The JNF logo found on all JNF charity boxes.

The Jewish National Fund (Hebrew: קרן קימת לישראל, Keren Kayemet LeYisrael) (JNF) was founded in 1901 to buy and develop land in Palestine (later Israel) for Jewish settlement. By 2006, it owned 14% of the total land in Israel, on which approximately 70-80% of the Israeli population lives.^{[citation needed]} Image File history File links KKL.PNG‎ http://www. ... Image File history File links KKL.PNG‎ http://www. ... “Hebrew” redirects here. ... Year 1901 (MCMI) was a common year starting on Tuesday (link will display calendar) of the Gregorian calendar (or a common year starting on Monday [1] of the 13-day-slower Julian calendar). ... Map of the British Mandate of Palestine. ... Year 2006 (MMVI) was a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ...

Early history

The JNF was founded at the Fifth Zionist Congress in Basel upon an earlier suggestion by Zvi Hermann Schapira to create an organization to buy and develop land in Palestine for Jewish settlement. The World Zionist Organization, or WZO, was founded as the Zionist Organization, or ZO, on September 3, 1897, at the First Zionist Congress held in Basel, Switzerland. ... For other uses, see Basel (disambiguation). ... Zvi Hermann Schapira (1840-1898) was a Russian mathematician and Zionist born in Erswilken, near Tauroggen, a small town in Lithuania. ... Map of the British Mandate of Palestine. ...

The JNF received its first parcel of land, 200 Turkish dunams (18 hectares) east of Hadera, as a 1903 gift from the Russian Zionist leader Issac Leib Goldberg of Vilnius. It became an olive grove.^[1] In 1904 and 1905, the JNF purchased land plots near the Sea of Galilee and at Ben Shemen. In 1921, JNF land holdings reached 25,000 acres (100 km²), rising to 50,000 acres (200 km²) by 1927. At the end of 1935, JNF held 89,500 acres (362 km²) of land housing 108 Jewish communities. In 1939, 10% of the Jewish population of the British Mandate of Palestine lived on JNF land. JNF holdings by the end of the British Mandate period amounted to 936 km².^[2] From the beginning, JNF's policy was to lease land long-term rather than sell it. A dunam or dönüm, dunum, donum is a unit of area. ... Haderas Great Synagogue Hadera (Hebrew: חדרה) is a city in the Haifa District between Tel Aviv and Haifa in Israel. ... The Sea of Galilee or Lake Kinneret (Hebrew ים כנרת), is Israels largest freshwater lake. ... Ben Shemen (בן שמן) is a moshav in Israel approximately 4 km east of Lod. ... Flag The approximate borders of the British Mandate circa 1922. ...

After statehood

After Israel's establishment in 1948, there was a debate concerning the future of the JNF. Initially the government wanted to dismantle it, but after the United Nations General Assembly passed Resolution 194 calling for Arab refugees to be allowed back into their homes, the JNF was seen as mechanism by which land which was previously owned by Arab refugees could be placed further out of their reach. Accordingly, the government began to sell land to the JNF that had been seized from Arab refugees. On January 27, 1949, 1,000 km² of this land (from a total of about 3,500 km²) was sold to the JNF for the low price of 11 million pounds. Another 1,000 km² of seized land was sold to the JNF in October, 1950. Questions about the legitimacy of these transactions were counteracted by Israeli legislation.^[3][4][5] David Ben Gurion (First Prime Minister of Israel) publicly pronouncing the Declaration of the State of Israel, May 14, 1948. ... Year 1948 (MCMXLVIII) was a leap year starting on Thursday (link will display the 1948 calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... The United Nations General Assembly (GA) is one of the five principal organs of the United Nations. ... United Nations General Assembly Resolution 194 [1] was passed on December 11 1948, near the end of the 1948 Arab-Israeli War. ... User(s) Israel Symbol לי The Israeli pound or Israeli lira (Hebrew: לירה ישראלית, lira yisraelit, plural, לירות ישראלית, lirot yisraelit) was the currency of Israel from shortly after the creation of the state in 1948 until 1980. ...

In 1953, the JNF was dissolved and re-organized as an Israeli company without much essential change. A far greater change occurred in 1960, when administration of the land held by the JNF, apart from forested areas, was transferred to a newly formed government agency, the Israel Land Administration, the government agency responsible for managing 93% of the land of Israel [1]. JNF received the right to nominate ten of the 22 directors of the ILA. The Israel Land Administration (ILA) is part of the government of Israel responisible for managing the 93% of the land in Israel which is in the public domain. ...

JNF funds pay for the planting of trees in Israel.

