Keren Kayemeth LeIsrael - Jewish National Fund
Israeli land and forestry body of the Zionist movement, founded in 1901
| Keren Kayemeth LeIsrael – Jewish National Fund
| |
|---|---|
| Type | Agency of the World Zionist Organization |
| Founded | 1901 (Fifth Zionist Congress) |
| Key people | Eyal Ostrinsky (chairman, from January 2026); Ilan Shohat (CEO) |
| Website | www.kkl-jnf.org |
The Keren Kayemeth LeIsrael - Jewish National Fund (KKL-JNF) was founded at the Fifth Zionist Congress in 1901 to purchase land for the Jewish people in Palestine.[1]
In 1961, the KKL-JNF and the Israeli government signed a covenant which provided in part:
- Keren Kayemeth LeIsrael shall continue to operate, as an independent agency of the World Zionist Organization, among the Jewish public in Israel and the Diaspora, raising funds for the redemption of land from desolation and conducting informational and Zionist-Israel educational activities; and the Government shall extend assistance to Keren Kayemeth LeIsrael in informational and propaganda activities in Israel and abroad.[2]
"Over the past 107 years", it claims to have "evolved into a global environmental leader by planting 240 million trees, building over 200 reservoirs and dams, developing over 250,000 acres of land, creating more than 1,000 parks, providing the infrastructure for over 1,000 communities, bringing life to the Negev Desert and educating students around the word about Israel and the environment." [3]
It has been described by the Israeli historian Ilan Pappe as "a colonialist agency of ethnic cleansing" [4]
In January 2026 the Times of Israel reported that KKL-JNF "owns approximately 13% of the total land in Israel (roughly 2.5 million dunams or 620,000 acres), and commands an annual budget of more than a billion dollars".[5] Part of KKL-JNF's holdings lies beyond the Green Line, in occupied territory. Peace Now says it knows of at least 65,000 dunams of land in the occupied West Bank bought through KKL-JNF's subsidiary Himnuta since 1967, and Himnuta has also acted to evict Palestinians in occupied East Jerusalem (see below).[6][7] The Times of Israel has described it as "a kind of NGO officially registered as a company for the benefit of the public", whose parent body is the World Zionist Organization.[8]
Activity beyond the Green Line
The Israeli settlement watchdog Peace Now says that after 1967 KKL-JNF "started to purchase lands from Palestinians in the West Bank, and expanded its social and environmental activity into in the West Bank settlements". It cites a document published by the Israeli journalist Raviv Drucker showing that between 2002 and 2013 KKL-JNF "invested close to 50 million shekels in different projects in the settlements".[7]
KKL-JNF owns two companies called Himnuta (also spelt Himanuta): one operating inside Israel and in occupied East Jerusalem, and one registered with the Israeli Civil Administration that operates in the occupied West Bank. Peace Now says it knows of "at least 65,000 dunams" of West Bank land bought by KKL-JNF through Himnuta since 1967, on which settlements including Itamar, Alfei Menashe, Einav, Kedumim, Givat Ze'ev, Metzadot Yehuda (Beit Yatir) and Otniel were established.[6] Peace Now also reports that, through Himnuta, KKL-JNF has sought for nearly 30 years to evict the Palestinian Sumarin family from its home in Silwan in occupied East Jerusalem, that settlers set up an outpost on land leased from Himnuta, and that KKL-JNF gave the Elad settler organisation NIS 8 million for a visitor centre in Jabel Mukaber, also in occupied East Jerusalem.[7]
In February 2021 the KKL-JNF executive was asked to approve a policy allowing it to buy private Palestinian land in Area C of the occupied West Bank, in and next to existing settlements. The Times of Israel reported that the organisation's new chairman, Avraham Duvdevani, who took over in autumn 2020, was "acting to change the policy", and that the Union for Reform Judaism condemned the plan.[8] On 25 February 2021 the board advanced plans to buy NIS 38 million of West Bank land.[9]
In January 2025 the US human rights group DAWN (Democracy for the Arab World Now) asked the US State and Treasury Departments to sanction KKL-JNF and its Himnuta subsidiaries for "financing and facilitating illegal and racist settlement expansion".[10]
Leadership
