New York, NY, January 3, 2006 … A group of sixteen active campus leaders and two congressional aides will travel to Israel for an up-close look at the issues surrounding the Palestinian-Israeli conflict and to learn the history of the modern Jewish State.

The participants in the Anti-Defamation League's (ADL) Current and Future Leaders Study Mission to Israel, January 3-10, will tour Israel extensively and engage in a series of briefings with a broad spectrum of voices from Israeli and Palestinian perspectives. 

"There is perhaps no place in the world where issues of politics, democracy, and religion converge and play out as they do in Israel," said Abraham H. Foxman, ADL National Director.  "It is our hope that these intelligent, energized and informed student leaders will come away from this experience with a new insight on Israel and the region and a deeper understanding of the dynamics that have both engaged and divided the Israeli and Palestinian people for so long."

Funded by a generous grant from the Charles and Mildred Schnurmacher Foundation, the mission is designed to give student leaders an opportunity to learn about the history of the Jewish people, the State of Israel as a modern democracy, and to get a firsthand perspective on newsmaking events in Palestinian-Israeli relations by traveling to religious and historic sites and meeting with decision makers.  While in Israel, the campus leaders will meet with Israeli government officials, Palestinian representatives, university students, and working journalists, among others.

Students selected for the mission are all active in student governance on their campuses and plan for a career in politics or public service once they complete their education. Congressional aides to Reps. Alcee Hastings (D-FL) and Patrick J. Tiberi (R- OH) will participate in the mission, underscoring the Israel-US relationship and the US role in working to promote peace in the region.

The students represent 16 schools: University of Colorado at Boulder, Yale University, Smith College, University of Wyoming, DePauw University, Georgia Perimeter College, Pennsylvania State University, Southwestern University, University of Missouri, University of Wisconsin, Georgia Institute of Technology, The Ohio State University, Marquette University, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, University of Florida, and Regis University.

The Anti-Defamation League, founded in 1913, is the world's leading organization fighting anti-Semitism through programs and services that counteract hatred, prejudice and bigotry.