inauguration as US President. President Bill Clinton announced that he is not interested in a presidential declaration but rather in a framework for an agreement that is based on principles including the transfer of control of Temple Mount to the Palestinians and an agreed compromise between the sides on the right of return.

Yesterday, head of US peace team - Dennis Ross - postponed his visit to the area in order to allow the talks between Israeli and Palestinian officers and security corps under the leadership of the head of the CIA, George Tenet, on significant reduction of violence, to continue.

At the same time, Fatah senior leadership in the Palestinian Authority continue to threaten that the Intifada will not end, in spite of an agreement.

These efforts raise controversy in Israel in view of the upcoming elections and Sharon's significant lead in the polls over Barak.

The Palestinian Legislative Council of which most members belong to the Fatah movement, headed by Arafat, met on December 24th and adopted the following hard-line political positions:

1. Praise for acts of violence against Israel: "The Legislative Council welcomes the courageous Intifada of the Palestinian Nation, the hallowed El-Aksa Intifada. It calls upon the masses of the Palestinian nation to continue the struggle by means of the great Intifada, for wave after wave until the Israeli occupation is banished and National independence is realized."

2. Devotion to returning refugees to within the boundaries of the State of Israel: "The legislative Council emphasizes the strong devotion of the Palestinian Nation to its legitimate national rights, resting on legitimate international resolutions 242, 338 and 194, principally the sacred right of return, the right of the Palestinians to self determination and the right to found an independent state with Jerusalem as its capital."

3. Palestinian territorial demands in West Jerusalem: "East Jerusalem in its entirety with all its holy places, neighborhoods, villages and surrounding towns comprise one integral unit that is inseparable from the Palestinian lands that were occupied in 1967. It is the capital of the Palestinian State; there is no alternative to it. This does not prejudice Palestinian rights in West Jerusalem.

Hungarian Government Minister to Jewish Agency Treasurer, Chaim Chesler: "The Hungarian Government Recognises its Moral Responsibility to Restore Jewish Communal Property"

Jewish Agency Treasurer, Chaim Chesler, paid a working visit to Hungary this week to learn more about the Jewish community and its needs, with a special focus on the progress that is being made in the restitution of Hungarian Jewish property that was confiscated during the Holocaust and the Communist period.

The Hungarian Jewish community numbers some 100,000 people and is the third largest in Europe excluding the countries of the former Soviet Union. More than 90 percent of the Jewish population lives in Budapest where there are some 700 pupils in the 14-grade Jewish day school, which was established by the Lauder Foundation.

Chesler discussed the situation of property restitution with the Hungarian Transport Minister, Dr. Janos Fonagy, the only member of the government who identifies himself as a Jew, and who is close to the prime-minister, Viktor Orban. The meeting was also attended by Dr. Gyorgy Timar, a Jewish member of the Hungarian parliament and president of the Hungarian government committee that is overseeing the restitution of former Jewish community property. A public foundation to deal with restitution was established in 1997 but its mandate expired last year. It is now being renewed and is expected to start working again within a few weeks.

"Both the minister and I concluded the meeting with a sense of optimism that there will now be significant progress in talks between the Hungarian government and the World Jewish Restitution Organisation on the issue of property restitution," reported Chesler. "The minister clearly stated that the Hungarian government fully accepts that it has a moral responsibility to ensure that confiscated property is restored to its rightful owners."

Chesler also met with leaders of the Hungarian Jewish community and of the Zionist federation, including Peter Torday, the president of the Organisation of the United Jewish Communities of Hungary; Gusztav Zoltai, the organisation's executive director; Dr. Anna Sessler, the director of the school; and Gyorgy Sessler, the president of the community's restitution committee.

The Jewish Agency maintains an office in Hungary that includes a director, Gilad Eliezer, and shlichim who work in the fields of aliya and education. Last year some 130 Hungarian Jews immigrated to Israel.

Zionism 2001: In recent days the I.D.F. has been releasing hundreds of soldiers and officers from their daily duties to participate at educational gatherings with Jewish students currently visiting Israel within the framework of the "Birthright" project. The goal of the project is to enable Jewish students from the Diaspora to experience an educational first acquaintance with Israel.

