Meridor resigns as head of the Jewish Agency

Sallai Meridor, the chairman of the Jewish Agency, will step down at the end of June. The newspaper "Ha'aretz" reports that Meridor would be appointed as Israel's ambassador to the United States this summer. He was elected as head of the agency in 1999 and has served one and a half terms in the office. An acting chairman will be appointed at the end of June, after the meeting of the agency's board of governors, and a permanent chairman will be selected when the World Zionist Congress meets in the summer of 2006. Meridor said in a statement that he was resigning because he believed in "rotation among holders of senior public positions" and to give his successor a chance to get used to the position before the Zionist Congress convenes.