Jewish American Heritage Month

Posted By admin on February 16, 2021

The political arm of the Masorti Movement warned Monday against a proposal under review by the Jewish National Fund on the possibility of moving to purchase Palestinian lands in the West Bank for settlement expansion purposes.

The proposed framework will damage [JNF] legitimacy in Israel and among Jews around the world and may even endanger its very existence, said a statement from the Conservative Jewish organization, calling to adhere to the principle of Zionistconsensus recognizing and respecting different approaches to the actualization of Zionism.

It warned such a decision would impose a structure that reflects and favors the settlement policy of Israels extreme right, an act which is inconsistent with what has been a basic tenet of [JNF] throughout its history.

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And it said it would severely damage Israels foreign relations.

This is not just a KKL policy issue, but a much bigger question about the future of the Zionist Movement. We will continue to insist that the National Institutions, among them KKL, not be taken over by extremists, said Emily Levy-Shochat, who sits on the KKL Board of Directors.

With the statement, Masorti joined the Reform Movement in condemning the plan.

The Jewish National Fund on Sunday held a discussion on the possibility of purchasing Palestinian lands in the West Bank for settlement expansion purposes.

The debate was seen as a major policy change for the century-old organization, though the characterization was rejected by the JNF, which maintained it has long operated in the West Bank.

Keren Kayemeth LeIsrael Jewish National Fund (KKL-JNF) was considering buying private Palestinian land in Area C of the West Bank, potentially for hundreds of millions of dollars, for the development of existing settlements, the Walla news site first reported Thursday, citing a Hebrew draft resolution it had received.

The Jewish National Fund collects money through donations in boxes that look like this. (Flickr Commons via JTA)

The organization will not construct new settlements, but work in existing ones with education, environmental and other projects, the report said. Land purchases will be conducted only inside the jurisdiction of settlements or next to them.

The proposal cited a previous memorandum that said KKL could operate in all areas under Israels control, including in the West Bank.

KKL (a separate organization from JNF-USA) has until now not officially operated in the West Bank, and has worked through other entities there on some limited projects, said the report, which was also carried in English on the Axios news site.

In the face of criticism KKL said there was nothing new to the plan.

Throughout the years and till this very day, KKL-JNF has been operating in all parts of the land of Israel, including Judea and Samaria [the biblical name for the West Bank]. The preliminary discussion, that took place today revolved around general principals of action, based on a legal opinion that was requested and received during the previous management term, it said Sunday.

At this stage, there is no intention of opening up a new area in Judea and Samaria. Regardless, KKL-JNFs policy remains that every contribution for every project in Israel is confirmed by and coordinated in advance with its donor, in accordance with the laws of the donors country, it said.

A picture taken on October 13, 2020, shows new housing construction in the Nokdim settlement in the West Bank, south of the Palestinian city of Bethlehem. (MENAHEM KAHANA / AFP)

Further discussions on the matter will be held before the board of directors votes, it said.

The organizations new global chairman, Avraham Duvdevani, took over in the fall of 2020 and is acting to change the policy. Duvdevani is part of the rights gradual growing influence over Zionist organizations like KKL. The move came in response to a push from pro-settlement lobbyists and the organization tried to keep it low-key, the report said.

Foreign donations will only be used to fund such activity if the transactions are legal in the donating country, the report said.

KKL expanding activities into the West Bank could further complicate Israels ties with US President Joe Bidens administration, which is expected to resume the traditional American stance against settlements. It could also affect the Jewish states ties with the rest of the international community, which views the settlements as illegal.

Asked about the report in a briefing Thursday, US State Department spokesperson Ned Price said, It is critical to avoid unilateral steps that exacerbate tensions and undercut the efforts to achieve a two state solution. This includes annexation, settlement building, demolitions, incitement and payments for terrorists.

KKL, established in 1901 to buy and develop land for Jewish settlement and best known for the hundreds of millions of trees it has planted throughout Israel, serves as the Jewish peoples custodian for some 15 percent of the land in the country, the management of which is carried out by the Israel Lands Authority.

A kind of NGO officially registered as a company for the benefit of the public, KKL works in the fields of forestry, water, education, community development, tourism, and research and development. The World Zionist Organization is its parent body.

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Masorti Movement warns JNF move to buy West Bank land may endanger fund - The Times of Israel

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