NAOMI LEVIN

WITH the soaring Australian dollar, prices for Australasian Union of Jewish Students (AUJS) end-of-year Israel trips have been slashed.

The Australian dollar is currently sitting at 91 US cents, far stronger than this time last year, so programs are up to $1000 cheaper than in 2008.

In addition, AUJS is running a cash give-away competition to fill the remaining spots on the short-term Academy and Achshav programs.

Applicants for the final 40 places will go into the competition draw and both the winning applicant and the person who referred them to the program will receive $1500 cash.

Numbers are slightly down for short-term Israel programs this year, partly because of the financial situation, partly because of increased competition in student Israel programs, and partly because of the uncertain security situation, according to incoming AUJS national chairperson Liam Getreu.

“It seems people are being a bit more cautious, probably because of the global financial crisis,” he said.

For more information www.aujs.com.au