JERUSALEM (UPI) -- Israel said Tuesday it would exclude tourists,
journalistsand foreign embassy officials from a plan to test foreigners
for AIDS.
	Modifying a controversial plan announced last summer, the ministers
of health and the interior decided not all foreigners would have to be
tested for acquired immune deficiency syndrome, a health ministry
spokesperson said.
	Most prospective immigrants to Israel, however, will have to prove
that they are not carrying the AIDS-related HIV virus before they will
be granted citizenship. But newcomers from the former Soviet Union and
Ethiopia were excluded from the testing plan, following strong protests
from immigrant groups.
	The government also specifically excluded tourists, journalists and
foreign embassy officials from the testing program.
	Officials said immigrants would not necessarily be barred from Israel
if they are carrying the virus.
	``They will need to present a recommendation from a family doctor
saying that they are healthy. If they are carrying AIDS, the Interior
Ministry will decide whether to let them in or not,'' the spokesperson
said.
	Israel, with at least 215 AIDS sufferers, introduced the tests last
summer in an attempt to stem the spread of the disease.
	AIDS activists criticized the tests as human rights violations, and
they urged the government to concentrate their resources on educating
Israelis about AIDS rather than barring foreigners from visiting.