Participating at the opening event were senior KKL-JNF officials from Israel and Europe, along with journalists from the leading newspapers and television stations of the French Jewish communities.
The European Leadership Conference's press conference was opened by Fino Edery, the KKL-JNF emissary to France, who told the journalists about the article published by KKL France in the Adama magazine on the topic of Danny Atar’s vision for KKL-JNF – a vision that places promoting the organization’s transparency at its center.
In his opening remarks, KKL-JNF World Chairman Danny Atar noted that on the occasion of his first visit to France as KKL-JNF world chairman, he was happy for the opportunity to meet journalists and to send a message to the French Jewish community through their agencies: “KKL-JNF is the Jewish people’s most important organization, and as such, we are aware of the fact that we are managing a resource that is both financial and also value-oriented.”
Atar added that he began his candidacy together with a new KKL-JNF directorate a year and two months ago, and since then, very clear goals in regards to KKL-JNF’s work framework have been defined: “Our first goal is adjusting the organization, which is currently celebrating 115 years since it was founded, to the world we are living in, in terms of a liberal world with a global economy.
“At such a time, the inclusion of the general public, transparency, good governance, clear and universal criteria for all – these are the most important characteristics for an organization that wants to be managed in a proper and orderly manner.”
Atar added that within this framework, KKL-JNF publishes calls for proposals for its diverse fields of activities, in which all Israeli authorities and organizations that legally meet the criteria determined by the state of Israel have an opportunity to express their needs so that KKL-JNF will be able to meet their needs in a transparent fashion.
Atar noted that he was appointed to lead the organization for a limited period of time, and he wants to use this time in the best way possible so that at the end of the process, KKL-JNF will be an entirely transparent organization.
“Our second goal,” Atar continued, “is to work in Israel’s peripheral regions – the Galilee and the Negev, and also the social periphery. Development of the Galilee and the Negev has become a main goal for KKL-JNF and we will help as much as we can.
“As part of the development plans, one of the goals that has KKL-JNF defined is to help the state of Israel move half a million new residents to the Galilee, and a million new residents to the Negev. In order to realize this goal, KKL-JNF will be active in everything connected to infrastructure, strengthening the economy, building housing for students, and helping with housing for young couples, all in order to encourage positive migration to the Negev and Galilee.”
Atar also related to KKL-JNF’s work in four definitive fields: sustainability, development of peripheral regions, ecological Zionist education, and strengthening international ties.
“KKL-JNF is the largest green organization in Israel, and possibly in the entire world. For this reason, everything related to the quality of the environment and sustainability will receive top priority from us.”
One of the most important subjects is ecological Zionist education: “KKL-JNF has taken responsibility for informal education in the country of Israel," said Atar. "We are accompanying the youth movements and all the pre-military preparatory programs, along with operating an informal education network throughout the entire Jewish world. By doing so, we want to achieve two goals: the strengthening of Jewish identity, and intensifying the bond with the state of Israel.”
One of the emphases on KKL-JNF activities under the new leadership is to go from the Jewish space to global space, that is, to share KKL-JNF’s professional knowledge with the entire world, particularly countries whose climate is similar to Israel’s – arid and semi-arid. “Even though Israel is a desert country, it doesn’t have a water problem at the present time, and it has the most advanced agriculture in the world. KKL-JNF is part of the solution to water problems and also to advancing agriculture,” Atar noted.
One of the countries that asked for KKL-JNF’s assistance in this field is Argentina, whose minister of the environment asked the KKL-JNF world chairman for help with the lack of water resources. “KKL-JNF can share its knowledge and amassed experience, and together with the Jews who live in Argentina or anywhere else in the world, help to solve local problems.”
Relating to the huge waves of migrants from Africa to Europe, KKL-JNF World Chairman Danny Atar noted that the government of Germany approached him on behalf of the European Union, in order to look into how KKL-JNF could help improve conditions in 23 African countries so that the waves of immigration would lessen thanks to creating jobs and sources of food in Africa.
“KKL-JNF has the greatest experts in the entire world for stopping desertification. Since the government of Germany approached me on behalf of the European Union, we will see how we can help by using the technologies that we developed and our professional knowledge in order to create jobs, advanced agriculture and a better life for Africa.”
Read this article in French