At the fifth Zionist Congress in 1901, the convened delegates established Keren Kayemeth LeIsrael (Jewish National Fund) as a wholly owned subsidiary of the World Zionist Organization to act as purchaser of lands that would be the “perpetual property of the Jewish people.” KKL-JNF belongs to the Jewish People and serves as its trustee for land purchased over the course of a hundred years.
Development of and settlement on KKL-JNF lands is a direct extension of Israel’s Law of Return, and before the founding of the State, KKL-JNF purchased approximately one million dunams of land with money contributed by Jews in Israel and around the world.
KKL-JNF’s extensive activities are carried out in the name of the Jewish People for the benefit of the public as a whole and for all sectors of its population, whatever their religion or ethnicity. These activities include strengthening peripheral communities, acting as custodian for national land and preserving its beauties, conserving the landscape and nature, improving the environment and raising the public’s level of ecological awareness for the sake of future generations.