This month 10,000 students from 21 countries participate in Birthright. Their meetings with Israeli soldiers are conducted under the aegis of the Charles Bronfman Center for Meetings, directed by Navah Peretz, and the Headquarters of the Army's Chief Education Officer headed by Brigadier-General Elazar Stern.

More than 350 officers and soldiers participate in the meetings. The majority are released from courses, even from service in the field, for a day. Others join student groups for 2-3 days, escorting them around the country.

Director, Navah Peretz reported that the meetings are designed to expose Israeli youngsters to Diaspora Jews and vice-versa, thereby the creation of significant experiential dialogue for all the participants.

The project includes combat soldiers, trainee officers, naval officers, trainee pilots, students in military boarding school, female officers and education N.C.O.'s, female soldier-teachers, female "Gadna" (pre-military training) instructors, air force personnel, etc.

Some 2,400 Israelis, soldiers and civilians, meet with Birthright students this winter. Meetings are held outdoors, on tours, joint artistic workshops and more. Some Israelis join the Diaspora students for their entire 10-day visit in Israel.

120 Jews from the USA, visiting Israel for one week in the framework of solidarity visits by the United Jewish Communities, today volunteered their assistance today at the I.D.F. base of Tsrifin. They will be helping pack combat rations for I.D.F. soldiers. Their visit to the base is being organized by the Jewish Agency together with the "Sar'el" program.

The group arrived in Israel in the framework of visits by 900 Jewish community leaders and representatives from all over the USA. The purpose of their visit is to demonstrate identification with the State of Israel and to enable them to find out at close range about the area's problems, so they can pass on their findings to their own communities.

Since the outbreak of unrest in the area, thousands of representatives from Jewish communities all over the world have been arriving in Israel in order to demonstrate their identification with the State of Israel. During the visit, which is being organized in co-operation with the Jewish Agency, the community representatives are meeting with senior officers of the I.D.F., government ministers, Knesset members and people that live in the areas of conflict.

40 Youngsters From Argentina Arrived In Israel Today To Form A Second Group In The Na'aleh Program (Youth Immigrating Prior To Their parents), Which Enables Jewish Teenagers To Complete Their Matriculation Studies in Israel.

A reception ceremony was held at Kibbutz Be'erot Yitzhak soon after the group landed, with the participation of Amos Hermon, chairman of the Jewish Agency's Education Committee, Mike Rosenberg, Director General of the Agency's Aliya Department and Shlomit Amichai, Director General of Israel's Ministry of Education.

In the last decade around 8,000 youngsters from the FSU came to Israel in the framework of the program. The program is a joint project of the Jewish Agency and the Ministry of Education. The Agency expanded its work in encouraging aliya and deepening Jewish education amongst Argentinean Jewry, due to the difficulties that the Jewish community there has been facing and the attacks that its institutions have undergone.

One means of doing this is the Na'aleh program. The first group of Argentinean youth in the Zohar program (named after the late Zevulun Hammer) came to Israel about a year ago.

Kito Hason, head of the Jewish Agency's delegation to Latin America, reports that in addition to programs for youngsters, the Agency runs a special program to assist local authorities in Israel in absorbing groups ("garinim") of Argentinean immigrants. The program offers people from the community assistance with obtaining accommodation and employment. During the past year hundreds of immigrants have been thus absorbed in Kyriat Bialik, Kyriat Gat, Nazareth Illit and Arad. The Jewish Agency also organized employment fairs in Argentina, in the framework of which leading Israeli hi-tech companies offered employment to members of the community.

Initial data from the Jewish Agency shows that the special effort to encourage aliya from Argentina led to the arrival in Israel last year of 1132 olim, compared to 937 the previous year (1999). In 1998, 804 people immigrated to Israel from Argentina.

The Jewish community in Argentina is the largest in Latin America, numbering around 200,000 Jews. The majority live in Buenos Aires, the capital city. The community's institutions have been undergoing social and financial crisis for some time.

