Keren Kayemeth LeIsrael-Jewish National Fund has approved a new chairman: Avraham Duvdevani.
Duvdevani, 75, is a former head of the World Zionist Organization. He previously served as co-chair of JNF-KKL.
“The elected chairman has vast experience in Zionist activity in the Diaspora and is highly familiar with Jewish communities around the world,” a statement from the organization says.
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 people’s custodian for 13 percent of the land in Israel. A kind of nonprofit officially registered as a company for the benefit of the public, it works in the fields of forestry, water, education, community development, tourism, and research and development.
It is a major environmental force in Israel, worth billions of shekels, only a fraction of which comes from fundraising. KKL’s 2019 financial report (in Hebrew) shows that it spent NIS 85 million ($25 million) while raising just under NIS 93 million ($27.5) million). Its wealth, and the eager attempts by governments to get hold of some of these riches, offer massive clout to whoever sits in the chairperson’s seat.
Illustrative: Enjoying a walk in a KKL JNF Jewish National fund forest outside Jerusalem, April 21, 2011. (Miriam Alster/Flash90).
— with Sue Surkes
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