The Jewish Agency has launched an initiative which will allocate subsistence grants to members of the Israeli Olympic Team to Athens who have recently immigrated to Israel from the Former Soviet Union and Ethiopia.

The purpose of the grant is to allow new immigrant athletes to fully concentrate on training for the Athens Olympics instead of having to worry about their livelihood. The decision was made in light of the phenomenon of excellent athletes finding difficulty in realizing their full professional potential due to issues concerning their livelihood.

This decision was coordinated with the Director General of the Israel Olympic Committee, Efraim Zinger, whereby the Jewish Agency will grant each new immigrant sportsmen/women who is a member of the Israeli Olympic Squad, a monthly stipend of $1,500 from March until December 2004. At present there are 12 sportspeople who are new immigrants living in Israel who are part of the Israeli Olympic Squad. The Jewish Agency has raised funds to the sum of 760,000 Shekels for this project in cooperation with the United Jewish Communities (UJC), The Federations of North America.

At the ceremony to inaugurate the project which took place on Thursday at the Hadar Yosef Athletics Stadium in Tel Aviv, Jewish Agency Chairman Sallai Meridor said “The new immigrant sportspeople are selected representatives of the Jewish People and the medals which they will win at the Athens Olympic Games will serve as a source of pride and an incentive towards Aliyah (immigration to Israel).”

This entry was posted on Wednesday, April 21st, 2004 and is filed under news.