The charter specifies that the purpose of the JNF is to purchase land for the settlement of Jews. In the past, this was interpreted to mean that JNF should not lease land to non-Jews, but the restriction was frequently circumvented in practice, for example, by granting one-year lease to Bedouins for pastures. In January 2005, Israel's Attorney General Menachem Mazuz ruled in response to a Supreme Court petition that lease restrictions violated Israeli anti-discrimination laws. In July 2007, the Israeli Knesset approved the Jewish National Fund Bill in its preliminary reading, which would authorize the JNF to resume the practice of refusing to lease land to Arab citizens.^[6] Image File history File linksMetadata Download high-resolution version (1280x960, 300 KB) File links The following pages on the English Wikipedia link to this file (pages on other projects are not listed): Jewish National Fund Metadata This file contains additional information, probably added from the digital camera or scanner used... Image File history File linksMetadata Download high-resolution version (1280x960, 300 KB) File links The following pages on the English Wikipedia link to this file (pages on other projects are not listed): Jewish National Fund Metadata This file contains additional information, probably added from the digital camera or scanner used... Bedouin resting at Mount Sinai Bedouin, derived from the Arabic badawi بدوي, a generic name for a desert-dweller, is a term generally applied to Sahara via the Western Desert, Sinai, and Negev to the eastern coast of the Arabian desert. ... Menachem Mazuz (Hebrew: מנחם מזוז) (born 1955) is an Israeli jurist, who currently serves as Israels Attorney General. ... The Supreme Court (Hebrew: בית המשפט העליון, Beit Hamishpat Haelyon ) is at the head of the court system in the State of Israel. ... Type Unicameral Speaker of the Knesset Dalia Itzik, Kadima since May 4, 2006 Deputy Speaker Majalli Wahabi, Kadima since May 4, 2006 Members 120 Political groups Kadima Labour-Meimad Shas Likud Last elections March 28, 2006 Meeting place Knesset, Jerusalem, Israel Web site www. ...

In June 2005, an agreement was made by which the JNF would transfer a portion of its urban holdings to the state and the state would transfer rural land in the Negev of equal value to the JNF.

In 2007, Ra'adi Sfori became the first Israeli Arab to be elected as a JNF director.^[7] To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ...

Reforestation work

The early JNF was also active in afforestation and reclamation of land. By 1935, JNF had planted 1.7 million trees over a total area of 1,750 acres (7.08 km²) and drained swamps, like those in the Hulah Valley. JNF has planted 240 million trees to date. // Hula Valley, seen from the Golan Heights. ...

Today, tree planting continues to fight desertification and create green "lungs" for Israel's communities. Due to JNF's afforestation work, Israel is believed to be one of the few countries, if not the only country, to end the twentieth century with more trees than it began.

Water reclamation

Today, JNF’s water systems provide water for 1.2 million people all over the country. By now, JNF has built more than 180 reservoirs and has committed to build over 50 more reservoirs and water treatment plants in the next five years. In the past decade, JNF has invested over $114.99 in reservoir construction, increasing the country’s total storage capacity by 7% to over 35 billion gallons of water.

JNF is also involved in numerous river rehabilitation projects all over Israel, including the award-winning Alexander River Restoration Project in 2003. In 105 years, JNF has planted more than 240 million trees that beautify the land and protect vital ecosystems, built over 1,000 parks and playgrounds for recreation and tourism and invested in research that has led to scientific breakthroughs that protect Israel’s environment and create agricultural innovations.

Environmental leadership

JNF’s collaborative work involves participation in the International Arid Land Consortium, which explores the problems and solutions unique to arid and semiarid regions. By developing sustainable ecological practices, the member institutions enable people of arid lands to improve their quality of life.

References

1. ^ Zvi Shilony, Ideology and Settlement; The Jewish National Fund, 1897-1914, Magnes Press (1998), 119-121.
2. ^ Walter Lehn, The Jewish National Fund, Journal of Palestine Studies, Vol. 3, No. 4. (Summer, 1974), pp. 74-96.
3. ^ A. Golan. The Transfer of Abandoned Rural Arab Lands to Jews During Israel's War of Independence, Cathedra, 63, pp. 122-154, 1992 (Hebrew). English translation: “The Transfer to Jewish Control of Abandoned Arab Land during the War of Independence,” in S.I. Troen and N. Lucas (eds), Israel, The First Decade of Independence (Albany, NY, 1995)
4. ^ A. Barkat. "Buying the State of Israel", Haaretz, Feb. 10, 2005. Retrieved on 2007-05-29. 
5. ^ M. Benvenisti. "With all due respect for the 'blue box'", Haaretz, May 29, 2007. Retrieved on 2007-05-29. 
6. ^ Yoav Stern and Shahar Ilan. "Bill allocating JNF land to Jews only passes preliminary reading", Haaretz, July 19, 2007. Retrieved on 2007-07-30. 
7. ^ Israeli Arab appointed as a JNF director despite court appeal Haaretz, 5 July 2007

Haaretz (Hebrew: (help· info), The Land) is an Israeli newspaper, founded in 1919. ... Year 2007 (MMVII) is the current year, a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar and the AD/CE era in the 21st Century. ... is the 149th day of the year (150th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Haaretz (Hebrew: (help· info), The Land) is an Israeli newspaper, founded in 1919. ... Year 2007 (MMVII) is the current year, a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar and the AD/CE era in the 21st Century. ... is the 149th day of the year (150th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Haaretz (Hebrew: (help· info), The Land) is an Israeli newspaper, founded in 1919. ... Year 2007 (MMVII) is the current year, a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar and the AD/CE era in the 21st Century. ... is the 211th day of the year (212th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ...

See also

• Yatir Forest
• Eshtaol Forest

Yatir Forest - on the edge of the desert Location of the Yatir Forest The Weizmann Institutes research tower Yatir Forest is a forest in Israel, located on the southern slopes of Mount Hebron, in the Yatir region. ... Eshtaol Forest Eshtaol Forest Eshtaol Forest Eshtaol Forest is a forest in Israel, near Beit Shemesh lying west of Jerusalem. ...

External links

• Official website (in English)
• Official website (in Hebrew)
• United States branch
• The land issue (article on a Jewish Internet Association-maintained website containing information about the JNF)
• Intelligent Giving profile of JNK (UK)