October 28, 2001
11 Heshvan, 5762
Jerusalem

In the Government-Jewish Agency Coordinating Committee:
Prime Minister Sharon Requests Enhanced Absorption Benefits for All Western Immigrants.
2002 Government Budget Funding for National Ethiopian Absorption Program Approved.

The last meeting of the Jewish Agency-Israel Coordinating Committee, presided over by Prime Minister Ariel Sharon and Jewish Agency Chairman Sallai Meridor, and attended by top leaders of World Jewry, dealt with a Jewish Agency initiative to award enhanced absorption benefits ("the absorption basket") to immigrants from France, Argentina and South Africa. In the course of the meeting, Prime Minister Ariel Sharon requested that such enhanced benefits be extended to all immigrants from Western countries. The "absorption basket" is financial assistance which the Government offers new immigrants from specifically designated countries, to enable them to subsist during their first year in Israel.

The Prime Minister also directed the Government to allocate $15 million in the 2002 budget for the National Ethiopian Absorption Program. This $660 million program, jointly sponsored by the Jewish Agency, the United Jewish Communities of North America, Keren Hayesod and the Joint Distribution Committee, is scheduled to run for nine years. Half of the funding would come from the Government of Israel, and the other half from World Jewry. The program is designed to improve the absorption of Ethiopian immigrants in the fields of education, employment social welfare and housing. The $15 million to be allocated by the Government, constitutes half the sum necessary to operate the program during its first year. The second half will be funded by Diaspora Jewish communities through the intermediary of the Jewish Agency. The funding for the National Ethiopian Absorption Program is above and beyond the ongoing funding for Ethiopian absorption.

For further information:
Contact the Office of the Spokesman:

Michael Jankelowitz
Liaison to Foreign Press and Media JAFI
Tel: 972-2-6202780
Fax: 972-2-6202708
Mobile: 972-51-601706
Yehuda Weinraub
Mobile: 972-55-284805