Established in 1901 by the Zionist Congress to purchase land for settlement in Ottoman Palestine, the Jewish National Fund (JNF) today has custodianship over some 15 percent of Israel’s territory. Last week, the State Department, the Union for Reform Judaism, and others condemned this venerable institution for its plans to authorize the use of its funds for buying land in the West Bank. Jonathan Tobin comments:
JNF effectively operates as a kind of non-governmental organization or national trust. . . . Today, it still [purchases land], though most of its work revolves around forest management, the development of vital water resources, building infrastructure, community development, education, and crucial research projects. As such, it’s an institution that is both deeply connected to Jewish history and contemporary concerns related to the environment.
JNF’s proposed activities will not expropriate Palestinians. Any work they do will be done within existing settlements or their immediate surroundings. . . . The JNF’s land purchases will also be purely voluntary. It isn’t stealing land now any more than it did so 100 years ago during the early days of its operations. [On the other hand,] the idea that Western liberals tolerate or even support the Palestinian belief that selling land to Jews is a death-penalty offense for Arabs is outrageous and rooted in prejudice.
Mainstream Jewish groups and all those who care about Israel should be supporting JNF’s ongoing efforts to develop the entire country, including the Negev and the Galilee. It’s vital that friends of Israel not succumb to the lie being promoted by JNF critics . . . that the JNF’s plans will harm peace or wrongly take land. To the contrary, JNF will be doing nothing more than the same job it has been doing for the last 120 years. It should stand its ground with the support of all those who understand that Jewish rights not be sacrificed on the altar of anti-Zionist hate.
More about: Jewish National Fund, West Bank