The Jewish National Fund's picturesque building on Zvi Shapira Street in Tel Aviv has a history: it was originally opened back in 1937 and quickly became a beehive of activity as the headquarters from which the JNF managed its procurement of land and fundraising activity, both locally and abroad. The building also functioned as a school.
Israel Hayom spoke with JNF Chairman Daniel Atar ahead of the Israel Hayom Forum for US-Israel Relations on June 27.
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"The status and importance of US Jewry for Israel over the years cannot be overstated. The Jewish lobby and its influence on Congress and the Senate are also vital to Israel. Therefore, the relations between JNF-Israel and its partners in the US have been deep and warm for many years," Atar says. (US donations to the JNF exceed $150 million per year, compared to donations from everywhere else, which amount to about two-thirds of that sum.)
Q: When talking about Israel and the US, the term "special relationship" is mentioned. Does that apply to the relationship between JNF-Israel and the US, too?
"Naturally, we have many envoys spread across the US, and we support the activity of Jewish communities throughout America. We are also part of the fight against BDS. Five years ago, JNF International signed an agreement with JNF-USA that sets down rules for their relationship.
"We are working in complete harmony and cooperating well with JNF-USA in the vast majority of cases. This means that there is almost no field in which they don't support us or there is not cooperation between us, whether it's in academia, schools, youth movements, industry, handling the water crisis in Beersheba or the Arava, aid to farmers, and more. At this stage, we're trying to direct all our supporters to the Galilee and the Negev, with the goal of strengthening them and thereby strengthening Israel."
In addition to ongoing cooperation, the JNF has also decided to sue Hamas in a US court for the environmental damage that the terrorist group is causing in the western Negev. The lawsuit is currently in its final stages before being filed.
Looking for the next leaders
Atar says that the JNF is emphasizing what he defines as "our major struggle, which has existed for decades and more now than ever, against one of the phenomena that concerns us most – assimilation. In the US, it is increasing to over 70%, so the issue must be addressed and we must find the proper way of dealing with it."
Q: What does that mean?
"The main thing we're doing about it is informal education at JNF branches throughout the world. The goal is twofold: to strengthen Jewish identity and to strengthen ties to Israel. We are using a variety of methods: delegations, lectures, films, and youth movement programs, from the third grade until they reach adulthood, over the course of [many] years. Our goal is for at least some of them to become leaders in their own communities. It's obvious to us that those who become part of a world of Jewish 'content' through youth movement activity don't lose their Jewish identity and bond with Israel. Sometimes it is successful and sometimes, unfortunately, the objective numbers cause us to fail. Ultimately, US Jewry has enthusiastic Zionist supporters across the political spectrum and in this matter, the plurality of opinions is actually a source of great strength."
The land is still being redeemed
Sitting in the JNF building stirs up historic memories. It played an important role when Israel declared its independence. On Nov. 29, 1947, the United Nations declared an end to the British Mandate and that the land would be partitioned between a Jewish and an Arab state, and the leaders of the Yishuv gathered in the JNF building to confer on whether they would accept the resolution and declare an independent Jewish state. In 1988, a decision was made to turn most of the building into a museum devoted to JNF activity and its contributions to the State of Israel. The question of how relevant the JNF was came up even before the idea was floated.
"The JNF is more relevant today than ever," Atar says.
"Apart from the urgent issue of strengthening Jewish identity and links to Israel, the basic matter has not changed – we are still carrying out the commandment on which the JNF was founded: redeeming land. I discovered that a lot of people don't often know that, there are battles against strong forces who bring in money from abroad, the United Arab Emirates for example, that was raised to try and take control of land in our homeland.
"In the past year and a half, the JNF has invested about 500 million shekels ($150 million) in acquiring land, mostly for farmers who are on the verge of bankruptcy. We bought it and immediately leased it to them so they could keep working it. It won't go to waste, and we will keep producing food in Israel. That is how we defend the state's borders, our hold on the land, and the supreme value of Zionism. To that, add our support for youth movements worldwide, putting together work plans and training counselors … and ingraining Zionism, mostly through the delegations of teachers who teach at Jewish schools that we bring to Israel and expose to all the JNF's various activities."
Relocation to Dimona
The main tenet of the JNF's vision for the coming decades is its Israel 2040 plan. The plan is taken into account in all JNF activities and carries extra weight.
"The idea began to take form only a few months ago. The main goal is to bring half a million new residents to the Galilee and a million new residents to the Negev. I'm already waiting to talk with the finance minister in the next government about a budget and getting it started right away."
The plan's official and catchy name is "Relocation Israel – JNF is building the land of tomorrow." Atar is completely committed to it.
"The game-changer that we believe makes it possible to implement the plan is Israeli technology, which does wondrous things and is in demand worldwide. We intend to turn the Galilee into a world powerhouse of food-tech, agro-tech, and biotech. The Negev – in conjunction with the IDF's technology units, which are moving their bases to the South – will make it into a capital of cybertech, security and defense industry, and artificial intelligence."
Q: What are the main emphases of the plan?
"The important goal is to create a demographic change by bringing in a new, strong population that can depend on itself economically, unlike what is happening now. The stress will be on high-tech villages, science campuses, and high-end R and D centers. Alongside them, we'll set up smart cities that are capable of taking in a young, strong, and lively population, and supply everything they need. By doing so, we hope to attract investors and developers, engineers and programmers, young families and students from Israel and all over the world.
"Instead of relocating to Silicon Valley in California, they'll want to relocate to Beersheba and Kiryat Shmona, Nazareth Illit and Dimona. That's a real revolution, and it all stems from the understanding that the strategic strength of the State of Israel depends on there being a healthy and balanced Israeli population, not only in central Israel, which is what we have currently."
Atar is not forgetting the role Diaspora Jews will play in bringing the plan to fruition.
"I believe that Diaspora Jews can and should play a major role in achieving this goal. First of all by making aliyah and moving to those areas. That's not supposed to happen in a vacuum, but rather as part of a complete plan we'll be spearheading in the next few years. I am appealing to them directly: you can be part of meeting Zionism's biggest challenge in the next few decades, and join the many Jews who have already come to Israel in the years the state has existed."
Atar says that "on the most basic level, there's nothing like seeing for yourself to understand the importance of the JNF. It's not by chance that there are thousands of kilometers of bike trails and thousands of acres of trees that have made Israel the only country in the world in which the number of trees grows from year to year. We are present in every aspect of what Israel is: information education, youth activity, pre-army preparatory academies, and now, of course, the cherry on the cake – bringing people to live in the Galilee and the Negev.
"It gives me great satisfaction on a personal level, too. The vitality of the JNF increases every day, and as long as I'm in this role, we will do everything to reach that goal."
