Immigrant Absorption Minister Ze'ev Boim asked Prime Minister Ehud Olmert
yesterday to step in and prevent the Education Ministry from discontinuing its funding of Hebrew schools in the former Soviet states.

The Education Ministry currently provides some NIS 12 million to the project, making up about half of its cost. The remainder is provided by the Jewish Agency.

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Recently, Education Minister Yuli Tamir decided to gradually halt the government's funding for the project within three years.

According to Boim, canceling the government's participation would lead to a further decrease in immigration from these states. This year, the number of immigrants from the former Soviet Union dropped to less than 8,000. The chairman of the Jewish Agency's Education Department, Amos Harmon, said that halting the funding could lead to the project's cancellation. As a result, tens of thousands of Jews remaining in the former Soviet Union will lose their connection to Israel and the Jewish community.

The Education Ministry said in response that due to the budget cuts imposed on the ministry, it was forced to cut certain clauses, while making an effort not to harm the study hours of Israeli children. Therefore Tamir decided to impose the cuts on clauses that have no direct connection to Israeli schools.

Roughly 11,000 Jewish students are currently participating in the project in private schools across the former Soviet Union.