By the end of the program, over 90% of program graduates have gained a matriculation certificate. Many graduates continue in higher education or are drafted into the I.D.F. 95% of Na'aleh graduates decide to remain in Israel at the end of their studies. Around 50% of parents come on Aliya whilst their children are still participating in the program

A delegation of 53 rabbis from Great Britain, headed by Chief Rabbi Jonathan Sacks, arrived in Israel this week in a demonstration of solidarity with Israel. Eliezer Sheffer and Yitzchak Dahan of the World Zionist Organization's Center for Religious Affairs in the Diaspora, organized the visit. They noted that the visit was organized to provide the rabbis with a chance to witness the situation in Israel first-hand and convey their impressions to their congregations.

The mission met with Israel's Chief RabbisYisrael Meir Lau and Eliyahu Bakshi-Doron ; Chairman of the Jewish Agency, Sallai Meridor; Jerusalem Mayor Ehud Olmert; and Minister for World Jewish Community,Rabbi Michael Melchior; MKs Shaul Yahalom, Zevulun Orlev and Rabbi Chaim Drukman of the National Religious party, Natan Sharansky (Yisrael B'Aliyah), Eli Yishai (Shas) and Meir Porush (Torah Judaism). They also met with IDF officers and Foreign Ministry officials, who briefed them on the security and diplomatic situation.

The rabbis had a particularly emotional experience when they met with parents of Israeli MIAs Adi Avitan, Benny Avraham and Omar Sowayed, who were abducted into Lebanon while on patrol on the Israeli side of the UN-certified international border.

Highlights of the visits included meetings with Professor Daniel Sperber of Bar Ilan University who discussed "Ideology and Politics in the State of Israel"; "Colonel Yigal Carmon, Director of the Institute for Media Analysis in the Middle East," who discussed "Perspectives on the Peace Process."

Eighteen year-old Yonas Adana Solomon, who is suffering from severe, life-threatening anemia and non-contagious TB was rushed by ambulance to Asaf Harofeh Hospital in the Tel Aviv area, minutes after landing in Israel's Ben Gurion Airport from Ethiopia on Thursday morning. Solomon was accompanied on the El Al flight, which also carried 94 other immigrants, by Dr. Richard Hodes, a JDC physician on staff at the Blue Nile Higher Clinic in Addis Ababa who diagnosed the young man's illness.

Earlier this week, Hodes approached the Jewish Agency's representative in Addis, Zalman Perlmutter, about the need for urgent medical attention in order to save the young man's live. Ze'ev Schwartzberg, Director of the Ethiopian Section at the Jewish Agency's Aliyah Department, expedited the immigration procedure to enable Solomon to come on the next available flight, and contacted Boris Hellman, director of the Ministry of Absorption at Ben Gurion Airport, who made the necessary arrangements to transport him to the hospital.

Solomon is a bachelor. His paternal grandmother lives in Ramle.

At Mizpe Ramon, Prime Minister Ehud Barak, Yitzhak Elyashiv, Director of Keren Kayemet Leyisrael and Dror Dabash, head of Mizpe Ramon Local Council, participated in the cornerstone laying ceremony for the aircraft landing strip.

The infrastructure for the 1,300 meter long landing strip was built by Jewish National Fund (JNF) who invested NIS 8.3 million and the Public Works Department invested NIS 4.7 million.

The landing strip was constructed within the framework of the "Ofek" program for the economic development of eleven disadvantaged settlements in Israel. The program was initiated by the government in conjunction with the JNF. Yitzhak Elyashiv, JNF director emphasizes that "the JNF will develop 'transformation projects' in the settlements to include river reclamation, construction of urban parks, environmental development, promenades etc., with the intention of upgrading the settlements in a way that will improve their economy and image". In addition to the landing strip, the JNF will develop an events site at Mitzpe Ramon.

The landing strip that will cater to larger aircraft carrying up to 100 passengers, is scheduled to commence in 2 to 3 weeks and is expected to continue for 2 years.

The Ministry of Trade and Industry and the Office of the Prime Minister are also participating in the construction of the strip, each providing NIS 8 million.

