A mission of youth from Cincinnati arrived in Netanya on Friday July 16 2010, as part of an extensive tour of Israel lasting close to a month.

The mission came to Netanya to stay with six families of students from the Sharet School in Netanya. The hosting was arranged as part of the activities of the Jewish Agency's Partnership 2000 Netanya Cincinnati, which started operations in 2000 and forges reciprocal relationships between Netanya and the Jewish community in Cincinnati, Ohio.

Each year, as part of this partnership, groups of seventh grade Sharet junior high school youth spend a month at the Livingstone summer camp in Cincinnati. These Israeli youth, who hosted the mission from Cincinnati, stayed in Livingstone two years ago.

After visitors from Cincinnati arrived in Netanya the Israeli hosts started to get to know them and took them for a tour of Netanya. They visited the beautiful promenade and went down to the beach. Then they headed to the developing southern part of the city, as far as "the Winter Puddle".

The American youth were very impressed with the city, the beach and the warmth of the local residents. Some of them said that when they were older they would like "to make aliyah" to Netanya. Each family hosted 2-3 youths and in the evening all families with hosts sat down with for an Israeli Kabbalat Shabbat and Friday dinner.

On Shabbat morning the delegation was  hosted by one of the families for an Israeli breakfast, including jakhnun and other delicacies. After breakfast all went to the beach.

In the evening the delegation met up at one of the families for an enjoyable evening of music, dancing, refreshments and games.

On Sunday morning everyone got up early and left at 8 a.m. for one of the summer camps at Naot Shakked youth center in Netanya where they took part in a joint voluntary activity and ran an activity for the summer camp children. It was an important activity which also allowed the visitors to catch a glimpse of another side to the local community.

They ate lunch together in one of the nearby groves and we said farewell to group of American youth.

There were a lot of tears at the farewell. One of the Israeli girls said, "We certainly bonded with each other and we will stay in touch for a long time to come".

The American delegation continued on from Netanya to Jerusalem and the north of Israel, for a powerful experiential tour of the country.

Another quote from one of the Israelis,  "we are delighted to participate in such an important project and, on behalf of the Sharet School and Partnership 2000 family, we wish them luck with the rest of their visit in Israel and we are confident that they will be wonderful emissaries for our country and for our town, Netanya!

Shani, Gal, Ralla, Inbar, Adi, Stav, and Oren - Sharet School