F.Y.I. - Israel in the News
Week Ending: January 17, 1998/19 Tevet 5758

JUBILEE OPENING CEREMONY: Chairman of the 50th Anniversary Association
Yitzchak Moda'i today announced that the opening ceremony for the Jubilee
will be held on Tu B'Shvat (Jewish New Year for trees), Wednesday,
February 11, 1998, at 4:30pm, in Kiryat Gat. The ceremony will also mark
the Knesset's anniversary.  The ceremony will consist of a tree planting
in the city, as part of the "Forests for the Fallen" project. The state
ceremony, opening the Jubilee celebrations of the State of Israel, will be
held with the President of the State, the Prime Minister, the Speaker of
the Knesset and other MKs on Tu B'Shvat. The ceremony is being organized
by the 50th Anniversary Association, in cooperation with the Information
Center, the Kiryat Gat Municipality, Union of Local Councils, the Jewish
National Fund and the Yad Le-Banim Organization. The ceremony will
include the planting of trees in the Kiryat Gat Forest and an artistic
sound and light show, which will reflect the main events of the country's
 past 50 years. In the framework of the "Forests for the Fallen" project,
trees will be planted in forests throughout the country in memory of the
fallen of Israel's wars.  The project will open with a ceremonial
planting at Kiryat Gat and simultaneously in 50 additional towns in the
country. The project will continue throughout the year, during which
approximately 500,000 trees will be planted in dozens of towns and
settlements in the country.  The concept for the "Forests of the Fallen"
project was initiated by the Jubilee Anniversary Events Public Council,
headed by Ms. Ora Herzog. The concept was adopted by the Association and
is being implemented.  The project is headed by Hasharon Local Council
head Ephraim (Pichotka) Hiram. The project will be one of the Jubilee
initiatives that honors the fallen. Participants in the project include:
the 50th Anniversary Association; Ministry of Education, Culture and
Sport; Information Center; Yad Le-Banim Organization and the IDF. (IINS) 


RED HEIFER FAILS TEST: Hopes that a red heifer had finally been born in
Eretz Israel were dashed Friday after the cow's owner said white hairs had
been spotted on her tail. Rabbi Shmaria Shore, a rabbi at Kfar Hassidim,
a religious village in northern Israel, revised his prediction after
noticing the white hairs. Still, the rabbi said the heifer was pregnant
with the seed of a reddish bull. "We'll check in six months and who
knows, maybe we'll have a red heifer then," Shore said. (AP)