In the framework of the Jewish Agency's Jewish Heritage Month, young immigrants from all over the world joined together this week at the Calanit Absorption Centre in Ashkelon, to help celebrate the bar mitzvah of an Ethiopian youth from a disadvantaged background.

The Jewish Heritage Project seeks to expose new immigrants to Jewish tradition, from birth and circumcision, bar mitzvah and marriage to customs of mourning.

In the framework of learning about bar mitzvah, Jewish agency staff and immigrants residing at the Calanit Center joined forces in order to celebrate a disadvantaged Ethiopian youth's bar mitzvah. Ashkelon City Welfare department referred them to Ashkelon resident, 13 year old Yosef Tsagai, who is orphaned from his father.

The bar mitzvah was celebrated at the Agency's Calanit Absorption Center at the beginning of the week. Yosef's mother, sister and other family members were guests along with the centers 280 resident immigrants.

Immigrants from all over the world reside at Calanit Center, including students from Argentina, Guatemala, Brazil, France, Russia, India, Hungary, Ethiopia, Italy, The Czech Republic, Slovakia, Ukraine and the USA.

• $ 13,000 - Jewish Agency's allocation for the year 2000 to the AKIM (the society for the advancement of disabled children) Theater, within the framework of projects that foster Unity, Tolerance and Mutual Respect.

• $ 19,000 - Jewish Agency allocation for the year 2000 to the Dimona Institute for Jewish Culture Hand-in-Hand project, within the framework of "Enhancing Jewish Identity".

• $ 13,000 - Jewish Agency allocation for the year 2000 to the "Or Layeled" (Light for the Child) project-intervention according to Prof. Feurstein's method, within the framework of support of "Special Needs Populations".

• 53 Rabbis from Great Britain headed by Rabbi Dr. Jonathan Sacks, visited Israel this week on a solidarity mission organized by the Center for Religious Affairs in the Diaspora, of the World Zionist Organization.

• 1035 new immigrants arrived in Israel this week, 790 of them from the FSU and the others from France, Argentina, Uruguay, Brazil, Colombia, Venezuela, Mexico, England, South Africa, Australia, US, Canada and Ethiopia.

Despite the intensely cold weather that has recently affected Siberia in Eastern Russia and the disruption it caused to daily life, the Jewish Agency is continuing its regular activities. Amos Lahat, Director of the FSU department at the Jewish Agency notes that around 100 Israeli aliya emissaries serve in the frozen region, doing their best to maintain their work in the field of aliya and Jewish education. They continue despite the fact that in many places in Siberia the temperatures have been as low as minus 60 degrees Celsius, paralyzing public transportation services. Schools have been closed and people try to stay indoors as much as possible.

Anatoly Shine, the Agency's emissary in Irkutsk, where the temperature has not risen above minus 40° Celsius for several days, reports that just this week 50 local Jewish teenagers aged between 13-16, returned from a Jewish agency winter camp at a town not far from the city. "Several parents refused their children permission to go because they feared that the situation might worsen, preventing their return" said Shine, "However, despite that we ran the camp successfully and the children spent five days learning about Israel, Jewish tradition and Modern Hebrew. Of course we didn't run any activities outside because of the cold but all the rooms where the children were we equipped with heaters."

Project "Amitim" (Colleagues) is currently being run in Irkutsk jointly by the Jewish Agency and the Jewish Federation of Atlanta, USA. In the project framework, two women in their twenties, Yael Barkan and Limor Shoshtari arrived from Israel to work with two women from the USA, Heather Myers from Chicago and Julia Slavkin from Florida. Together the four women are working as counselors with members of the local Jewish community and participating in a wide range of the Jewish Agency's education activities. This week Yael Barkan told us that dealing with the cold is very tough, particularly for the Israeli women. However they have equipped themselves with warm clothing and all the activities are held indoors.

Irkutsk is in Eastern Siberia. The Jewish Agency estimates that about 7,000 Jews live in the city. The Agency runs a Modern Hebrew Ulpan, youth and student clubs and a range of courses to prepare for aliya. The Jewish Agency's offices remain open despite the cold weather.

