The Keren Kayemeth LeIsrael-Jewish National Fund (KKL-JNF) has approved tens of millions of shekels in funding for communities in the north and south affected by the recent war.
In Kiryat Shmona, left largely empty after the recent war with Hezbollah, KKL-JNF will purchase up to 120 apartments for “mission-driven groups, educators, and community professionals.”
Similarly, the organization will rent apartments in Ofakim, one of the hardest-hit communities in the Gaza envelope. Almost 50 Israelis were murdered in the southern kibbutz during the October 7 massacres.
A nationwide increase in KKL-JNF’s educational budget will add NIS 30 million, bringing the total to NIS 280 million. As part of the decision, the organization’s leadership approved a “broad budgetary framework” to increase funding for non-formal education and Zionist activity and to strengthen ties with the diaspora.
Additionally, KKL-JNF management decided to designate the Ramat HaNegev Regional Council as a “central assistance target,” allocating NIS 15 million for “land and infrastructure development, community training programs, public buildings, and projects to improve residents’ well-being,” a move described as made “against the backdrop of settlement, agricultural, and security challenges in the region.”
New apartments to be handled in Kyriat Shmona, Ofakim
JNF-KKL chairman Eyal Ostreinsky lauded the plan to increase spending, calling the new investments a step forward in the aftermath of the war.
“We promised to move from words to action, and tonight we are beginning to deliver,” he said.
“The decision to purchase and rent hundreds of apartments for young couples in the heart of Kiryat Shmona and Ofakim is our decisive Zionist response to destruction and neglect. The significant investment in infrastructure development in Ramat Negev is our value-based statement. JNF-KKL does not only plant trees, but it also plants communities.”
“The decisions we made constitute a clear declaration of intent: 2026 will be a year of renewal and construction, and we will be there with the necessary resources to ensure the prosperity of the Galilee and the Negev. I wish to thank the members of the JNF-KKL management and the professionals for their joint work and commitment to the Israeli public.”