The Jewish National Fund was founded in 1901 to buy lands throughout Ottoman Israel from absentee Arab landlords for Jewish settlement
By Nosson Shulman: Licensed Tour Guide of VIP Israel Tours & Authentic Virtual Tours (click here to check out his free trailer videos
Last week Israel and its supporters woke up to good news! For the first time ever, the Jewish National Fund (JNF) will be buying up private land from Arabs (who are willing to sell) in Judea & Samaria (AKA the West Bank) in order to expand Jewish settlement in Israel’s biblical heartland.
The JNF raised money to buy land, drain the swamps, plant trees, and build homes and agricultural infrastructure, while encouraging the Jews to return to Israel and live in these new towns (many have since become major cities). By 1948 the populations of Israel’s Jezreel valley, coastal area and other regions became predominantly Jewish. The sole reason that approximately 70% of Israel’s Jews live along the coast today is because the JNF bought that land first.
After Israel declared independence, the JNF continued to plant trees, and build water and tourism infrastructures needed for the new, fledging towns. After 1967 when Israel liberated Judah and Samaria, the JNF for political reasons (though they deny the assertion that politics influenced their decisions) did not directly involve itself openly in projects in Judea and Samaria (indirectly they did sometimes).
The major policy reversal was made possible due to the changing demographics of Israel. During most of Israel’s early years, Israel’s left wing led by the Labor party controlled the Knesset and state institutions such as the JNF (though “officially” they are apolitical). Since the late 1970s, with the election of Menachem Begin as Prime Minister and even more so in the last 20 years, the Israeli electorate has overwhelming elected rightwing coalitions. The leftwing parties have been decimated, and many polls show the once powerful Labor and Meretz parties failing to pass the threshold in March’s elections. Today’s most influential “left wing” parties such as “Blue and White” and “Yesh Atid” are better described as centrist. Even as Israel moved rightwards, the left was able to hold onto influence for decades by “controlling” institutions like the JNF. At the recent elections in the World Zionist Organization the rightwing parties were able to form a coalition, making this decision possible.
The final vote will be held after the March 23 election. If the motion passes, as it is expected to, $11.7 million will be allocated to expand Jewish settlement in existing towns over the 1967 Greenline.
Nosson Shulman is a journalist and Licensed Tour Guide in Israel specializing in Biblical tours. To allow tourists to experience Israel during the Corona era, he created the new hit Israel tour video series which brings Israel to the home of viewers by simulating actual tours. To check out his free sneak preview tour videos, click here.
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