In a recent interview with local radio, the leader of the Jewish community of Frankfurt said that the fact that 15% of the population of Germany are anti Semitic poses a far greater threat to Jews than the small number of violent extreme right-wingers.

"9000 violent skinheads are not the real problem. The problem is that 15% of the population - around 12 million Germans, hold anti Semitic or racist beliefs. It would be a mistake to concentrate on right-wing extremists." Said Korn, adding that "The problem is that they feel that their environment encourages them."

Benny Bloch, Chairman of the German Jewish Communities welfare organization was unable to confirm this and said that he was not familiar with such statistics. However, Bloch did not deny the existence of many extreme factions amongst the population, factions that stand for anti Semitic ideas.

Anat Carmel-Kagan, the Jewish Agency's representative in Germany reports that the German authorities treat the anti Semitic movement in the country with great seriousness. "The authorities attend to the stationing of heavy security around all the Jewish and Israeli institutions in Germany and condemns any expression of anti Semitism" says Carmel-Kagan. "Jewish educational institutions are active in many places in Germany from kindergarten level to high school. These institutions enjoy the encouragement and support of the government and the media broadcast programs emphasizing the holocaust of European Jewry during the Second World War."

Despite the aforesaid, German Jews are asking the government to invest more resources and effort in education for pluralism and tolerance of minorities. Korn believes that younger-generation German Jews are more determined than their parents to remain in their country. Today's generation are saying that they won't give in, they won't leave Germany, something that was considered in the past. Korn says that the concept of the new generations is full of fighting spirit.

With the disintegration of the former USSR, many Jewish immigrants streamed into Germany from Russian Federation countries. Today they number about 100,000. The Jewish Agency recently started developing a number of programs to encourage aliya from Germany to Israel, directed principally at youngsters interested in gaining a high school and university education in Israel.

Among the programs are "Na'aleh" (Youth immigrating prior to their parents) and "Aleh" (Immigrants studying engineering), that enable high school and technological studies at Israeli colleges. The Aliya Department of the Jewish Agency is also preparing special information campaigns to communities of Russian speaking Jews, focussed on the possibilities for absorption in Israel.

Over the past decade, the Jewish Agency has been providing answers for the spiritual hunger of Jews of the former Soviet Union for identity, knowledge and a sense of belonging. In addition, to facilitating the immigration to Israel of over 883,000 people since 1989, it has developed a wide range of informal Jewish and Zionist educational opportunities for children and youth in the FSU, including summer and winter camps, after-school activities and clubs. In the past year, more than 18,000 youth and students attended these camps, while our ongoing activities in 180 clubs reach out to more than 20,000 young Jews.

Most recently it introduced a Jewish identity program which helps prepare prospective immigrants for their new life in Israel by exposing them to Jewish and Israeli history, culture and traditions through lectures and a weekend experiential seminar.

World Jewry, via the Jewish Agency for Israel (JAFI), is continuing and intensifying its traditional support for Jerusalem - the capital of the Jewish world. JAFI investment in programs in Jerusalem totaled $15 million in the year 2000. Of those, nearly $7 million went for Immigrant Absorption - ulpanim, absorption centers, and support for immigrant students.

The UJA-Federation of New York contributed over $2 million via "Partnership 2000", focusing on "people-to-people" connections and partnerships, and issues of shared concern - including poverty, immigrant resettlement and pluralism. Some $2 million went to Special Allocations for the Religious Streams and various social programs.

On top of this involvement, JAFI is investing some $7 million on multiyear capital projects such as the Ammunition Hill Memorial Complex, the Melitz Center, the Rabin Memorial Center, day care centers in immigrant neighborhoods, and the East Talpiot Community Center.

Some 3,500 New Yorkers took part in people-to-people encounters with 1,500 Jerusalemites via Partnership 2000's Beit New York - Jerusalem during 2000. Activities included Solidarity Delegations featuring sites such as the Gilo neighborhood, a yearlong Big Brother/Sister volunteer program with children attending a special needs kindergarten, volunteering at Yad Sarah, and neighborhood beautification in Neve Yaakov with Ethiopian immigrants who live there.

