Fifth graders from Beit Hinuch Ramon School in Samaria held a virtual meeting through the Internet with pupils of the same age from Los Angeles' Tifereth Israel congregation's Hebrew school. The meeting was held with the aid of video cameras and the Skype application, to honor Israel's 64 th Yom Ha'atzmaut celebration, which was marked on Sunday in many U.S. Jewish congregations. Samaria regional authority head Gershon Mesika took part in Sunday's event. This is the third year in which virtual meetings are held between the schools. It is sponsored by the Samaria regional authority's International Liaison Office, which sees importance in the connection between a "Conservadox" community and a school in Samaria. Pupils from the two schools have also held internet-based celebrations on Jewish holidays like Tu B'Shvat, Purim and Chanukah. The meetings are facilitated by Israel Connect, a service provided by the Melitz organization. Amihai Bannett, Israel Connect's Educational Director, which runs school twinning programs in 50 schools around the world, noted that the video conference involved not only students and staff from the partner schools, but also members of both communities. "We were very happy to see how this connection has grown in the past 4 years, reaching many members of the communities in both Shaarey Tikva and Los Angeles"
