Israel's film-makers will have to wait some more before they can access the government support that seemed so near at hand,

The Cinema Law, approved by Parliament some 18 months ago after years of struggles and lobbying, and celebrated by the industry as a major step towards solving some of its basic problems, has been sent back to the proof readers.

After being approved, the law was turned over to the Treasury - which was opposed to it all along - for direction on its implementation. There it remained for several months.

Minister of Culture, Matan Vilnay who held the same position in the previous, Barak government, recently admitted that none of his former colleagues felt it was worth wasting money on cinema at this point in time. Therefore everything was done to delay the process that would have opened the treasury' purse-strings.

After the change of government, the law was finally cleared. And the industry thought this would finally allow subsidy to flow. But film-makers then discovered that the new Treasury-defined definition of what constitutes an Israeli film - the key to unlocking the cash - was unsatisfactory.

Now they are lobbying the Treasury for clarification and changes, all of which will take more time.