The World Hebrew Covenant for the advancement of Hebrew culture in the Diaspora, is currently celebrating its 70th anniversary. The "Covenant" was founded in 1931 by a group of Jewish intellectuals who met in Berlin in order to create a program for the promotion of the Hebrew language and the expansion of the use of the revitalized language in Jewish pockets the world over . The movement was led by the Poet Haim Nahman Bialik and Dr. S. Rabidowitz, together with activists for the adoption of the Hebrew language.

The World Hebrew Covenant continues to work for the advancement of Hebrew culture in the Diaspora, to this day. The principle tool for the promotion of the activities is the Hebrew Club which draws around it those that aspire to the preservation of the language. The club incorporates newspaper reading, lectures and parlor games, Hebrew sing-along, Jewish and Israeli dancing and social meetings.

The World Hebrew Covenant operates many Hebrew clubs attended by many Jewish members in cities such as London, Paris, Brussels, Prague, Budapest, Milan, Sydney and South Africa. Every year the Covenant assists new Hebrew teachers, organizes conferences for teachers and activists and sends teaching accessories such as grammar textbooks, conversation pamphlets, educational books about Israel and Jewish culture, newspapers, audio cassettes and video cassettes containing educational programs from Israeli television and educational television channels.

Hungarian Government Minister to Jewish Agency Treasurer, Chaim Chesler: "The Hungarian Government Recognizes its Moral Responsibility to Restore Jewish Communal Property"

Jewish Agency Treasurer, Chaim Chesler, paid a working visit to Hungary this week to learn more about the community and its needs, with a special focus on the progress that is being made in the restitution of Hungarian Jewish property that was confiscated during the Holocaust and the Communist period.

The Hungarian Jewish community numbers some 100,000 people and is the third largest in Europe excluding the countries of the former Soviet Union. More than 90 percent of the Jewish population lives in Budapest where there are some 700 pupils in the 14-grade Jewish day school, which was established by the Lauder Foundation.

Chesler discussed the situation of property restitution with the Hungarian Transport Minister, Dr. Janos Fonagy, the only member of the government who identifies himself as a Jew, and who is close to the prime minister, Viktor Orban. The meeting was also attended by Dr. Gyorgy Tomar, a Jewish member of the Hungarian parliament and president of the Hungarian government committee that is overseeing the restitution of former Jewish community property. A public foundation to deal with restitution was established in 1997 but its mandate expired last year. It is now being renewed and is expected to start working again within a few weeks.

"Both the minister and I concluded the meeting with a sense of optimism that there will now be significant progress in talks between the Hungarian government and the World Jewish Restitution Organization on the issue of property restitution," reported Chesler. "The minister clearly stated that the Hungarian government fully accepts that it has a moral responsibility to ensure that confiscated property is restored to its rightful owners."

Chesler also met with leaders of the Hungarian Jewish community and of the Zionist federation, including Peter Torday, the president of the Organization of the United Jewish Communities of Hungary; Gusztav Zoltai, the organization's executive director; Dr. Anna Sessler, the director of the school; and Gyorgy Sessler, the president of the community's restitution committee.

The Jewish Agency maintains an office in Hungary that includes a director, Eliezer Gilad, and shlichim who work in the fields of aliya and education. Last year some 130 Hungarian Jews immigrated to Israel.

The committee appointed by IDF Chief of Staff to investigate the circumstances of the kidnapping of the three Israeli soldiers by the Hizbollah described the instance a "Severe operation failure of the command". Soldiers Adi Avitan, Omer Sowayed and Benny Avraham were kidnapped last October at Har Dov on the border with Lebanon. The severity is expressed in the fact that the IDF had previous intelligence information that a kidnapping was planned in the area, but "there was no military response in the field." The committee report also states that following the kidnapping, the military was expected to retaliate swiftly and more decisively. Committee Chairman Major General (Res) Yossi Peled said: "the operational reality forced upon the northern command was an almost impossible situation." Hizbollah is situated on the fence and dares the IDF: they touch the fence, they examine the direction of IDF's arrival, and the direction of the response." Chief of Staff, Shaul Mofaz said that based on the information reported by the committee, he will draw personal conclusions and will take measures against officers in the northern command.

