The state will extend the Wisconsin plan for another year, expand its activities and increase the number of its participants, representatives of the State Prosecutor's Office told the High Court of Justice Wednesday, in response to a petition against the unemployment program by social action groups.

Participants' experiences in the program, over the course of a year and a half, show it has "great potential to attain the goal of getting welfare participants back to work," the state prosecutor wrote. There has so far been a 50 percent drop in the number of families on welfare in the areas where the program is operating, and jobs have been found for 14,000 people, the response stated.

The Wisconsin plan was launched in Israel in August 2005 as a two-year pilot, with an option to extend it for another year. The government's contract with the four franchisees ends in July 2007.

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The organizations petitioning the High Court - Commitment to Peace and Social Justice, Saut al-Amal (Laborer's Voice) and Community Advocacy - named Industry, Commerce and Employment Minister Eli Yishai in their petition, as well as Finance Minister Abraham Hirchson, asking the court to prevent the program's extension for a third year.

The State Prosecutor's Office wrote that the extension would allow research to be completed and to scrutinize the results of the changes implemented thus far.

The state also said a committee of experts had recommended extending the program, and that based on the results of the research, the program would be extended beyond the third year and its activities expanded throughout the nation.

New participants would replace those who have already found work, in order to measure the affect of changes on the program and to include as varied a population as possible in the project, the state told the court. A total of 7,000 participants will be brought on board in Jerusalem, Upper Nazareth, Ein Mahel, Ashkelon and Netanya.

The most significant change is the way in which the franchisees are paid. At present, their profits depend on the amount they save the state in welfare payments, either because the participants find jobs or because their benefits are denied after they fail to meet program requirements.

But beginning in May, profits will be based on a percentage of salaries participants receive, to encourage the franchisees to place job-seekers in the highest-paying positions available. The total bonus will be paid only if the worker remains at his or her job for a year.

Yishai has said in the past that he supports changes in the program, especially for participants over the age of 50 who suffer from disabilities.