Avraham Duvdevani became world chairman in autumn 2020.[8] In December 2022 Ifat Ovadia-Luski became the first woman to chair the organisation.[11] On 1 January 2026 the board elected Eyal Ostrinsky, who represents the pluralist/liberal bloc in the World Zionist Organization, for two and a half years, after which a Likud representative is to take over for the second half of the five-year term, "as agreed upon in a WZO power-sharing deal signed in November" (the report is dated 1 January 2026).[5]
Affiliations
The KKL-JNF has a number of national affiliates around the world including: JNF Australia | KKL-JNF Austria | KKL Belgium | JNF Canada | KKL-JNF Czech Republic | KKL Denmark | KKL-JNF Finland | KKL-France | KKL-JNF Germany | JNF Holland | JNF Ireland | KKL-JNF Israel | KKL Italy | KKL-JNF in Latin American Countries | JNF Norway | JNF Scotland | KKL-JNF Spain | KKL Sweden | KKL Switzerland | JNF UK | JNF USA.[12]
UK bodies using the JNF or KKL name
JNF UK, the trading name of the JNF Charitable Trust, says that "for several decades" it has "been an entirely independent organisation to JNF/KKL in Israel".[13] Its legal ties with KKL-JNF are set out in a 2008 settlement agreement that licenses the JNF and KKL names to JNF UK and commits the two to co-operate in selecting KKL projects; see JNF UK#Relationship with KKL-JNF. Its project criteria say that projects "shall not be over the 'Green line'" and "shall not support military activity".[14]
| Body | Registration | Latest income | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| JNF Charitable Trust (JNF UK) | Charity 225910; company 00355248 | £21,956,000 (year to 31 December 2025)[14] | Registered office 95 Church Road, London NW4 4FE |
| KKL Charity Accounts | Charity 1105998; company 05118360 | £11,783,693 (year to 31 December 2025: £11,503,914 from fees and gift-aided donations plus £279,779 deposit interest; JNF UK's consolidated accounts show the £11,504,000 element as "KKL Charity Accounts income")[15] | Donor-advised giving. Controlled by JNF UK, not KKL: JNF Charitable Trust nominates the majority of trustees and consolidates it as a subsidiary[14][16] |
| The KKL Charitable Trust | Company 03726261 | — | Registered office Ch. Hausmann & Co., 5 De Walden Court, 85 New Cavendish Street, London W1W 6XD. Shares officers with Keren Kayemeth Leisrael Limited; Samuel Hayek was a director from 24 October 2007 to 19 February 2008, before becoming chairman of JNF UK.[17][18] |
| Keren Kayemeth Leisrael Limited | Company 00092825 (incorporated 8 April 1907) | — | KKL-JNF's English company. Same registered office as The KKL Charitable Trust; directors in 2026 are Shimon Baron, Channa Taragin and Alexander Trager-Lewis (appointed 29 December 2025), and David Mizrachi and Yuval Yenni (appointed 10 March 2026).[17] |
| The KKL (Scotland) Charitable Trust (JNF KKL Scotland) | Company SC316740; OSCR SC037850 | Appeals and donations £68,125 (year to 31 March 2026)[19] | Founded in February 2007 by KKL-JNF and Keren Kayemeth Leisrael Limited, which were its subscribers; KKL Israel "remains a corporate member" and receives all funds raised.[20] 222 Fenwick Road, Giffnock, Glasgow G46 6UE[18] |
People
KKL-JNF board leadership (2026)
- Chairman: Eyal Ostrinsky
- Vice-chairs: Gidi Aizen | Dr Gadi Perl | Dr Chaim Cohen | Haim Menachem | Yehoshua Sherman | Yakov Bachar | Nisan Cialic | Robert Tiviaev | Rotem Yadlin | Shmuel Litov
- CEO: Ilan Shohat[21]
KKL-JNF Board of Directors Leadership (2012-14)
- Efi Stenzler - Chairman
- Eli Aflalo - Co-Chairman
- Gael Grunewald - Vice Chairman
- Menachem Leibovic - Vice Chairman[22]
Board of Directors - 2014
Mr. Yoav Andy | Mr. Ben Zion Azachi | Ms. Ora Baharaff | Mr. Yehoshua Chazan | Mr. Nisan Cialic | Mr. Yitzchak Danino | Att. Micha Drori | Mr. Victor Dubin | Mr. Avraham Duvdevani | Mr. Moshe Dabush | Mr. Itzik Elia | Ms. Yehudith Elimelech | Mr. Eli Eyal | Mr. Nachi Eyal | Mr. Hernan Felman | Mr. Arnon Giladi | Ms. Carol Golding | Ms. Barbara Goldstein | Dr. Orr Karassin | Mr. Chaim Katz | Mr. Shamai Keinan | Mr. Ofer Lichtig | Mr. Zeev Noyman | Mr. Mike Nitzan | Mr. Nehemia Reibi | Mr. Yair Reinman | Mr. Roi Sharabi | Mr. Matityahu Sperber | Prof. Alon Tal | Mr. Shlomi Vayzer | Mr. Tzvi Vershbiak | Mr. Oliver Worth | Mr. Moshe Yogev | Ms. Leslie Zachs | Mr. Yehezkel Zakai[22]
Contact
- Website: www.kkl-jnf.org (formerly http://www.kkl.org.il)
Related Articles
- Adalah. 'Jewish National Fund'.
- Uri Avnery, Dunam After Dunam, ZNet, 7 February, 2005. (Accessed 27 March, 2009).
