To get to know the real Israel, one has to tread its footpaths, meet its inhabitants and visit its communities, including those far from the center of the country. This is precisely what the annual KKL France Israel Today and Tomorrow delegation did, on a day devoted to touring the Gaza border and the Western Negev.
For the delegates, all prominent figures in the media, government and business from different parts of France, this was an opportunity to observe at first hand an area that has been in the headlines for years and discover that life can be lived in the shadow of war on the border with the Gaza Strip.
“There are people who don’t understand Israel,” said André Bercoff, a journalist based in Paris. “It’s only after you come for a visit here that you get a true picture of reality.”
Gilat: Making Israel green
The day began with a meeting with Danny Gigi, Director of KKL-JNF’s Southern Region, at the organization’s center in Gilat. “KKL-JNF is a green organization that contributes to improved quality of life in Israel. The forests and parks it develops provide green spaces and venues for recreational activities in natural surrounding for all sectors of the population,” he explained.
As they toured KKL-JNF’s Gilat Nursery, which every year grows around 800 thousand saplings belonging to 300 different species, the delegates were impressed by its range of forest trees and decorative plants. Pablo Chercasky, the nursery’s director, described the various stages of plant development, from the collection of a seed in the forest and its growth as a sapling in the nursery all the way to the moment it is finally planted in a forest or park.
Germination takes place in a container under computer-controlled conditions of humidity and temperature. The seeds are sterilized, sown in trays and then transferred to the greenhouse to develop. The shoots are rooted on warmed tables before being planted in containers beneath a shady net, where they are watered by means of drip irrigation or sprinklers. Once the saplings have grown and firmly established themselves, they are taken away for planting in forests, parks and gardens throughout the Negev.
Naveh: Vegetables amid the desert dunes
After the evacuation of the Gush Katif settlements, KKL-JNF became a major partner in the founding of the Halutza communities in the area where the borders between Israel, Egypt and the Gaza Strip meet. With the support of its Friends worldwide, KKL-JNF helped to prepare the land for both construction and agriculture, establish public buildings and foster a green environment. Today some 250 families live in the three Halutza communities of Naveh, Bnei Netzarim and Shlomit, and there is an endless stream of applications to join them.
In the youngsters’ clubroom in Naveh, the delegates met local resident Ariel Meir, who told them about life in this remote area and about the residents’ national mission to make the desert bloom.
“Settling the most difficult region of the Land of Israel is our vision,” he said. “We want to develop the area both physically – farming and the economy – and spiritually.”
The delegates moved on to tour Naveh’s greenhouses together with Tzadok Ran, a farmer who specializes in growing leafy vegetables. He explained the challenges involved in farming in this hot, arid region, and spoke of the dream of growing vegetables amidst the desert sand dunes.
“It’s amazing to see how Israel manages to make the desert bloom,” exclaimed Alain Houpert, a senator who represents France’s Côte-d'Or department. “Israel sets an example to the whole world, and a lot of other countries could learn from it.”
On the border with Gaza: Life goes on
From Naveh the visitors moved on to picnic in Beeri Forest. They sat at tables in the shade of the trees, just as thousands of Israeli families do on weekends and holidays, and then walked through the forest to visit sites where the woodland had been burned in fires caused by the incendiary kites and balloons that fly over from the Gaza Strip.
Apart from rockets, mortar fire, invasive tunnels and terrorist infiltrations, in recent months Gaza Periphery residents have had to cope with attacks of a different kind: incendiary balloons and kites launched from the other side of the border in a deliberate attempt to set fields and woodlands alight and sow destruction and ruin.
Around 12,000 dunam (approx 3,000 acres) of forest and natural woodland have gone up in smoke in recent months in the course of over 1,000 fires in the Gaza Periphery region. This acreage constitutes over half of the local forested area. KKL-JNF’s firefighters, together with other teams, have been on constant alert for seven months now, and are called out every day to battle fires in forests and open areas.
The next stop on the route was Kibbutz Nahal Oz, a community of some four hundred people that lies just a few hundred meters distant from the border with Gaza. KKL-JNF has been supporting the community’s development – among other things by establishing a water reservoir for agricultural use and promoting green ecological gardens within the kibbutz grounds.
Along the community’s perimeter fence, the visitors looked out towards the Gaza Strip while local farmer Danny Rahamim told them of life beside the border and attempts to preserve routine in the face of constant threat.
For years the city of Sderot has symbolized Gaza-border dwellers’ determination to continue building their lives despite the security situation. Sderot has been hit by rocket salvos, and a whole generation of children has grown up with daily rocket alerts. Despite these impossible conditions, Sderot continues to expand and thrive, thanks to the resolve of its residents and the ongoing participation of Friends of KKL-JNF worldwide in developing the city and providing moral support for its residents.
The delegates now made their way to Sderot, where the city’s security officer Kobi Harush led them to a display of rockets and missiles that have landed in the area in recent years.
Along the way they passed fortified locations designed to protect residents from the rocket fire, which the local children have decorated with brightly-colored drawings – a reminder that, despite the howl of the sirens and the thud of the rockets, optimism and the hope for a better future must be maintained.
Jerusalem: Building a better society
At the end of their fascinating and exciting day in the south, the delegates returned to Jerusalem for a festive gala evening to round off their visit to Israel.
KKL-JNF World Chairman Danny Atar, who came to greet the delegation, told the participants: “Our relationship with Jews living outside Israel is very important to us – and Jews’ connection to the place where they live is no less important.”
He told them of KKL-JNF’s land, forestry, and water-related activities and emphasized: “KKL-JNF is one of the largest green organizations in the world. Even though we’re a small country, most of which is desert, we are the only country in the world that has more trees every year.”
He pointed out that in recent years KKL-JNF has invested great efforts in joint Jewish-Arab activities in the Negev and Galilee. “A community forest, cycle trails and nature activities can all help to create a better and stronger society,” he said.
When the Nona Band enlivened the event with music and song, the delegates leapt from their seats and danced energetically far into the night.
Parisian author and journalist Anne Fulda last visited Israel many years ago, as a small child. “The country’s changed since then, and so, of course, has my perspective on things,” she said. “It’s very interesting to get to know different aspects of Israel, and not to talk only about war. It’s very important to meet people, listen to them and reflect upon what they have to say.”