Communicated by the
Cabinet Secretariat
Jerusalem, 12 May 1999
Cabinet Communique
The Cabinet decided today (Wednesday) 12.5.99, at the initiative of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, to admit a further one hundred refugees from Kosovo for a period of six months. This is in addition to the one hundred refugees taken in last month.
Because of the worsening situation of the refugees, the U.S. asked Israel, among other countries, to give temporary shelter to additional refugees from Kosovo. In making this request, the U.S. expressed its appreciation for the humanitarian actions taken by the government of Israel in the absorption of refugees from Kosovo.
The Foreign Ministry -- in coordination with the Jewish Agency -- will be responsible for bringing the refugees to Israel, and the ministerial committee headed by Minister Yuli Edelstein, appointed a month ago, will deal with preparing a plan for their absorption.