IDF's women's corps will be dismantled this year and replaced by a consulting team to the Chief of Staff on issues regarding women in the army. This is the program revealed by the Chief Commander of the Women's Corps, Brigadier General Suzie Yogev; a program awaiting the approval of Chief of Staff of the IDF forces. The officer commanding the Women's Corps will become the counselor, head an independent body in the Central Command, that will decide policy for the advancement of women in the army and their incorporation in various units. She will also consult on issues regarding sexual harassment in the IDF.

IDF soldiers serving in the Gaza strip claim that their communications on the military band are picked up in Palestinian homes. In certain cases, when they went out on ambush in the Gaza Strip, they realized that their messages over the band "echoed" on the TV screens and radios of nearby Palestinian homes. The IDF is planning to supply coded communication wireless' in the territories.

The airplane maintenance and restoration unit of the Israeli Air Force, is the first military unit in the world to earn an international badge for ecological quality standards ISO 14001. The unit cleaned dozens of ecological hazards in the area causing pollution of the land, and the emission of hazardous chemicals.

Two new cities in Israel: Netivot and Qalansua. Minister of Interior, Haim Ramon signed orders this week, changing the status of these two local authorities. The committees for the examination of these settlements, recommended that they receive city status some time ago - two years ago regarding Qalansua and half a year ago regarding Netivot. The Director of Netivot, Moshe Maimon said: "it is not fair to link Ramon's decision with the upcoming elections."

Shas began to establish a net of clinics for men and women separately. The agreement for this net of clinics was signed by the Leumit HMO and the first clinic is to open in Beit Shean and Bnei Brak. At the clinics, women will be examined by women doctors and men by male doctors. In the waiting room, patients will be able to read religious literature.

Dozens of new immigrant families from Ethiopia wrote complaint letters to the Ministry of Absorption and the spokesperson for the "Amigour" tenant project because 38 new immigrant families living in Ofakim, in the Negev, got sick with asthma and other respiratory diseases as a result of inadequate living conditions. The apartments were built in the 90's with pre-fabricated exterior walls and dry-wall interior partitions. As a result of the expedited construction, flooring was not laid down and the floors were covered with cheap carpeting that collected dust over time, causing a health hazard. The Ministry of Health announced that the ailing families will be advised of solutions to their problems in the next few days.

The courts in Be'er Sheva called this "One of the most horrifying murders since the foundation of the State." A 17 year old boy, resident of Be'er Sheva, murdered his relative and explained: "G-d reveale

pilot is unconscious. The transaction is worth $52 million. In a precedent setting decision this week, the Magistrate's Court in Haifa permitted the widow of a man deceased the previous day, to extract semen from the dead man's body as long as it was possible to do the procedure from a medical point of view. The judge instructed to freeze the semen until the courts decided whether to allow the woman to use the frozen semen. The hospital already extracted the semen and froze it.

"Russian Stars on Holy Land" is the title of an exhibition of unique pictures that record visits to the Land of Israel by some of Russia's greatest artists. An initiative of the Jewish Agency, the exhibition is scheduled to open in Moscow next week. It will include rare photographs of outstanding Russian artists, many of them Jews that have been to Israel recently and visited various sites around the country.

The exhibition is organized by Dinah Rubin, the Jewish Agency's emissary to the Moscow Jewish community. She reports that many well-known Russian artists, philosophers and intellectuals have visited Israel since the gates were opened; "Many of them came in order to appear before audiences comprised of immigrants from the former Soviet Union and some have come purely for purposes of tourism. However, they have all returned to Russia entranced, saturated with experiences of "The Holy Land" that had been made inaccessible to them for so many decades due to the Soviet authorities." Now the pictures illustrating the "tours of the stars" at various Israeli sites will be on show to the Jews of Moscow, amongst them many potential immigrants.

