RISHON LEZIONForeign Relations Update

March 2010

Compound G'

Three million visitors a year and an income of 35 million Shekels, is the expectation of the founders of the new leisure, entertainment, shopping and cinema center "G' Cinema City" which is to be inaugurated in two weeks in the west of Rishon Lezion. The total investment in the project was 350 million Shekels. The compound has been built by "Gazit Globe Israel" one of the leading real estate companies in Israel. The new giant complex will include 27,000 square meters of commercial space including 23 cafes, bars, restaurants and food stands, 38 attractive concept shops, 26 unique movie theaters, a giant dinosaur park and a huge parking lot that will contain 2500 parking spaces.

The new center will be open 24 hours a day, seven days a week and will integrate the cinema experiences beside abundant places of entertainment and shopping. Movie theaters are concentrated on the upper floor in an area of 12,000 square meters; and we speak about modern 26 movie theaters, computerized and dynamic, including VIP halls, halls for children, horror halls, halls for lovers and an elaborated Cinemax hall. The commercial floor covers the balance of the area and includes more than 60 businesses of all kinds, including: an avenue of quality restaurants, coffee shops, an Irish pub, various food stalls and a variety of attractive concept shops. The combination between the trading floor and cinema floor creates the unique concept of the entire compound, as the greatest shopping and leisure hub in the area.

Compund G’

IKEA opened the store in Rishon LeZion

IKEA Israel opened on Tuesday the store in Rishon Lezion with a festive ceremony. The

ceremony was attended by: Matthew Bronfman, owner of IKEA Israel, the Swedish Ambassador to Israel Elizabeth Borsin - Bonaire, the mayor Dov Zur and more distinguished guests. Addressing the audience Dov Zur said: "Today is a celebration in Rishon Lezion. The city is in a new momentum of development these days. The Sorek BusinessCenter is already a home to some of the major Israeli companies. It is expected to develop and flourish much more in the coming years. IKEA is indeed the very well respected “first sparrow” inthis center and will enhance its development as a thrivingcentral area.The mayor thanked the various municipal departments who were functional in the establishment of the Sorek/IKEA project. Elizabeth Borsin - Bonaire the Ambassador of Sweden said that IKEA has become part of modern lifestyle and that only last year more than 600 thousand people had visited the IKEA stores around the world

206 scholarships were awarded to students, volunteers and accomplished athletes

The annual scholarship awarding ceremony of the Rishon Lezion's Foundation took place in the presence of the mayor Dov Zur - Chairman of the Fund, board members and members of City Council.

The scholarship recipients are 116 students, residents of Rishon LeZion, 62 highschool pupils, 15 outstanding athletes and 13 young volunteers in different frameworks who demonstrated exceptional dedication to their voluntary missions. Mayor Zur said: "The scholarship recipients have shown significant achievements.

Theirdesire and determination is worthy of appreciation and I have no doubt that thisinvestment will pave the path for them to further advancement and success.

Amongst usare students who demonstrated excellence in sports and volunteers who at an early

agemade volunteering their way of life.  

The Foundation's Manager, Mr Itzhak Oren, said: "Rishon's Foundation emphasizes this year excellence, in studies, in sports and in volunteering.Oren expressed hope that next year the number of donors, as well as the scholarship recipients, will be doubled. He further stated that the Rishon Lezion Foundation has expanded and deepened its activities this year thanks to the blessed activities of Acting Chairman Shlomo Segev.

Rishon Le Zion – A Chess Superpower

The community center of Neot Ashalim hosted recently a chess and mind-games tournament for senior high school students. The tournament commemorated the late Motti Shapiro, one of the chess club founders. The fresh chess world champion Boris Gelferwas mingling amongst the contesters. Gelfer observed the games' strategies of the different players, and occasionallygave a relevant advice. 600 students often different local high schoolscompeted in chess and mind games. The winners of the tournament were the "Sinai" school students.

The second place winners were the "Haviv" school students whilst the 3rd place was manned by the "Itamar" students.

Artist's Class in the « Hey » High school

The actress Gila Almagor visited the said school and gave an 'artist's class' lecture to the theater class. She chose to start the meeting by describing her biography, highlighting as she went along the importance of meticulous work, correct diction, precision and adherence to one's goals. At the end of this meeting which was part of the matriculation productions of the senior classes, took place an artists' workshop where the students performed a scene from a play under the direction of Gila Almagor.

In an additional meeting with artists, the musicstudents met the creative singer Keren Peles and the musical producer Doron Madali. Keren Peles told the pupils about her musical creation, her sources of writing and creation and her endeavors regarding her last album which was produced musically by the creator and singer Judith Ravitz .

The said artists showed up in the school in the framework of the cooperation between the high school and the school of singing and voice development. The latter school belongs to the municipal company "Vocal“.

Happening at the Purple Iris Hill

Thousands of people attended the event "The Purple Iris Gravel Hills' Happening", to

observe the purple iris' blossoming; as exactly at this time every year, the Purple Iris

flourishes in the gravel hills of Rishon-Le- Zion and Nes-Ziyona and we are talking about the kind of hills that are vanishing.

Visitors enjoyed the services of posts that gave information about diverse topics such as explanations about: environmental planning with emphasis on the metropolitan resort areas which the Purple Iris Hill is part of, the geological layers of the gravel cliff, the purple iris and its ways of reproduction, the reptiles in the area and so on.

Local High School Students from the Environmental Preservation classes marked the trails and the Irises inorder to protect them from injury by the participants of the event. The students also served as guides for the visitors. The city cleanliness trustees assisted in the event's organization and handed out informational materials.

Happening at the Purple Iris Hill

Rishon Le Zion Lake

Contradictory to its image, Rishon is more than shopping centers and new residentialneighborhoods. In the western area exists a small lake. This is a special fascinating nature site with a rich and rare selection of animals and plants.

As the time passed a unique and impressive ecological system has developed by itself in and around the small lake including a variety of plants, animals, fishes and birds. The latters use it as a resting stop in their long journey from Europe to Africa  The lake attracts many nature lovers and photographers who come to observe and 'hunt' the different species with their lenses. The grounds serve also as a recreational and picnics area for families and youngsters. It has been suggested to turn the place into a protected municipal nature site and build there accessible pathways, including observation posts for birds' and animals' watchers.

Rishon LeZion Lake

Six new dogs' parks will be set up throughout the city.

• The purpose of the parks is to keep the city clean. At the same time offer dogs and their owners convenient grounds where the dogs have the possibility to run around and play when being released.

• Mayor Dov Zur conducted a tour, accompanied by a council member Mrs. Meirowitz, municipal veterinary experts and environmental professionals - examining several appropriate places for the said purpose

• Mayor Zur said that the year 2010 is declared as the year of cleanliness under the slogan "we go for a clean Rishon".

Mayor Dov Zur, the Foreign Affairs Division and the Editorial Board of this news bulletin, send

you warm greetings for Passover

* We will welcome any comments, suggestions and feedback, write to:Ingridy@rishonlezion.muni.il

* Editor: Uri Wagnerwagnerd@inter.net.il

Rishon LeZion Foundation & Foreign Relations20 Hacarmel str. Rishon LeZion 75264 IsraelTel: 972-3-9547201 Fax: 972-3-9547090