Feb. 4, 2005 A Zionist mission to a Pacific island paradise By URIEL HEILMAN NEW YORK For a group of Jewish teenagers from New York, a recent 10-day trip to the Republic of Palau was more than just a dream vacation to a tropical island in the Pacific. It was also a Zionist mission. As a 10-year old country with less than 20,000 people, Palau at first glance might not seem to be a natural destination for a group of Jews seeking to promote Israel's interests abroad. But as one of the only countries in the United Nations to vote consistently with the Jewish state, the tiny island nation plays an important diplomatic role for Israel. That's why a group of students from Yeshiva University's high school for boys wanted to go there to say thank you. "We represented a segment of the Jewish community that was grateful for the support that Palau provides Israel on a regular basis," said Avram Sand, 17. Sand, from New Jersey, spearheaded the outreach effort to Palau at his Manhattan high school, also known as the Marsha Stern Talmudical Academy (MTA). Sand said he became interested in Palau after reading an article about support for Israel at the UN by several island nations in the North Pacific, including Palau, the Marshall Islands, the Solomon Islands and Micronesia. "I was very interested on why these places halfway around the world had any interest in Israel whatsoever," Sand said. Sand invited representatives from Micronesia and Palau to speak at his school, but scheduling difficulties rendered a visit by the Palauan representative impossible. So the school's director of student affairs, Daniel Schuval, suggested a group of students go to Palau on a diplomatic mission over their January recess. The suggestion was warmly received. It didn't hurt that Palau consists of an archipelago of gorgeous tropical islands in the Pacific and that the trip was scheduled for mid-January. To get to Palau, the students had to take a 30-hour trip with stops in Los Angeles, Hawaii and Guam. "I've done a lot of work with Jewish communities in the former Soviet Union, and this is a very, very welcome change," Schuval said, "to be in a gorgeous rainforest surrounded by waters of every color blue and green you can imagine, when the temperature is 80 and sunny every day." On their trip, the 10 students, along with Schuval and his wife, met with the nation's president, various government officials and Palauan high school students. They also spent more than a little time on Palau's picturesque beaches. The students said their diplomatic mission helped cement ties between Palau and Israel, as well as helped advance cross-cultural exchanges between the Orthodox Jewish high school students and their Christian counterparts in Palau. "These are 10 guys who are spending their vacation going halfway around the world-10 hardworking students-not because it's what we do for a living, but because of who we are and what we are meant to do," said Moshe Kamioner, 18, one of the students on the trip. The trip was arranged through Palau's Ministry of Education. The students did most of their own fundraising for the trip, with support from the Heyman Merrin family foundation. "These are some really great young people," Stuart Beck, Palau's ambassador to the UN, said. Beck, an American Jew who became an honorary citizen of Palau after marrying a Palauan, said Palau was very excited by the visit and views its relationship with Israel as very significant. "At the UN, this relationship is very important," he said. "I'm hoping that the friendship between the two countries, Israel and Palau, will deepen over time." An official at Israel's mission to the UN, Minister Consular Zina Kleitman, said that the nations in the North Pacific support Israel because it's the right thing to do. Since the islands have no diplomatic alliances that complicate their moral judgment on Israel, they are able to vote their conscience in the UN, she said. "They are sincere," Kleitman said. "They are kind of sympathetic, because we are constantly attacked here and we are constantly subjected to violence, I would say, within the United Nations." Until its independence in 1994, Palau was a protectorate of the United States. Consisting of several hundred volcanic islands, nine of which are populated, Palau is about four hours flying time south of Tokyo. Palau also will be featured on the latest season of CBS' popular reality program "Survivor," which begins airing this month.