The "Tours Of The Stars" In Israel Were Directed And Recorded For Posterity By Igor Markov, A Well-Known Russian Producer. He Immigrated To Israel From Russia At The Beginning Of The Nineties And Studied A New Profession, That Of Accompanying Tourists.

Amongst the artists featured in the exhibition are Comedian Yuri Nikolin and singers Philip Kikorov, Michael Boyarski, Boris Garbanshikov and Alexander Rozbaum.

Karol Ungar, head of the Jewish Agency's delegation to Russia, expressed the hope that the exhibition would bring Moscow Jews closer to Israel whilst advancing the Agency's efforts in Russia to encourage aliya. "The exhibition presents Israel via the new, different and special angle of accompanying stars on their visits, thereby allowing Jews an additional way of getting to know the Land and drawing closer to it".

"Pages Left On the Table…", is the title of a special new anthology in memory of the late General (Res.) Uzi Narkiss, who served in the six day war as head of Central Command and led the campaign that liberated Jerusalem. This week a copy was presented to President Moshe Katsav. The anthology was published by the Zionist Library and the Uzi Narkiss Memorial Association. Publication was assisted by the Jewish Agency, The World Zionist Organisation, Keren Kayemet Leyisrael and Keren Hayesod. The anthology was edited by Haim Nirel and Amos Yovel.

Narkiss enlisted in the Palmach in 1941 and began his service in the I.D.F. with the founding of the new State. In June 1967, As head of Central Command, he commanded the campaign that liberated Jerusalem. Following his career in the army, Narkiss commenced a career in Zionism that lasted for 28 years. Among the positions that he filled, were Director General of the Aliyah Department and member of the Executive of the Jewish Agency. As head of the Information Dept. of the World Zionist Organization, Narkiss led the struggle for the rescinding of the United Nations resolution that equated Zionism with racism.
Narkiss died in Jerusalem in December 1997.

The anthology contains the initial chapters of a book that Narkiss began to write prior to his death, describing his state of mind at the end of his military career and his enlistment in the Jewish Agency as a "Soldier of the Jewish People"

The book covers the campaign to liberate Jerusalem during the Six-Day War. Research papers on the subject of the defense forces are presented, including part of new research on the 1948 operation by the Palmach to break through to the Jewish Quarter of the Old City of Jerusalem, revealing new information about the failure of the Jerusalem campaign.

The book contains literary contributions from Meir Pa'il, General Moshe (Boogy) Ya'alon, Ehud Olmert, Moshe Shamir, Yehuda Amihai, Ezer Weizman, General Uzi Dayan and General (Res.) Zvi Zamir.

The Mayor of Jerusalem Ehud Olmert, Zionist Executive Member and Chairman of the Zionist Library Eli Eyal and Chairman of the Aliyah Committee of the Jewish Agency Arieh Azoulay, participated in the ceremony when the book was presented to President Moshe Katsav. At the ceremony, the Uzi Narkiss Scholarship Fund awarded researches with prizes for the encouragement of research on the defense forces.

Ingredients

1/2 kg minced meat
1 large onion
1/4 bunch of parsley
1/4 bunch of coriander
11/2 kgs potatoes
2 eggs
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tbsp soup powder
A little cooking oil
A little salt
1 level tsp paprika
A little ground black pepper
3 slices of bread (crusts removed) soaked in water and drained
2 carrots
2 celery stalks
1/2 medium size cauliflower
Tomato Puree

Preparation:

• Peel and quarter part of the potatoes - 1 potato makes 4 patties

• Coarsely chop the carrots, celery, cauliflower, onion, potato edges and place at the bottom of the cooking pot.

• Patties: mix meat, parsley, coriander and finely chopped onion, add the soaked drained bread, eggs and season with cinnamon, black pepper paprika and soup powder.

• Wrap potato quarters with the seasoned meat and sprinkle flour.

• Prepare batter of 1 egg, tomato puree and water, dip patties in the batter and deep fry them.

• Place fried patties on the vegetables in the pot, add tomato puree, cinnamon, salt, soup powder, paprika, oil and water (to barely cover the patties) and cook for 1 hour.