Partnership 2000 Beit Shemesh-Yehuda Plains of the Jewish Agency held the winter meeting of its Joint Steering Committee on November 7-9, 2006. Attending the meeting were representatives of the four Partnership communities, the committee chairmen, members of the committees and representatives of local government.

In addition to the discussions and tours of the various projects supported by Partnership 2000, committee members were invited to the offices of the head of the Mateh Yehuda Regional Council and the Mayor of Beit Shemesh. Billboards in Beit Shemesh welcomed the members of the Steering Committee to the city. The heads of the municipal and regional councils praised the important contribution of Partnership 2000 to the local community and the involvement of the residents of the region.

At the previous Committee meeting, Partnership 2000 bade farewell to the chairmen from Israel and from Washington who were recognized for the important contributions they had made. The current leadership of the Partnership includes two Cochairmen from Washington - Fay-Ann Brodie and Cindy Zitelman, the Chairman from South Africa - David Unterslak, the Beit Shemesh Chairman - Ilan Gal-Dor and the Yehuda Plains Chairman - Danny Taragan.
The subcommittees also bade farewell to their previous chairmen and welcomed the new ones - Daniel Goldman, the Chairman of the Gesher LeKesher Committee; Yechiel Coren, the Chairman of the Committee for Education, Welfare and Community; and Ruku Soffer, the Chairman of the Committee for Economic Development.

Members of the committees visited both new and old projects and got an impression of what is being done on the ground. Among the projects they visited were kindergartens that are part of the pre-school educators exchange program and which have a common curriculum with their twin kindergartens abroad. They also visited community projects which have requested funding in 2007 and economic initiatives which are being advanced by the Committee for Economic Development.
The participants also toured the fascinating Etri archaeological site from the Second Temple period. High school students from the region work on the site as part of the "On Front Stage" project of Partnership 2000 and the Jewish Agency. They have uncovered a treasure consisting of more than 500(!) ancient coins at the site.

The Committee discussed the budget for 2007 and future joint programs. The summer meeting of the Joint Steering Committee will take place in May 2007. 

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