September 18, 2007 / 6 Tishrei 5768

Chairman of the Jewish Agency for Israel, Zeev Bielski, IDB Chairman Nochi Dankner, and IDB Fund Director General Rami Mardor, jointly announced at an inauguration ceremony of a center for excellence in the Galilee Bedouin village of Wadi Salameh, a two million NIS contribution over a three-year period to ORT Israel for the renovation and building of six science and technology centers.  The centers will encourage excellence in the Galilee confrontation line.

Nochi Dankner, chairman of IDB, noted that the partnership between the Foundation and the Jewish Agency crystallized after the Second Lebanon War. It was intended to ensure and promote advanced educational opportunities for communities on the northern border and the Gaza perimeter.

The contribution will be used for educational enrichment in the communities of Shlomi, Maalot, Acre, Carmiel, Tiberias, and Wadi Salameh, where a number of educational centers were closed in recent years due to budgetary problems.  Thanks to the Jewish Agency and the IDB Foundation initiative, they will be reopened.

These enrichment centers are intended to reduce educational gaps among underprivileged children. At the centers, they will receive technological and scientific tools that will allow them to function better in their communities and at home.

Zeev Bielski, chairman of the Jewish Agency, stated that the Jewish Agency committed itself to assist the northern communities immediately following the Second Lebanon War. The philanthropic cooperation between various bodies will lead to enhanced scientific and technological education in the northern cities and will nurture excellence in future generations. This in turn will favorably impact on the economic and social future of Israeli society.

The director general of ORT Israel noted that the assistance provided by the Jewish Agency and the Foundation would assist ORT Israel in fulfilling its mission for providing superior technological and scientific education based on the social values emphasized by the ORT network.

Pictured: Jewish Agency Chairman Zeev Bielski, IDB Chairman Nochi Dankner, the director general of ORT Israel and the principal of the school which is receiving the contribution from the IDB Foundation and the Enrichment Fund financed by the UJC.