FORMER American president Bill Clinton will be paying a visit to Wood Green next week as he attends a gala dinner at Alexandra Palace.o

The £250 per head dinner on Wednesday is being organised by the Jewish charity JNF as part of its centenary celebrations.

The event will be hosted by north Londoners Cyril and Hilary Dennis, who will be covering the costs of the evening.

A pre-dinner reception is planned but the entertainment and menus are still being kept tightly under wraps.

Information officer for the event Marcel Berenblut said: "There will be three dinners one in Glasgow, one in Manchester and one in London.

"The event at Alexandra Palace will be the culmination of the celebrations and there will be 1,600 guests."

Proceeds raised from the three gala functions will go towards building the Clinton Reservoir in Tzeelim, about 15km from the Egyptian border in the Negev Desert, south Israel.

JNF, which formerly stood for Jewish National Fund, is one of the largest charities in the British Jewish community, dedicated to supporting the land of Israel. Its members developed good links with Mr Clinton while he was president of the USA, a time during which he was well-known for his work in the Israel peace process.

Officials at Alexandra Palace are working very closely with Haringey police for what will be an extremely high-security event.

The road through the park will be closed from 4pm until midnight, as will the car parks, children's playground, lake area and skateboarding park. There will also be no access to the park through Dukes Avenue. All guests will be subjected to high security checks before they are allowed entry.

Keith Holder, the general manager of the palace and park, said: "We have informed local residents and businesses and hope the event will run with the minimum of disruption."

The MP for Hornsey and Wood Green Barbara Roche, will not be attending, but said: "I am sorry I won't be at Alexandra Palace to welcome former president Bill Clinton to Hornsey and Wood Green but I will be at the Dimbleby lecture he will give at the LSE on December 14.

"I do hope the charity event goes well."

JNF has offices in 40 countries around the world and, among other achievements, it has planted more than 200 million trees and built reservoirs with a capacity of 50 million cubic metres of water in Israel, and is also a world leader in promoting good relations between Britain and Israel, and Jews and non-Jews.

Mr Clinton, who has been a target for 'postal terrorists' in the past few months, said: "As president I did my best to contribute to this progress through my efforts to help Israel secure a final peace agreement with her neighbours.

"While we did not succeed in achieving that goal, I have faith that the Israeli people will be able to stay the course and create the bright peaceful future they deserve."

He added: "For 100 years, the JNF has provided a crucial link between the land of Israel and Jewish people throughout the world."