The Israel Ministry of Foreign Affairs Jerusalem, February 1, 1999 Israel's "embassy in cyberspace" opens new website   The Israel Ministry of Foreign Affairs is today officially launching its third generation website: https://www.mfa.gov.il The Israel Foreign Ministry was the first foreign ministry in the world which decided in 1993 to enter the "information highway" - and also the first Israel government ministry to do so. Both its earlier Internet sites have proved highly popular among tens of thousands of surfers. The wealth of information contained in them is unique in the world of Internet, in both variety and scope of the material. Although not news oriented, it deals wth current affairs in depth, and the major world media sites regularly direct their readers to the Israel Foreign Ministry for detailed and reliable on-line information about Israel and the Middle East. The site, like its predecessors, is designed specifically for audiences abroad and provides extensive information about Israel in all areas. While the major language of the site is English, some of the information is available also in Arabic, Spanish, French, Portuguese and German. A separate site, in Hebrew, designed for Israeli audiences, is under preparation. Navigation of the new site, as noted, is facilitated by the virtual site map, designed as a metro map composed of various "tracks", each with a number of "stations". Such "tracks" include: facts about Israel, foreign relations, the peace process, Israeli government and history, culture, personalities, and more. The site contains official texts of thousands of documents, including major agreements. The surfer can enter the site directly at any "station", and continue to surf the site, through the navigation tools and the many hyperlinks. The data base of the new site is based on modern and sophisticated technologies. It comprises an advanced search engine, which allows for document search by a wide range of variables, including full text search. Orientation in the site is facilitated by a variety of navigation tools. The user can also build a "personal page" by which he can receive regular updates on subjects of special interest, whether on the website or by e-mail. The website contains, at the time of its launching, some 10,000 textual pages, as well as numerous photos and images, and video and audio clips. From the interest displayed in the new site to date, during its run-in period, the number of visitors to Israel's "embassy in cyberspace" is expected to far surpass the 20,000 weekly visitors to the current site. In the first 15 hours after its launching, over 8,300 visitors entered the site. The site is maintained by the Information Division of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Jerusalem.