Prime Minister Ariel Sharon met, in his Jerusalem office, with a delegation of young people who are participating in Project Atidim, a project to reduce gaps between the periphery and the center of the country via education towards excellence and equal access to higher education.

Finance Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Justice and Immigrant Absorption Minister Tzipi Livni, Atidim Chairman Eitan Wertheimer, Jewish Agency Treasurer Shai Hermesh, OC Personnel Maj.-Gen. Elazar Stern and members of the Atidim Board of Directors were also present.

The Atidim participants briefed Prime Minister Sharon on their absorption and the project’s contribution to their education and advancement in society and in the community.  The Atidim directors also explained about the various project programs:

Kedem Atidim - Expanding the number of high school graduates with high-quality diplomas that enable them to be accepted by prestigious faculties at leading universities, via increased studies, developing excellence and exposure to academia and industry.

Atidim military program - Integrating young people from the periphery into the IDF ROTC program.

Pre-IDF preparatory schools - Strengthening weaker populations immediately after high school and preparing them to be accepted by academic institutions and leading faculties.

Atidim for instruction in the sciences - Training students from the periphery to acquire an academic education and degrees in engineering, in two phases, after high school and after military service.

Atidim for industry - Acquiring degrees and strengthening human capital via employment in Israeli industry and development in the periphery.

Training for public administration: Developing professional leadership in public service for young people interested in contributing towards changing the face of Israeli society.

Prime Minister Sharon asked the Education Ministry and the Atidim Board of Directors to - within three months - agree on how to cooperate in order to advance Project Atidim.  The Prime Minister thanked the Atidim directors and emphasized that the Project is very important; he said that he was proud of all those involved in the project.

Prime Minister Sharon thanked Defense Minister Shaul Mofaz (who was among the initiators of the Project), the Finance Ministry, the Immigrant Absorption Ministry, the Industry, Trade and Employment Ministry, the Education Ministry, and the Jewish Agency for their contributions to the Project.

Prime Minister Sharon said: “Meeting you imbues me with confidence and hope that we will have future leaders.  I know that we have whom we can rely on, now and in the future.  I intend to continue meeting with you every year; I will not give up on this pleasure.”