DALIA SABLE

FIFTEEN Israeli students from the Arava region have arrived in Australia for a three-week visit as part of the Jewish Agency for Israel’s Partnership 2000 initiative.

The initiative is part of the global “living bridge” project aimed at connecting Israeli communities with Diaspora communities.

The Partnership 2000 initiative was adopted by Australia’s United Israel Appeal (UIA) 13 years ago and connects the local community with that of the Central Arava region in Israel.

UIA’s Arava Australia Partnership national coordinator Ilana Maizels said: “Such partnerships are designed to allow for the development of personal relationships between Diaspora Jews and Israeli people, to be an educational tool in informing Jews about Israeli life, people and places, and to assist in sharing expertise regarding community-building and community development.”

The students, in year 10 at the Arava’s Shittim School, will visit Sydney and Melbourne, hosted by UIA as well as Masada College in Sydney and Bialik College and the Jewish National Fund in Melbourne.

While the students will be billeted by year 10 Bialik College students, they will also have the opportunity to interact with Jewish students from other schools.

Students representing each of Melbourne’s Jewish schools will also be involved in an interactive discussion, titled Being a Jew in the Diaspora, with the visiting Israeli students to be held at Bialik College on Monday, August 17.

Being a reciprocal initiative, Bialik College students will visit the Arava in early January next year as part of the school’s AMIT Program.