- Uri Davis and Walter Lehn And the Fund Still Lives: The Role of the Jewish National Fund in the Determination of Israel's Land Policies Journal of Palestine Studies, Vol. 7, No. 4 (Summer, 1978), pp. 3-33.
- Walter Lehn The Jewish National Fund Journal of Palestine Studies, Vol. 3, No. 4. (Summer, 1974), pp. 74-96.
- Walter Lehn The Jewish National Fund: An Instrument of Discrimination Paper No. 18, Eaford, November 1982.
- Maureen Meehan, The Jewish National Fund and World Zionist Organization: The Hidden Faces of Israeli Racism, Washington Report on Middle East Affairs, July/August 1999, pages 14, 20.
- Josh Nathan-Kazis Jewish National Fund's Iconic Blue Box Sends One-State Israel Message Map Includes Occupied West Bank in Jewish State Forward. Published January 02, 2014, issue of January 10, 2014.
- Palestine Land Society, Jewish National Fund's Violation of International and Domestic Law, Posted on August 29, 2005.
- Kenneth W. Stein The Jewish National Fund: Land Purchase Methods and Priorities, 1924-1939 Middle Eastern Studies, Vol. 20, No. 2 (Apr., 1984), pp. 190-205.
- Peace Now, KKL-JNF and its Role in Settlement Expansion, March 2020.
See also
- Glasgow Commission of the Jewish National Fund | KKL (Scotland) Charitable Trust
- JNF UK | JNF Charitable Trust | KKL Charity Accounts
- Jewish Schools in the UK
Notes
- ↑ First Decade: 1901-1910, KKL-JNF, accessed 9 August 2012.
- ↑ KKL-JNF - Israeli Government Covenant, KKL-JNF, accessed 9 August 2012.
- ↑ 'About JNF', JNF website, accessed 27 March, 2009.
- ↑ ILAN PAPPE and JUSTIN PODUR ZNet, 20 February 2005 Mechanisms of denial Last accessed 16 June, 2007.
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 Zev Stub, Eyal Ostrinsky elected as new chairman of JNF-KKL, The Times of Israel, 1 January 2026.
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 Peace Now, KKL-JNF and its Role in Settlement Expansion (report; PDF version March 2020).
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 Peace Now, Involvement of KKL-JNF and the Settlement Division in the Settlements, 10 February 2020.
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 8.2 ToI Staff, US Reform movement condemns KKL-JNF plan to buy West Bank land for settlements, The Times of Israel, 13 February 2021.
- ↑ KKL-JNF board advances NIS 38 million purchase of West Bank land, The Times of Israel, 25 February 2021.
- ↑ DAWN, US: Sanction Jewish National Fund-Israel (KKL-JNF) for Funding Settlement Expansion and Fostering Settler Violence, 17 January 2025.
- ↑ JNF-KKL appoints Ifat Ovadia-Luski as first-ever woman to chair organization, The Times of Israel, December 2022.
- ↑ JNF JNF Offices Worldwide, Accessed 16 February 2014.
- ↑ JNF Charitable Trust, Annual report and accounts for the year ended 31 December 2021, from accounts and annual returns, Register of Charities.
- ↑ 14.0 14.1 14.2 JNF Charitable Trust (charity 225910), 2025 Annual Report and Accounts (year ended 31 December 2025; approved 23 September 2026), Charity Commission, accounts and annual returns Register of Charities, downloaded 6 November 2026 (page numbers are the printed page numbers of the report). Archived by the Wayback Machine on 24 October 2026; register accounts page archived the same day.
- ↑ Charity Commission for England and Wales, Register of Charities public extract (tables charity and charity_trustee), extract dated 8 November 2026.
- ↑ KKL Charity Accounts (charity 1105998), annual report and accounts for the year ended 31 December 2025, Charity Commission, accounts and annual returns Register of Charities. Archived by the Wayback Machine on 26 October 2026.
- ↑ 17.0 17.1 Companies House, officers of Keren Kayemeth Leisrael Limited (00092825), The KKL Charitable Trust (03726261) and The KKL (Scotland) Charitable Trust (SC316740), viewed 10 November 2026.
- ↑ 18.0 18.1 Companies House, company overviews for 03726261 (The KKL Charitable Trust), 00092825 (Keren Kayemeth Leisrael Limited) and SC316740 (The KKL (Scotland) Charitable Trust), viewed 10 November 2026.
- ↑ The KKL (Scotland) Charitable Trust, Trustees' report and unaudited financial statements for the year ended 31 March 2026, trustees' report, pp. 2–3, filed 2 July 2026, Companies House.
- ↑ The KKL (Scotland) Charitable Trust, incorporation documents (memorandum of association, names of subscribers dated 14 February 2007), filed 16 February 2007, Companies House.
- ↑ KKL-JNF, Our Leadership, accessed 10 November 2026 (archived 24 October 2026).
- ↑ 22.0 22.1 JNF KKL-JNF Board of Directors, accessed 16 February 2014.