British physicist Stephen Hawking was photographed on Tuesday for an ad for Access Israel aimed at increasing public awareness of the problem of accessibility.

The photos were taken at the Givatayim home of British Ambassador Tom Phillips with only 30 minutes set aside for the shooting. Roni Schneider, the creative vice president and a partner at Geller Nesis, the ad agency that has been doing pro bono work for Access Israel for several years now, said it was a tight schedule.

"We sent the text, which is based on Hawking's physics theories, ahead of time, but they told us he might want to make some changes."

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This is one of the few campaigns Hawking, who can only move his eyelids and uses an optic reader and voice synthesizer to communicate, is doing on a voluntary basis.

The news that Hawking would visit Israel reached Access Israel about a month ago, at the height of its preparations for the campaign.

"When we heard he was coming, the idea of interesting him in our campaign came up immediately," says the organization's chairman, Yuval Wagner.

Several organizations were approached, among them the British embassy in Israel, Hawking's Web site, the Foreign Ministry and MK Ran Cohen.

"At first, we were told he has no time, and after we already thought it wouldn't happen, Hawking himself decided to make some time and the matter was decided," says Wagner.

They got the positive answer only a day before Hawking's arrival in Israel, which compelled the production team to make feverish preparations.

In the ad, Hawking will note that in another 20 years from now, man will be able to live on the moon, and in another 40 years, man will be able to live on Mars. In the next century, we'll be able to cross the limits of the solar system and search for new worlds.

But in the meantime we really want to go to the supermarket, the movies and to a restaurant. The campaign is being produced by Kadishson and directed by Aviv Maaravi.

Access Israel and Geller Nesis are both very excited about the meeting with Hawking and hope the campaign, which will run on television and on the Internet, will reverberate widely and increase public awareness of the problems of accessibility.

According to Schneider, the concept behind the campaign is not to evoke pity, even though it involves people with limited mobility, but to make everyone realize that every person has the right to go to public places regardless of whether or not he or she is handicapped.

Wagner says the situation in Israel with regard to accessibility is unbearable, but the organization's activities are helping to prompt change.

"Many people can't do most of the things a healthy person can do without thinking twice.

It's apparent in the simplest things. For example, 95 percent of the cafes don't have accessible bathrooms and only five beaches are accessible.

There are problems with post offices and stores as well." He says only 26 percent of 500,000 handicapped people are employed in any way and the organization is working primarily to increase awareness in this regard.