April 11 1999
Nissan 25 5759
Jerusalem

A specially chartered Jewish Agency for Israel plane will bring 104 Kosovo refugees from Macedonia to Israel on Monday morning April 12th , the eve of Holocaust Memorial Day. The flight to Skopje will be carrying 8 tons of medical supplies

A welcoming ceremony for the refugees will take place at Ben Gurion Airport in the presence of the Prime Minister of Israel, Benjamin Netanyahu

The Prime Minister of Israel, Benjamin Netanyahu will receive the 104 Kosovo refugees who will arrive in Israel on the specially chartered JAFI Boeing 737 of "Israir" flight ISR100. This special humanitarian aid package for the Kosovo refugees, initiated by the Acting Chairman of the Jewish Agency, Sallai Meridor comprises 8 planes and a total of over 100 tons of equipment, medicine, and food.

The Jewish Agency for Israel (JAFI) will bring on a specially chartered plane,104 Kosovo refugees to Israel, who are at present in a camp outside of Skopje in Macedonia, on Monday April 12th, on the eve of Holocaust Memorial Day. The Boeing 737-700 chartered from "Israir" will depart from Ben Gurion Airport at 5:30 AM, on Monday April 12th.

At 11:00 AM local time in Macedonia, the plane will depart from Skopje with the refugees, and is expected to land at Ben Gurion Airport at 2:30 PM. Upon arrival a special welcoming ceremony will be held at the Immigration Hall with the participation of the Prime Minister of Israel, Benjamin Netanyahu, and Co-Chairman of the Immigration Committee of the Jewish Agency, Chaim Chesler.

Accompanying the flight will be Minister of Transport, Shaul Yahalom; Minister without portfolio, Shaul Amor; Director General of the Jewish Agency for Israel, Dr. Shimshon Shoshani; Director General of the Jerusalem Municipality, Ra'anan Dinur.

After the ceremony at Ben Gurion Airport The refugees will be taken to the Ma'agan Michael Field School of the Society for the Protection of Nature in Israel (SPNI). At this stage the refugees' status in Israel will be that of tourists, and they will be taken care of jointly by the Jewish Agency for Israel and the Ministries of Interior, Absorption, Health, Education, and Social Welfare.

The 104 refugees who will arrive on Monday comprise 17 families who were located by the UNHCR (the United Nations High Commission for Refugees) together with the emissaries of JAFI and the Israeli Foreign Ministry.

The flight to Macedonia will be carrying 8 tons of medical supplies for the Kosovo refugees in Macedonia, donated by the Jerusalem Municipality, and the Hadassah, Bikur Holim, and Sha'arei Tzedek Hospitals in Jerusalem.

Similarly, 2 additional cargo planes with supplies from the Jewish Agency will depart on Monday morning April 12th for Tirana, Albania with a total of 28 tons of humanitarian aid. On Tuesday morning, April 13th the Jewish Agency's 7th relief flight will leave for Albania. By Tuesday, April 13th the Jewish Agency will have sent 8 planes and a total of over 100 tons of equipment, medicine, and food for the Kosovo refugees.

For further information contact:

Michael Jankelowitz
Liaison to Foreign Press and Media, JAFI
Tel: 972-2-6202780
Fax: 972-2-6202708
Mobile: 972-51-601706