KKL-JNF presidents from 35 different countries came to Israel last week to participate in the traditional ceremony, after a 5-year break forced by the COVID-19 outbreak. During the 7-day conference, the KKL-JNF presidents toured the country and held extensive discussions on facing the challenges of the climate crisis.
One of the conference's major events was held on its very first day. The presidents took part in a special evening where 2 million Israeli Shekel awards were given to Israeli researchers and startup companies that promote different aspects of the fight against the climate crisis: clean production and sustainable transportation, healthy life solutions, environment-friendly fashion, efficient supply chains and energy, and existing product that implemented environment-friendly systems. Dozens of researchers have responded to the call published by KKL-JNF and presented researches related to environmental protection and the fight against the climate crisis.
The rest of the conference was devoted to KKL-JNF's diverse activity in Israel. The presidents visited donated project, participated in a professional tour in the KKL-JNF forests and witnessed KKL-JNF's ability in fighting forest fires, visited the Hall of Books of Honor which commemorates Jews from all over the world that donations were made in their name, and also took part in guided tours in Jerusalem.
KKL-JNF Chairman Avraham Duvdevani: "We are glad and excited to bring back this incredible tradition. The presidents' conference is our chance to strengthen the connections with the Jewish diaspora, especially after two years of world turmoil. Over the past 120 years, KKL-JNF kept strong connections with Jews from all over the world, and will keep doing so to assure that the Zionist project of the State of Israel will keep growing and prospering."