May 17, 2007 / 29 Iyar 5767

Following Kassam missile fire on Sderot and communities of the Gaza perimeter, the Jewish Agency is providing  immediate initial assistance, featuring the evacuation of thousands of children and adolescents for educational activities. All activity in the region will be conducted in coordination with the local municipalities and the Ministry of Education.

The response began on Wednesday, when the Jewish Agency allocated a hundred thousand shekels from the Terror Victims Fund to provide immediate assistance to the Kassam victims. By Thursday afternoon, the Jewish Agency was already providing emergency kits to scores of shelters in Sderot and Gaza perimeter communities which included essential equipment for staying in the shelters such as cleaning materials, electrical appliances, emergency lighting and a first aid kit.

At a ball game , residents of Sderot and the Gaza perimeter enjoy a  brief
respite from Kassam fire.  The trip was sponsored by the Jewish Agency.

On Friday the Jewish Agency will take 150 youths out to a “tranquil weekend” in Jerusalem.  Bus transportation will be provided and the children will have sleeping accommodations at the ‘Rabin’ and ‘Bayit Vegan’ youth hostels.  In the course of the weekend they will tour the city and will participate in the varied educational activities guided by counselors from the Jewish Agency’s “Israel Experience”.

In the coming weeks, the Jewish Agency will sponsor educational activities for thousands of children from Sderot and the Gaza perimeter.  The activities will provide enrichment programs within an educational framework.  They  will take place throughout the country, out of Kassam range.

Additionally, Jewish Agency envoys throughout the world have been instructed to push the security situation in Sderot and the Gaza perimeter to the forefront of the global media agenda and coordinate with the Jewish communities and students on campus in responding to this emergency.