Prime Minister Ehud Olmert this week reassured the Jewish Agency that Sunday's cabinet decision to fund independent Aliyah organizations would not diminish the Agency's key role in bringing Jews to Israel.

In a letter to Jewish Agency Chairman Zeev Bielski on the day the cabinet voted unanimously on the funding, Olmert wrote that he had "given instructions to the responsible authorities to intensify the coordination between the government and the Jewish Agency also in the field of the support the government and the Jewish Agency give to organizations that encourage Aliyah to Israel."

Olmert emphasized "the special and unique role the Agency plays in helping the state decide who is eligible for Aliyah, a role that contributes hugely to the process."