Israel Awareness Update
February 19, 2002
By: Yoni Merola, Natick USY Programming VP

For the past few months terrorism and violence have been very prevalent in Israel. Just this morning at around 
10:30 four Israelis were killed as they were driving on the coastal highway. Imagine you driving out for a vacation 
and all your family being killed by a group of terrorists. This horrid and revolting behavior is now occurring daily. 
This week, near my grandparents' village, located in the central part of Israel, a Palestinian terrorism walked into 
the army base nearby and killed 30 soldiers. This sent shock-waves across the town as they realized that the 
18-21 age soldiers had just begun their adult careers. Times are though now in our Promised Land. We can only 
get educated on the latest news and pray for peace.

In other news Finance Minister Silvan Shalom presented US Treasury Secretary Paul O'Neil today with a proposal 
to amend the US-Israel tax treaty preventing double taxation. The shift to personal taxation, first proposed after 
the shekel liberalization of 1998, has brought about constant opposition of immigrant groups and various political 
parties, which fear that changing the regulations will force veteran immigrants to pay tax on their financial assets 
abroad. This has led to fears that potential immigrants will decide not to move to Israel, or even emigrate. The US 
government on the tax treaty, said the agreement - which prevents taxing in Israel holdings that are already 
taxed in the US at source - does not take into account the expansion of the hi-tech sector in Israel and the 
amount of US investment locally. As you can see the US and Israel are working together on multiple levels 
including the economy.

Finally today was the grand opening of the movie Riding in Cars With Boys in Israel. Entitled Ha Bahorim 
B'Hai'yai, the movie was an instant hit across the Jewish nation. Many have not realized the impact of Hollywood 
films in Israel. Ninety percent of movies shown in Israeli theaters have been produced in the United States.

Have a wonderful rest of vacation everyone!

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